The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-04-19
FREE TRADE FOLLY.
-,r..t points In Democratic Philosophy
 shown Cp,

Ii,ivered a powerful speech in which h., summed up in masterly manner .Ls follies and fallacies of the free ,rade doctrine. He began by saying .bat in the tariff bill two questions were involved. One is the effect upon bnsiuess prosperity, the wages of ,rorkingmen, and the welfare of people ,f o given set of tariff schedules and 9uties on imports; the other, much wider and deeper question, involving nothing less than conflict between two hostile theories of government ,,non the outcome of which is stalSed the social and political fabric which embodies modern civilization. Argu- ing from these premises he said
 "Tne first question is domestic and Of the yrayest and most immediate importance. But j neither belittles nor undertakes 1t to say that II falls far short Of the second in its scope and in ,ts influence upon the fortunes of civilized man. In what shall say propose to discuss the second and larger question first for on thai think the cause in which I believe most surely rests Protection and free trade are merely expressions in one direction of the the- or!es of society and government which have been struggling for recognition and acceptance during this century with the control of the at- fairs of the civilized world us the grand prize sci between them They serve, however, to illustrate and exhibit the conflict of the con tending forces of which they are only the out ward sign and manifestation. In examining the history of these two opposed tarin policies we are able as readily as in any other way to reach the great principles which underlie them, and of which, as I have said, they are merely an expression
 At the outset in treating of protection and free trade, it Is well to clear our minds Of cant A ,arir policy in its largest sense as O part of a general theory and system of government and in it's iarthest results may affect a nation socially, morally and pracueallyi 1t may so modify the distribution or wealth as 10 give IL A wider and better scope, and may Tn this way influence the whole Arrangement and growth of soCie,y. On the other hand tarir policy ln the usual and narrow sense, and especially from the standpoint of the free trader, is pure ly an economic matter, question of the pocket Of dollars and cents, and of the nation al method Of doing business In this latter as pect there is nothing sacred or moral about a tariff system
 "IO the practical man of affairs the theoret. scal and convinced free trader Is generally ex. tremely eXasperatlng. But to the student of history and to the disinterested observer, to men of philosophic minds and blessed witk a sense Of humor he is one of the most interest Y lAb anu haAAAllb OA AuhAoA PANASAAShe- These convinced free traders generally have some education and invariably think they have great deal They are provided with set Of ntue sayings ana aphorisms which can Do car rieG without intellectual strain in a very small compass and which to their thinking are com plele solutions of all social and economic ques- tons These they draw forth on all occasions anu present them to the world with entire con fdence in the fnality Of their little sentences and profound contempt for all persons who venture 10 differ with them and who do not think that the difficulties Of humanity can be 80 easily disposed of.
 And so the free trader not in the forest of Arden, but in the busy, eager days Of the nine teenth century, pulls out his little memorandum and says the tariff is a tax. You cannot be- come rich by taxing yourself any more than you can lift yourself by your boot-straps,' and so CD, and so on. It IS very interesting to know that there are men who really think that the complex affairs of humanity can be disposed oi by 0 collection of epigrammatic half truths and watchpocket memoranda, and who firmly be -lieye that they can regulate the vast mechan- ism of modern society with laIchk key because that simple instrument suffices to open theiI own front doors They are interesting also in another way for 10 use the expressive slang oi the day, they know it all The curious thing about 1t is that they really do know 1t all il: :Gy ft you mean free trade It Is possible Ter anyone 10 kuOW every lulilB hDOuk lEOS trade, because its doctrines reached maturity fifty years ago and havestood stiif ever since untaught by history and unchanged by facts
 ''Ihe only condition necessary to this com plete knowledge, besides being able to read, i that you should know nothing else except fre' trade. You must close your eyes and shut you ears to everything that has happened since tn time of The Manchester school; you must talk English opinion as the ultimate expression o human wisdom. and then you know all abou free trade, and that iG all you will know. Thu the free trader and his doctrine stand station ary and immovable. You cannot affix to then Ga!lleo's sentence which an American wit de clared to be the proIer motto for Italian loco motives: And yet A. moves There Is no nc tiOn about the free trader or his doctrine. T him human wisdom eliminated and found it complete expression in the free trade measure of the Manchester school-doctrfnes whic Thomas Carlyle lrreverently christened 'Th Dismal Science and the Calico Millennium
 '1o the average free trader nothing has hal pened since His mind is as tightly shut new ideas or new facts as that Of the averag EngIishman on the currency question, or as rocE barnacle at low tide He still believe that his doctrine is not only as scientihcall true as the law Of grayitatiOn, but that it Is al solutely new, although it is wrinkled with az and bent by the failures of fifty years. -Whe the astronomer, calculating the orbit uranus, nndS perturDatlohS TOT "hlcn no Soi ditons account he reasons that there must D some hidden cause which is the origin Of thes Uncalculated devlations He observes an watches, and presently new planet swim within bis ken His problem is solved, and adjusts his calculations to meet the new cond tions.
 Free trade rests entirely on the let-alor doctrine-that is upon the doctrine thi the least interference of the state best; or, in other words, thatthe state ougl not to interfere at all in the affairs of It's ind ydual members, except to maintain order 1 home or abroad or in defense of public mora and public health, and even these arc logical attractions Of the doctrine of absolute tndiyt ualism Free trade, comparatively speakin is not a very large question It is merely U expression in one limited direction of a muC broader principle. If the letalone theory correct as general economic principle, and
 the experience and practice of mankind sho that 1t is correct, then free trade is, Of cours correct as one of its parts But If, on u other hand the letalone doctrine can proved in many directions to be incorrect 1T
 has been abandoned again and again in pra tce by the most civilized nations, theu the pr sumption is against free trade or any oth
 single expression of the central principle us see first how far this let-alone doctrii has been invaded since 1t found it's last e pression in England a half century ago