The herald., 1895-09-18
PROTECTION
Sseeeeseeceeeeeooeeoees
BY ABBOT KINNEY

Fart OF every one soul SOIL is give n
over to a sFeld of Folly. 1t is in this
close that the noxious weeds of life find
favoring conditions. Often we give our
greatest attention to the cultivation of
these weeds; not only this but our en-
ergy and enthusiasm is frequently devot-
ed to sowing such seed free and broadcast
in the souls OF others. Among the poll
ticallv noxlous weeds of American life is
one which, from its harbor associations,
may be called the Dockweed of Protec-
ton No ranker weed has ever afflicted
our political life or damaged our crops of
honest effort, which we may compare to
wheat and corn.
To its too vigorous growth of privilege
and greed artificial manures have min
istered. Load upon load CT failacy rot for
its roots to feed On. The, Dockweed OF
Protection grows and thrives when al.
else withers. Under the corruption OF its
partisan financial fertillzing, honest, in
dependent effort sckens and its gross
monopolistc feeding closes the career of
one free American industry after another.
The word protection is itself monu-
mental msnomer. Protection of any
thing implies weakness in the thing pro-
tected. In America there is no single case
OF protection having been given to a
weak company or small combination of
capital and never to any thing or any
one not a com bne of capital, or to CAPT
talist. In other words our American pro
lection has always been taxation Of tae
great middle class and a forced, indirect
contribution from the whole body of the
poor for the benefit of the richest and
most powerful men and comb nations of
men in the community. To use a colo
quial expression-the weak have never
been IN 1t for minute. One form of
our protection, both to railroad magnates
and to sugar nlagnates, has been
bounty. This is direct and clear. Vino
gets it? TO whom does the government
pay tho money? Why, to the wealthy
classes of course. The rich man gets the
protective bounty; the poor man never.
The government never paid bounty or
a protective tax OF any kind TO a laboring
man. The talk about protection being for
and well-known philanthropy of the
rich bounty receivers ana by reason of
the equally well-known fact that the
bounty getter never keeps it, but always
divides it all with the workingman, has
been attacked with this question:
If the government, or rather the Re-
publican party, really wants to increase
laborers' wages by tariffs or hounties why
trouble the rich to make the distribution?
Why not pay the bounty direct to the
laborer? The reason is, OF course, in the
strictest con idence, that the whole thing
is pretty game and that the political
protection lobby made happy hit when it
invented. a few years ago, the idea that
the tariff or bounty went to the work
man. This usefully covered up the or
igiral political capitalist cry that prOtec-
ton was needed because wages were high.
1t was because of the, to them, misfor-
tune of America that wages were high,
that they asked the delegation Of the tax
ing power from the government to them
selves. AS time went on that bald prop
osition would not do service with the
masses, hence the mask.
There are none so blind as those who
will not see. 1t is by some sucn aphor-
ism alone that we can explain the fact
that intelligent Americans still support
this nntiquated relic of barbarism. By
the protectionst statement the country
is alreauv in classes, like the feudal ages,
and the same claim of that age that the
feudal lords should have grants, benefces
and coin and pay no taxes, because they
could better support their serfs, and
walls with our equally privileged class.
They get the bounties and the raxes be
cause they can better care tor their labor
ers and the party.
Whatever the facts in America are, no
free country can contin lie to exist on the
sheep to- be. cared-for plan. Sheep, shep-
herds and shearing imply, indeed, the
care of the sheep. But in our protective
snearing system the care for the sheared
sheep. while claimed to exist. was never
even born. The protected millionaire
treats his men on the free government
theory of responsible men depending on
their individual efforts, while he works
the government on the exploded theories
of despotism, corruption. class rule and
class privilege. Even the word free has
come to be slurred Free trade bothered
the lobby so they linkeu the word free
with all sorts of abuses. None of these
ISLANDERS on foundation word of our re-
public was more cowardly and contempt
ible than that first spoken by protec-
ZIONIST at San Jose. That protective
statesman com pared free trade to tho ex-
ercise of license and lust in free love.
To uphold his doctrine lie felt compelled
to pull down the freedom, free men, free
born and all our boosted liberties and
tongue license fol the sake of scattering
and blackening the woro free when APP
piled to legitimate trade.
To use the great taxing power of the
government to levy forced contribution
from the people for the private enrich
ment of the few is. as Justice Miller said,
no less robbery because disguised I'M
der the furm OF law.