Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1894-08-11
CAUSED BY PROTECTION.
rhs Present strife the Result - Repae-
ilean Iegtalation.


rhe Present strife the Result - RePae-
iioan Iegtalattcn.
The promise that the president viii
app,int 8 submission TO inquire into
he orisin ana nature Of the contro-
rcrsv out Of which the great strike
grew ought 10 have . quieting erect
on al the parties 70 the controversy,
sud on the country as we'll. Primar
liz, Of course, the commission will
have 10 deal with the conditions ct
Pallmsn and Chicago; but It cannot
perform its work satisfactorily with
cut going back o. all ,ha, to ascertain
what produced these conditions
1.-THE inquiry is msde as broad and
inclusive as 1t should oe. and probably
will he, i, cSu hardly fail 10 show that
one Of the mos, important factors In
the production Of the unfortunate con-
ditions referred 70 has been the pro
,ective policy Of the government for
the past thirty years The panic OF
lSeS. from the effects Of which the
country has not yet recoverable 1t
can he said TO have fairly started on
the road 70 recovery-wes due very
lsrSely 10 the elimination Of that pol
icy In the McKiGle, tariff. TIE Inn
mediate eject Of the adoption
Of ths. ubiquitous WA
the undIs stimulation Of ell branches
Of industry which had been made
benefoisries under It Foreign oom-
petition being shut out and the right
guaranteed to the American producer
70 control the market and charge
chat he pleased Tor his wares, he
promptly avai.ed himself Of the priv
lese and proceeded to bleed the con.
samer for his benefit For q time he
fought of the natural consequence OF
such a course-the provoking of COM
petition-by reeorting to combinations
aud trusts; but the inevitable result
followed. The unhealthy stimulus
o~verstocked the market; prices fell;
and even while the dsvotees of proteo-
ton were shouting that this fall In
pr,ces was the real intent and purpose
OF their policy, It proceeded so far
that stagnatlon came, Work ceased;
and tens Of thousands ell over the
country were thrown u OF employ.
men, and became burdens on a public
which was In the worst possible oondi-
ton for bearing increased burdens.
The bursting Of the Mckinley bubble
to which while 1t was full tn. pro.
tectlonists pointed with so much pride
brought widespread disaster; and
the only hope OF the country Is In that
return to right principles for which
the country hopes as q result OF tariff
legislation by the recent congress.
But it Is not in Its direct results only
that the protective policy has proven
disastrous to the country, or that 1t Is
to be held responsible for the existing
conditions. 1t has done more harm,
probably, by !ndirection than 1t has
directly, though that Is putting the
case very strongly indeed. During the
past thirty years 1t has been mislead.
ing the people to their hurt as to the
true province and function OF a gov.
errment, and especially Of tho United
States government. One-half, at least,
Of the present trouble-if not one-half
Of the other halt-is due to the mis-
,hlevous notion that It Is part Of the
business Of the government TO legis-
late for the benefit OF classes. Consid-
eriug what the government has been
doing in this way for the past thirty
years, it is not at:all surprising that
this mischievous notion should have
entered the heads OF a great many
people. 1t Is perfectly natural that
the workinPman, when he Ands
that the government has been passing
a law for the express and avowed
purpose of enabling the Carnegies
or the Pullmans or any other of the
manufacturers in the country to en-.
rich themselves, should conclude that
it is not only In the power, but that it
Is the duty, of the government to pass
laws for the express purpose OF enrich
ing him also. He has been told all his
life that this is a government Of the
people. by the people, for all the peo-
Pile. and not for a part Of the people
not for the manufacturers alone, but
for their employees as we'll; and he
very naturally wants his share. There
Is no answer to such q demand but a
stern retracing on the steps that have
been taken in a wrong direction. The
only doctrine to which appeal al be
made from the demand of the work
ingman is the doctrine of equal
rights to all; special privileges TO
none and this mean the uprooting
absolutely Of the protective policy.
1t is to be hoped that the commission
which is to be appointed by the presi-
dent will be able to take up this
branch of the subject and report to
the country upon it,-Detroit Free
Press.