The times., 1894-02-16
distracted ana Iefr 1t nrst on the list Of

ana distracted ana lett 1t first on the list OF
nations.
But we must not leave this matterto our
own praises. Let others speak, and above
all the citizens of that land which is our
great rival, at whose et'American states
manship in this house now sits.
/ have seen an article in The Fortnightly
Review wherein Mr. j Stevens Jeans, a
British free trade writer, in December, 1892,
declares that America has for many years
enjoyed an amazing degree of prosperity, so
much so indeed that, TO use the eloquent
words of Edmund Burke: 'Generalities
which in all other cases are apt to heighten
and raise the subject have here tendency to
link it. Fiction lags after truth, invention
IS unfruitful and imagination cold and
barren"
When Tread these words, / recalled scene
In this house and said how differently men
look at the same things
Here is a cool blooded Englishman who,
In 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 worlds his
tory is once again to be founds lying at the
feet of British industry and commerce" !"
declares that America has for mary years
enjoyed an amazing degree Of prosperity,
so much so indeed" that he has to use the
words of Burke TO say that he cannot even
describe it, And yet in this very hall a
member of the committee of ways and
means, himself a countryman OF Edmund
Burke, and whose wonderful eloquence
moved this assembly as never saw it NOV
ed before, allowed himself, amid Laughter
and applause on the Democratic side to
compare this amazing prosperity to "pro-
longed debauch," from which the country
could rescue itself only by the free use of
the committees dilution of the original
beverage It seems somehow almost des-
ecration to put the facts over against the
figure of speech
Solid Arguments Needed.
OF course we are not 80 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
epthets. We are not going TO risk our all
upon fragments of ancient platform speech
es, 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
not going to venture into the unknown be-
cause political economists bid us do So
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 Il body TO force our conclu-
sions. On no trackless future will we ven
ture unless the prospect Of increased happi-
ness il large enough to justify risk and ex-
posure.
Is there any example in the history of the
world of any nation situated like ours that
has taken the step to which we are invited?
Some gentlemen perhaps are Fastening
to say that England affords us the needed
example; that we have but to turn to her
history and finda that we need by way of
examples, just as in the statements Of her
political economists we shall find all that is
necessary for advice, for guidance and in
struction. Mr.. Speaker, have looked there,
and am amazed to find how little the ex-
ample of England can teach.
England when she became free trade was
workshop wherein was manufactured the
raw material of the rest of the world. OF
raw material she herself had none. Her
coal and iron and the invention of the steam
engine had developed her manufactures so
out of proportion to the wages of her work
men that she must have 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 clamoring for more pay
Tariff had really ceased to be protection ex-
cept on corn, and not on that in any true
protective sense. II 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 1910
was for free food, and Golden nowhere says
anything else. Protection in our modern
sense is never mentioned in any one of his
free trade speeches.
The Bill a Deed of Violence.
After this review of the story of Eng
lands change will any man dare to say that
he finds therein any justification for the
present deed of violence which is called the
Wilson bill?
Suppose England, instead of beinga little
island in the sea, had been the half of
great continent full Of raw material, cara-
BILE Of an internal commerce which would
rival the commerce of all the rest of the
world.
Suppose every year new millions were
focking to her shores, and every one of those
new millions in few years, as soon as they
tasted the delights Of broader life, would
become as great a consumer as any one of
her own people.
Suppose that these millions and the TO-
000, 600 already gathered under the folds Of
her flag were every year demanding and re-
ceiving higher wage and therefore broad
ening her market as fast as her machinery
could furnish production. Suppose she had
produced cheap food beyond all her wants,
and that her laborers spent so much money
that whether wheat was go cents bushel
or twice that sum hardly entered the
thoughts Of one of them except when some
Democratic tariff bill was paralyzing his
business.
Suppose that she was not only but can
non shot from France, but that every coun-
try in Europe had been brought as near to
her as Baltimoreis to Washington, for that
is what cheap ocean freights mean between
us and European producers. Suppose all
those countries had her machinery, her
skilled workmen, her industrial system.
and labor 40 per cent cheaper. Suppose un
der that state of facts, with all her manu-