St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-03-26
TARIFF AND woRKlNGMEN.
As Viewed by One of the Wage
Farmers f
NITMRER "

~ u MIDI v.
Trade is the exchanging of the prod
ucts OF labor. UnciviliZed man, before
the invention of money, effected tn is
exchange by giving goods for goods.
This form of trade is known as barter
But all trade, In its last analysis. vii
be found to be barter-the giving OF
goods for goods. 1t Is necessary to
thoroughly understand this and keep it ]
in mind in discussing or investigating
economic topics.
Men trade with each other because by
SO doing they increase the amount AND
variety of the products Of labor which
each can enjoy. Trade is the great,
c.vilizer. In a savage state, where the
time of each man is taken up in prd-
viding Tor his own immediate wants,
leaving no surplus to be exchange d fdr
goods produced by others, the germ Of
civilization has not yet even begun to,
sprout. But when the savage saves up
some furs and begins to exchange them
for the labor products of others, then
tile first. step on the roadway to uni.
versat cooperation and the brotherhood
of man is taken. Let us suppose with
his first saving of furs he buys a
rifle and ammunition. Possessing these
he can sdiscard his bow and arrows.
With his increased capital he can pro-
cure more furS. With these he can buy
steel ak and dispense with his crude
stone Implement. This will still further
increase the efficiency of his labor and
add to his comforts. In this way are
laid the foundations of material pros
perity and intellectual development. In
direct proportion as man rises fro III a
savage state he trades with his neigh
bors. In direct proportion to the eX-
tent fertilization develops the neighbors
he trades with are more numerous and
more widely scattered. Trade has
ever been the eXtinguisher of war, the
eradicator of prejudice, the ditfuser of
knowledge"
1t is as natural for men to trade rs it
is for blood to circulate. And it is as
harmful 10 the social organism 10 at
tempt TO prevent them from doing so,
as it would be to the human body and
health to attempt to prevent a natural
and free circulation of the blood. Man
cannot be restrained from trading by
legal enactmentS. His natural instincts
will assert themselves. Intuitively, man
recognizes that Interference with his
desire to trade is an infringement of his
inalienabe rights. For this reason,
smuggling is not held as moral crime.
In free and voluntary interchange
of commodities both parties to the
transaction are mutually benefited.
Each consults his own interest, and
parts with his goods because he is
desirable and more valuable to him.
This is true OF all trade, whether
between men of the same nation or
between residents Of foreign countries.
Trade. it should be borne in mind. can
only be between individuals, although
it is prOtectiOnist assumption that
each nation is huge shopkeeper.
Out of this assumption grows
the ''balance of trade" theory, that
the people of a natiOn-Or rather,
"a nation"-,are prosperous in the ratio
that their-or ''its"-expOrts exceed
their imports. Directly the contraryis
true, Bear i'll mind that all trade in it's
last analysis is simply what it is in its
primitive form Of barter.-the exchange
of commodities accommodates. What
each nation imports is paid for IN the
commodities which it exports. .Cpnse-
9uently, in normal, healthy state of
trade. the value of the imports always
exceed the value of the exports.
Hon. John Dewitt Warner disposes
of the 'balance of trade" fallacy iii this
wise: at is hard to realize the extent
to which it is actually argued to audi
ences who have brains at their service,
did they care to use them, that CONNER
cial prosperity consists In exporting
more than you import, and having the
returns of your harbor master show that
the goods which have come back from
abroad are but title of those which
have passed outward bound. The farce
broadens when we see that the nations
which, on the protectlOnist theory. have
the most favorable balance of trade are
such as Turkey, Persia and Spain land
he might have added Ireland, which is
drained by the rent paid to absentee
landlordsl which for generations have
been drained by more fortunate coun-
tries of the wealth produced or accu-
INFLATED in them; and that the countries
that have continually been menaced
with the adverse balance of trade