The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-11-20


Ohio. has been quoted in published
Interview thus:
II do not regard the present result as
an endorsement of the Mckinney pm %
a demand on the part Of the peopi,e toi
radical tariff legislation. There VIII u,i
dOubtedly be some members VINO WIZ VIZ
regard ii as such, but ] hardly peneVe
the party will enter into any extreme
LEGISLATION of this kind. | would not
favor anv great increase Of duties OII
the stump I'm the campaign l Salu VIZ .,c,
plainly that I was moderate pIo'eC
zionist, and wanted only such dunes as
would insure a fair rate OF wages LOT
the workingmen Of this country pc
Ieve In so placing the duties as TO allow
a. healthy foreign competition n /
should see that any duty was n IIit ~
monopoly. | would take that duty OH.
The Republicans went to an extreme Vi,
the question In 1880, because they hau
absolute control Of all branches OF Ine
Government If there had been any
check. they would not have done so.
There is neither rhyme nor reason in
this sort Of talk If there Is any virtue
In protection II cannot be carried 100
far II ought 10 30 the length Of pro-
hibiting all foreign importatons ana
secure for American manufacturers the
entire American market. II the Amer-
can manufacturers are entitled as a
matter of right, to a part of the Ameri-
can market they are entitled to all OF II.
If. on the other hand, the people Of the
United States are entitled to buy their
goods where they can get them cheapest
they are entitled to buy all their goods
in that market If they choose 10 do So
aud any abridgment whatever of that
right is an indefensible wrong TO them.
If protection IS right it is right as an
entirety; If it is wrong it is wrong in
all its parts Logically. there is no pos
BILE answer to this position. Men with
easy consciences may salve over half
crime 70 their consciences, but they do
not thereby make the half crime any
less a crime There Is no difference be-
tween the half crime and the whole
crime The man who is conscious that
he is committing a half crime is just
as guilty in the forum of morals, and in
the eyes of God, as the man who, know
ingly, commits a whole crime.
But this whole idea of protection,
whether moderate or extreme, Is the
deadly foe Of national interests and ma
tional prosperity. National prosperity
comes from perfectly free exchanges of
commodities with the whole world. An
area of territory may lie stagnant and
yet be capable of producing great wealth.
Why? 1t is stagnant because what il
has been in the habit Of producing is
not wanted by those who dwell next to
it, But if all parts of the world were
permitted to send their products to that
territory without let or hindrance com
mon carrier would become at once in
terested to find a people somewhere in
the world who wanted what that area
produced. and as that area also wanted
what that other people produced, this
carrier would find his account In trans
porting the goods of one to the other and
in bringing back the goods Of the other
to the former But If there were a ter
ritory producing something which no one
wanted this intermediary would find out
that that territory was capable Of pro-
ducing something which the inhabitants
Of another country-of Terra del Fuego,
perhaps-wanted and he would set that
territory to producing it, so that he could
make profitable trips to Terra del Fuego
and return. by bringing the products Of
Terra del Fuego here without embarrass-
ment. To these exchanges, which are
the sources OF all HdtlOHdl prosperity,
absolute freedom of intercourse is neces-
sary. If intercourse is perfectly free
backwards and forwards, going and re-
turning. each community finds the other
community with which it can trade prof.
tably by a law that Is as certain as the
law of gravitation. But if there is any
impeachment whatever placed in the way
Of free exchanges, both ways, the pros
perity Of the community is diminished
to that extent.
The protective tariff law Expresses the
American people then most cruelty in
two ways. II first forces them 10 buy
what they use from American manu-
facturers at the prices which those man
ufacturers choose to charge, and ii then
shuts them off from all opportunities 10
find the people who can trade 10 the best
advantage with them, and forces them
thereby TO stand idle when they could be
engaged in most profitable work If they
were only allowed TO hunt out the other
people who wanted their wares and had
other wares TO give in exchange which
the American people wanted, which they
could bring back without hindrance
What folly! What criminality!