Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1894-02-17
Is unfruithl Al
aud

look at the same thingsi
Here Is a cool blooded Englishman who. |
I'm talking of the mot unreasonable hopes''
Il use his very words-which his country |
men entertain that the greatest market In /
/ the world and probably in the world'a his I
tory Is once again TO be found lying st the |
feet Of British industry and commerce." |
/ declares that "America has for many years |
enjoyed an amazing degree Of prosperity,
80 much so indeed" that he has to use the |
words Of Burke 20 say that be cannot evsn
describe it. And yet In this very haA q
member of the committee Of ways and
| means, himself a couutryman Of Edmund
Burke, and whose wonderful eloqusnos
moved this assembly as never saw It NOV
ed before, allowed hims self, amid laughter
| and applause on the Democratic side" 60
compare this amazing prosperity 20 q PRO
longed debauch." from which the country
could rescue itself only by the free use OF
the committees dilution OF the original
beverage 1t seems somehow almost des-
ecration TO put the facts over against the
figure OF speech
Solid ArEumsnts Needed.
OF course we are not to change the his
tory OF the last 80 years and the principles OF
100 years because some gentlemen especially
gifted with sonorous voices have distributed
epithets. We are not going TO risk our all
upon fragments of ancient platform speech
IS. upon loud outcries and abusive language.
There must be addressed to us some solid
arguments or at least the opinions Of wise
men who have proved their wisdom by the
actual test OF human life. Surely we are
not going to venture into the unknown be-
cause political economists bid as do 50.
while they still leave improved every prin-
ciple upon which they found their advice.
So long as they cannot agree among them
selves on any of their propositions they can
not be cited as a body to force our conclu-
sioDs On no trackless future will we VEN
ture unless the prospect OF increased happi-
ness Is large enough to justify risk and ex-
posture
Is there any example in the history of the
world Of any nation situated liks ours that
has taken the step to which we are invitedf
: Some gentlemen perhaps are Fastening
to say that England affords rs the needed
example; that we have but to turn to her
history and dnd all that we need by way Of
| examples, just as In the statements or her
{ political economists we shall find all that is
necessary for advice. for guidance and in
D structiou. Mr.. Speaker, / have looked there
: and am amazed 20 find how little the ex-
ample OF England can teach.
England when she became free trade was
n workshop wherein was manufactured the
raw material Of the rest of the world OF
raw material she herself had none. Her
engine had developed her manufactures so
out of proportion TO the wages Of her work
men that she must have a larger market
At that time the only idea of larger mar
ket was one that had more consumers The
notion that the market could be enlarged
by those who were already consumers had
not entered into the popular thought, yet
her workmen were clRmoring for more pay.
Z Tariff had really ceased to be protection ex-
cept on corn, and not on that in any true
protective sense 1t was only tax like
that on sugar 1t made food dear. Repeal
of the corn laws meant an increase of real
wages. Repeal of tariff on manufactures
meant nothing. The whole crusade of 1S4e
was for free food, and Golden nowhere says
anything else. Protection in our modern
sense Is never mentioned in any one Of hii
free trade speeches.
The Bill Deed Of Violence.
70 After this review Of the story of Eng
n lands change viii any man dare 20 say thai
ID he finds therein any justification for the
ir present deed Of violence which is called the
n Wilson billf
n Suppose England, instead of beinga litti,
island IN the sea, had been the half OF I
great continent full OF raw material, capa
ble of an internal commerce which would
% rival the commerce of ali the rest Of th'
y world.
% Suppose every year new millions wer,
- fiocking to her shores. and every Que OF thos
y new millions in few years, as soon as the
~ tasted the delights of a broader life. woul.
become as great consumer 80 am onS o
- her own people
~, Suppose thst these millions and the 20,
"a 900 goo already gathered under the folds o
II her flag were every year demanding and n
~ ceiving higher wage and therefore broad
- ening her market as fast as her machiner1
no could furnish production. Suppose she his.
produced cheap food beyond all her wants
Sn and that her laborers spent 80 much none
that whether wheat was 90 cents 6 bushe
- or twice that sum hardly entered tn
rs thoughts of one OF them except when som
-, Democratic tariff bill was paralyzing hi
40 business.
u Suppose that che was not only but car
10 non shot from France, but that every couI
~ try In Europe had been brought as near {
ny her as Baltimore is TO Washington, for ths
nc Is what cheap ocean freights mean betwee
- us and European producers. Suppose q
- those countries had her machinery, hs
A0 skilled workmen, her industrial system
- and labor 20 per cent cheaper. Suppose III
- der that state of facts with all her manl
iu facturers proclaiming against it, frantic
ns their disapproval, England had been calle
90 sr upen by Golden to made the plunge ms
"a. froe trade. would abe have done itp Not
Golden had been backed by the angel
- host. History gives England credit (.
-o great sense.
An English Free Traders Tribute.
While our wiseacres are reading BritiI
tad books OF 20 years ago with the emotions
Ilv great discoveries. what do the Englis
70 themselves say about the actual factsf The
,os- come here In shoals. Naturally they do n
frl like our system. But for 1t they could
trv our manufacturing for us. Nevertheie.
her prejudiced and prepossessed as they Al
Inn they arc startled into some incAutio
re truths. Says Mr.. Jeans, whom 1 have
oh ready quoted about the Amazing prosp'
tha fly" Of the United States:
-tth at requires, 1 think, unusual tenaerity
mr. allege that the tariff system of the Unit
ard States has been failure for that country
the What a prejudiced English free trad
a. regards as unusual temcrityH and viii
"a he might have called unexampied rsshns
10 not only exhibited By our committee
NOT ways and means. but by every geatlem
I az who can recite Sydney Smith Is discourse
,rk- thetaxed Englishmen under the impressi
| II that ne is delivering an original speech. N
3 OF Carr. too, emArks the strange phenomer
ur- II am," says b. Is convinced frfe trad
rce, Protection is to me an ecohosnid1l herec
} OF the fraud and foily''-how like one OF .
ave OWE dear southern statesmen he sounds
ross 1.-THE fraud and folly of which are capal
the Of mathematical demonstration. And {,
of throughout the length and breadth of q
vast continent one is almost daily broue