The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-10-24
WILSON'S RECEPTION.

London Times. sept. 20. 1884


London Chamber of Commerce. to Mr.. w.
l.. Wilson, the author OF the original
measure for the revision OF the United
States tarif, which was unhappily
transformed by The Senate into .
bill only degree less pro-
tectionist than that bearing the
the name Of Mr.. Mckinley. Mr.. Wilson
deserves all honor for making . stout,
though not very successful, fight on be
half OF system which would have been
been at least an approach to the rscogni-
tion OF the principle that freedom OF trade
Is more favorable to the deveopment OF
great commercial and Industrial COM
munity than protection. Is 1t not Mr.
Wilson's fault that the measure which has
actually become law Is, to use the iangu-
age OF President Clevelsnd's letter after
its passage through the Senate, "not In
line with honest tariff REFORM" There
Is much that II instructive as well as In
terosting In Mr.. Wilson's speech at the
dinner given to him by the Chamber OF
Commerce. eli the more because Q good
deal OF 1t appears to have been intended
for American readers as well a. British
auditors. 1t must not be forgotten that the
people in the United States are at present
In the throes of political crisis. At the
November elections a rew House OF
Representatives will be returned, and
State Legislatures will be chosen, the
character Of which must par TALLY affect tn
composition of the Senate. In few pre-
liminary contests that have taken place
the advantage, on the whole, appears to
have been on the side OF the Republicans,
while the Democrats are embarrassed
by internal divisions on such grave
questions OF policy as the tariff and
the currency. Mr.. Wilson was naturally
anxious not to say anything which might
tend to jeopardizs the prospects Of his
party. Although, therefore, he uses very
strong language in denouncing Tho pro-
tectionist system identified with Republic
can ascendency, he is careful not to pledge
himself to 20 beyond the removal OF the
existing duties on raw materials. This
limited view OF free trade may or may not
be q step towards complete renunciation
OF the protectionists heresy. Many Amsri-
cans who call themselves anti protection
lists, II not free traders, 60 no further
than tnis point, and contend that under
such tariff the industrial and commercial
victory over ell competing nations,
anticipated by Mr.. Wilson ~ the result Of
q throwing on the trammels Of protection,
would Dc attained.
For more than q quarter Of century,
as Mr.. Wilson reminded his audience,
the Democracy OF the United States have
voluntarily accepted grsvious economi-
cal yoke such as has rarely been imposed
upon any civilized nation. Protection
has been tried on larger scale and over .
wider area than in any other country.
''Never BEFORE" says Mr.. Wilson, ''has
1t been so tested as 10 its principles and
its tendencies as during the past rs years
in the United States, and never before In
the history OF the world has 1t 80 con-
spicuously demonstrated its own falsity,
its own utter impotence as an economical
factor, its incompatibility with pure
government and honest sdministrs-
tion." We are not prepared to
contest, or even to attenuate, this severe
Judgment. The electors Of the United
States appeared to have taken the same
view when there was an uprising . few
years ago against the Mckinley
tariff, which eliminated in President
Cleveland's return to power and In
the choice OF the present House OF Rep
resentatives, In which Mr.. Wilson has
been one of the leading mem bers. This
was the outcome of q conflict which began
long ascendency of the republicans, dat.
ing from the triumph OF their principles
over the Southern secession, had begun
to wane. "We have" Mr.. Wilson says,
''just fought and just won the first battle
in that confiict.h 1t is to be feared that
MIR. Wilson's praisoworthy zeal makes
him somewhat forgetful of the warning
thai he that girdeth on his harness should
ho "A
off. The victory over the protectionists
has been incomplete, and its results, made
quate as they are, can by no means be re-
garded as placed beyond doubt. 1t was
certainly far from what earnest tariff
reformers, not to speak of convinced free
traders, confidently expected when Mr..
Cleveland was raised to the presidency.
and when the Mckinley tariff was thought
to be doomed. The Presidents letter to
Mr.. Wilson himself, condemning the bill
adopted by the Senate, is conclusive evil
dence that Mr.. Wilson is "puttinR Il too
high" when he speaks of the enactment
Of that disappointing and illogical
measure az presaging "the overthrow of
the protective system" HIS Language,
moreover, Il rather inconsistent when
he describes the course of the aei-
tation against high duties. The party
of tariff reform, as he truly says, "haye
been compelled to carry on this fignt
slowly and laboriously." The diffi-
culties, indeed, are obvious. They have
been pointed out by all sound economists
as certain to arse under protective sys-
tenn and to obstruct by the creation OF
vested interests any attempt to rc.urn to
the true path.
How are we to reconcile this admission
with Mr.. Wilson's assertion that the
American people "were not hard to edu-
| cate, because they had been trained by
tradition and Inheritance in the great
principles OF liberty" II the masses ia
the United States have been "quick to
learn " the advantages Of free trade and the
disadvantages OF protection, how did II
come to pass that the tariff reformers
were only able to make way "slowly and
lsboriously 2" IL the process of conyer-
sion has been completed, as Mr. Wilson
believes, and the evils OF protection have
been brought home TO the minds both of
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