The Globe-republican., 1894-04-20
FREE TRAoe FOLLY.
Weak Poin,s In Democratic PHILOSOPHY
Shown Up.

In the tariff debate in the senate on
April 10. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
delivered a powerful speech in which
he summed up in a mastery manner
the follies aud fallacies of the free
trade doctrine. He began by saying
that in the tariff bill two questions
were involved. One is the effect upon
business prosperity. the wages of
workingmen. and the welfare of people
of given set of tariff schedules and
duties on imports: the other, a much
wider and deeper question, invo!vin::
nothing less than conflict between
two hostile theories of government
1pon the outcome of which is stal1ed
The social and politica, fabric which
embOd;es modern civilization. Argu-
Ing from these premises he said:
The first question is domestic and OF the
graves. and most immediate importance. But
Ii neither belit,es nor undertakes 1t TO say that
1: falls far short o. the second 10 its scope and
In its influence upon the fortunes OF civilized
Ean. In what shall say propose to discuss
kae second ana larger question first for on
shat think the cause in which believe most
surely rests. Protection and free trade are
merely expressions in one direction OF the the
aries Of society and goTernmeat which have
beer struggling for recognition and acceptance
aaring this century with the control of the af-
| fsirs Of the civilized world as the grAnd prize
.et tetween them They serve. however, TO
illustrate and exhibit the conflict Of the coz
tending forces Of which they are only the out
ward sign and manifestation In examining
he history Of these two opposed tariff policies
sc are able as readily as in any other way to
reach the great principles which underi:e them,
- ~-As. Z 49,
expression
"At ,he outset in treating Of protection and
free trade, il is well to clear our minds Of can't
tarin policy IN its largest sense as part OF
, general theory and system Of government
and in its farthest results may affect a nation
socially, morally and practically: IL may SO
modify the distribution or wealth as 10 give II
| , wider and better scope, and may In this way
influence the whole arrangement and growth VI
| socie.y. On the other hand a tariff policy in
the usual and narrow sense, and especially
from the standpoint Of the free trader. is pure
y 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
Q tariff system
10 the practical man Of affairs the theoye:.
ical 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
sense OF humor, he is one OF the most in n,erest-
Ing and entertaining Of human phenomena.
These convinced free traders generally have
tome education and invariably think they have
Q great deal They are provided with q set Of
little sayings anu aphOrlSMs which can be car
Tied without Intellectual strain in very small
compass and which TO their thinking are COM
plete solutions of all social and economic ques.
lions These they draw forth on all occasions
t1o ivb
ldence in the :inality Of their little sentences
and profound contempt ior all persons who
venture to differ with them and who do not
think that the difficulties Of humanity can be
so easily disposed OF.
And SO the free trader not in the forest OF
Arden, but in the busy, eager days OF the nine
.eenth century, pulls out his little memorandum
and says the tarin is u tax. You cannot be-
come rich by taxing yourself any more than
you can lift yourself by your boot-straps,' and
10 on, and SO on. 1t is very interesting to know
that there are men VINO really think that the
complex affairs Of humanity Can be disposed OF
by a collection of epigrammatic half truths and
watchpocket memoranda, and who firmly be-
heve that they can regulate the vast mechan-
ism OF modern society with latch-key because
that simple instrument sufices to open their
own front doors. They are ting also in
another way, for 10 use the expressive slang Of
the day, they know il all The curious
thing about 1t is that they really do know it all,
II by it you mean free trade. 1t is possible
for anyone TO know ery,hing about tree
trade, because its doctrines reached maturity
fifty years ago ana have stood still ever since,
untaught by story and unchanged by facts
The only condition necessary TO this COM
plete knowledge, besides being able to read, is
that you should know nothing else except free
trade. You must close your eyes and shu, your
ears to everything that has happened since the
of ,hx,M hast taly&
English opinion as the ultimate expression of
human wisdom, and then you know all about
free trade, and that is all you will know. Thus
the free trader and his doctrine stand station
ary and immovable. You cannot affix to them
Gaiileo's sentence, which An American wit de-
clared to be the proper motto tor Italian loco
motives: And yet il moves There is no mo-
ton about the free trader or his doctrine 10
him human wisdom eliminated and found its
complete expression in the free trade measures
OF the Manchester School-doctrineS which
Thomas Carlyle irreverently christened The
Dismal Science and the Calico Millennium
10 the average free trader nothing has hap
pened since. His mind is tightly shut TO
new ideas or new facts as that OF the average
Englishman on the currency question, or as a
rock barnacle at low tide. He still believes
that his doctrine is not only as scientifically
true the law Of gravitation, but that il is alb
solutely new, although ii is wrinkled with age
and bent by the FAILURES OF nifty years. When
the astronomer, calculating the orbit Uf
Uranus, finds perturbations for which no con-
ditions account he reasons that there must be
some hidden cause which is the origin OF these
uncalculated deviationS He observes and
watches, and presently q new planet swims
within his ken His problem is solved. and he
adjusts his calculations TO meet the new cond-
tionS.
Free trade rests entirely on the let-aloue
doctrine-tha, is. upon the doctrine that
the least interference Of the state is
best; or. in other words. that the state ought
not to interfere at all in the affairs of its ind-
vidual members, except to maintain order at
home or abroad, or in defense Of public morals
and public health. and even these are logically
infractions Of the doctrine OF absolute individ-
ualism Free trade, comparatively speaking,
is not very large question 1t is merely the
expression in one limited direction Of a much
broader principle II the letalone theory is
correc. as general economic principle, and if
the experience and practice OF mankind show
that II is correct. then free trade is of course,
correct as one Of its parts But If, on the
other hand, the ler-alone doctrine can be
proved IN many directions to be incorrect If il
has been abandoned again ans again in prac-
tice by the most civilized nations, theu the pre-