Delaware gazette and state journal., 1896-07-30
AN ENGLISH VIEW OF M'KlNLENSM.


London Chronicle.
BY "a strange stroke Of fate 1t happens
that the jubilee of free trade, which
ouH with the enthusiastic nomination
OF the most noted living protectionist
rs candidate for the Presidency of the
United States. The enemies of free
trade in this country may undoubtedly
make what capital they can from this
singular fact, as well as from tho fact
ism rules the cabinet in the person Of
M. Meline. Against this, we must set
the updoubted triumph OF modified
free trade in Canada. We are not in
the least inclined to ignore facts which
may be disagreeable, or to deny that
the hopes of half century ago have
then could or did foresee. II Golden
himself was deceived as to the future,
30 were also all the prominent public
men then living, and, therefore, it is
absurd to fasten on him the charge OF
blindness to coming events. The truth
is we are all blind to what may happen
within given time. Future events
are on the knees of the gods, and 1t Is
ofiJ tnc CudTldtuu WIN VIII bo az
| solutly certain about the actual details
of the future. What the wise man
does is, not to predict details, but to
discern the general drift and course of
things, ana this the apostles of free
trade did. They maintained that the
protectonist system was allied to mo-
nopoly, that it led TO public jobbery
and extravaganza, and that, relying as
| snIt
best implement that could be forged
for the armory of militsrism. We con
tend that the course of events during
the last half century has abundantly
| proved this diagnosis to be true.
| Let us take America and Europe to-
day, and consider the position each,
under proteGtionist regime, occupies.
The United States is such great and
rich country that it would take much
indeed to ruin it; and it may be freely
admitted that it could, under wise
administration, prosper either under
protection or free trade, provided
either were consistently applied. But
rich as America is, boundess as are
her resources, ii is quite certain that,
during the last 10 or dozen years,
with wealth increasing at an unprece-
|
more suffering among the laboring
population, immensely more disloca-
tlon in business, than in this old and
crowded country. DR.. Carroll d.
Wright, than whom there is no more
trustworthy authority living, declared
officially that in the crisis of 1886,
there were some 1900, 600 of un-
employed. In the later crisis of 1893 A
the number of the unemployed rose to
over 5000, 600, and in some cities the
streets were almost blocked with the
masses of meu out of work. The
process which conducts to this con-
dition Of things in the American in
dustrial centres is in this wise: pro.
tectionism is the moat formidable agent
in the building up OF huge capitalist
monopolies. These monopolies when
completed rush on production without
the slightest reference to the needs OF
the community, being aided by the
wonderful development of machinery, in
which America is ahead OF the rest OF
the world. Immense stores are accu.
muated for which there is no effective
demand, when general cut in wages
takes place, thus rendering the con.
sumer even less able to make dnmand
for commodities than before. Then q
wholesale shut down. takes place,
and there is the spectacle of idle mills,
unemployed workmen, and enormous
masses of goods crammed in ware.
houses. The natural thing would be
TO sell this surplus to foreign Gus
TONER'S, to tap the rich markets o.
South America, China and Australia,
which tho United States ought to bt
able to do more easily than any Euro
pean country. But protectionism which
has built q great Chinese wall of tariff
around the United States, forbids this
and so the richest of protective coun
tries with the most perfect machinery
is unable 10 dispose OF that surplus
which her economic system compel.
her to produce. We might refer to tn,
way in which high tariffs are made vi
IN America, to the shameful lobby
ing" in Congress, to the subservien
manner in which legislators obey tn,
behests of those who have ''cornered' ;
all the supplies of coal, iron, wheat
oil, sugar, and other great stapl,
products, although this rather belongs
to the moral and political than to the
more purely economic side of protec
tlonlsm. Certain it is that the genera
results are entirely out of harmony
with those principles and ideas which
are fundamental TO the American re
, public. Sooner or later a serious col
lision will certainly be brought about
and our non prOtectionists at home vii
have striking object lesson as 10 th,
direction in which their doctrines lead
, In Europe the plain and obvious re
suits of protectionism have been {,
, bolster up mllitarism, and to prepar,
for general bankruptcy. Indirect taxa
tion is the most beautiful weapon eve
forged for emperors and generals, for i
enables them to get all the money the,
want without the people knowing hoy
IL is obtained or whittier it goes. o.
the one hand spurious and OK
aggerated national patriotism i
aroused against "the foreigner
which leads to the taxation OF tn,
products he has TO sell; and on tn
other, this very taxation is used fo
swelling armies and making big guns
The connection of huge armaments an,
high tariffs is vital and intimate, AM
the one will not be destroyed or re
duced without the other. Every lin
which Cobden wrote ON this subject
every speech he made, is being verifiel
, TO the letter in the warlike, tariff
bound Europe of to day.
! And now what of our own country
For us free trade is not matter O
theory or balancing of arguments, bu
, an absolute necessity, arising from tn
fact that to produce, we must pur
" chase our food and raw material fror
, elsewhere. That we might produc