The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-11-13
OF THE NEWS:

To THE EDITOR OF THE NEWS:
sIR-The expectation that exists, that
the mere election OF Mckinley viii imme-
diately restore prosperity. cannot be
realized.
There will be no considerable or perms-
nent revival OF business, no improvement
in the condition of wsge-earners and far
mers until a protective tariff, framed uron
the principles of the Mckinley tariff has
been In force for some months. The great
meaning OF the election OF Mckinley is
that the people demand such a tariff.
There is every reason to believe that the
new al administration and the Repu blican
majority in Congress will accept the re-
suit OF the election as a man date to fulfill
the promise of the st. Louis platform to
give "the most ample protection 10 all
our industries"
There Will oe great deal of advice to
Mr.. Mckinley to remem ber his obligation
TO sound money Democrats and discard
his tariff opinions In favor of more
moderate creed. Then there will be an
out cry from the commercial classes
u
business. In my opinion the welfare OF
the ountry, all the Legitimate fruits of
the Republican victory of 1896, will ne
sacrificed II such counsels are at all re-
garded by President Mckinley or by Con
gress. A special session OF Congress in
the spring is inevitable.
1t should be. called early, and legisla-
tion upon the tariff should be speedy and
radical. CromwelI's watchword,
Thorough" should be the guiding prin
ciple.
Such radicalism will prove the truest
conservatism. Let protectionists recall,
the principles which Blaine taught. On
page 2l2 OF "Twenty Years of Congress,
Blaine say: "An adjustment Of the pro-
tective duty to the point which represents
the average difference between wages of
la Dor in Europe and in America Will, In
the judgment OF protectionists, always
prove imprscticable. The difference can
not be regulated by scale of averages,
because 1t is constantly subject to arbi.
on that basis for any given date, areduc-
tion Of wages would at once be enforced
abroad, and the Am erican manufacturer
would, in consequence, be driven to the
desperate choice OF deripg the home
market or reoucing the pay of workmen.
The theory OF protection Is not an
swered, nor can its realization be attained
by any such device" Mr.. Blaine might
have added that protective duty SO
adjusted would prove inadequate IL an
increase OF wages should take place in
the American factory.
In the same chapter Mr.. Blaine pre-
sents the strongest arguments for such
indeed will even demand one higher than
that at an early day. "The assailsnts OF
protection apparently overlook the fact
tnst excessive production 10 due, both in
England and in America, to causes be-
yond the operation Of duties either high
or low. No cause is more potent than
the prodigious capacity OF machinery set
In motion by the agency of steam. 1t is
! asserted by an intelligent econimist that,
II performed by hand, the work done by
mae hinery I'm Great Britain would require
the labor of seven hundred million men,
a far larger mum ber of adults than In
habit the globe. 1t is not strange that
with this vast enginery, the power to
produce has a constant tendency TO out
run The power to consume. Protectionists
! find In this n conclusive argument
against surrendering the domestic mar
ket OF the United States TO the control Of