The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-17
ADDITION, DIVISION AND SILENCE.

If the lumber men agree upon what
they want" says the Minneapolis
Tribune, they will be apt to get it,
and the support of the whole lumber
interest, North and South, will thus
be secured for the Republican tariff
measure" We could not desire a more
concise and complete description Of
the methods by which the moderate"
tariff bill, that the Republican men,
bers tell us about, is to be conceived
and carried through than this frank.
and doubtless unintentional, admission
Of the Tribune The protected barons
are to agree upon what they want"
When all of them have summed I'D
their desires. they are to stand in &C.
gether and log-roll the resulting bill
through congress. We have no doubt
this will be done. 1t is the history of
all tariff legislation. 1t calls in play
: the one potent force behind protec-
tion, which is greedy selfshness. 1t
is the old story of addition, division
and silence" that is blundering1y
spoken by the thoughtless confessions
of newspapers like the Tribune.
1t would be impossible to conceive of a
more unnecessary and ubiquitous appli-
cation Of the protection theory than
the tariff on lumber 1t is not to be
justified even by the ordinary soph-
iCY1aG
constitute the capital of the protec-
zionist. A lumber industry, necessarily
and on the face of it, cannot need to
be protected. The pretense of the high
tarin people is that the American
laborer needs to be protected against
the low priced labor of Europe. Now.
lumber does not come to US from
Europe in any quantities that threaten
the home market. Europe needs it's
lumber for itself. The only competition
which the lumber industry of the Unit
ed States must meet is that Of Canada.
The ''pauper labor" theory does not
apply to our neighbor on the north Tt
is new country like our cwn. and
wages, for that reason, compare
favorably with those which we pay
There is absolutely no sign in the
whole horizon of any competition In
lumber that this country needs to fear.
A glance now at the other side of
the case. Lumber is a commodity
which needs, almost as much as fuel.
to be given to the people at the lowest
market price. Without it the farmer
on the western prairie cannot build
his house or store his products It Is
the common necessary of people all
over the country. A tax upon it is
tax upon habitations, as well as upon
business. 1t is scarcely less offensive
than those old imposts upon the house.
hold, the hearth tax and the window
tax, that drove the common people
into rebellion. Any legislative policy
that tends to raise it's price is infa-
nous. Again, this country, instead of
adopting a measure that encourages
the destruction of our forests, ought
to take exactly the opposite course. 1t
IS admitted by all that the reckless
cutting Of lumber in the United States
has already wrought irreparable in
jury. Whatever lumber supplies we
may bring from outside help to save
our forests. to keep our streams navi-
gable and to prevent those climatic
changes that have reduced other coun
tries from fertility to desoIa ton. Fin
ally, there are few departments of in,
dustry In which great combinations
are more all-powerful than they are
among the producers of lumber. They
have united to form oppressive mono.
poles. They have dared to go into
great combinations which ostracise
and eXpel any member that dares to
sell to a party outside of the trust
This IS one Of the interests that now
comes UP clamoring for a protection
that cannot be anything more or less
than an injury to every American citi-
zen for the benefit of the trust.
All this will go for nothing Merit
and just demands do not enter into the
case. The new tariff bill will not be
framed according to commercial con-
ditions, and will not apply the test
OF either merit or necessity. We know
how the Mckinley act of 1890 was