The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-04-13
REASONABLE PROTECTION.

REASONABLE PROTECTION.
There Is very little danger that in re-
yising the tariff along protection lines
the duties will be made too low. The
chief peril is in exactly the opposite di
rection. Protection is defensilble only
on the ground that it contributes to the
general good. Yet We see evidence every
it as device to increase their profits al
the general expense. They ask for duties
on. this thing and that simply and solely
because they think they will enhance the
price Of the particular thing they. produce
or manufacture and enabls them TO make
more money. A great many of the people
who appear before the committee Oh
ways and means when IA tariff bill is In
preparation are animated with this idea
and this only, and unless restrained ii
will eventually sound the death
knell of the system. The real bone.
ficiaries Of protection ought to be the
masses of the people, and they will be in
a system properly arranged. What the
AaeSSSOo s'ssho 10 oPPo1 oohioy w AHRoA -
fair remuneration, and that protection is
designed to give, AID unless it gives it 1t
has failed of it's real purpose. : The more
diversified the employments of country
are the more opportunities for labor
there will be. All men are not adapted
and cannot adapt themselves to single
kind of employment. There Is a greai
difference In the physical and mental
capacity.o of men. Some are suited for one
occupation and some for another. The
more different kinds of work there are
going on in country, therefore,
the more likely every one is to
find some kind that he Is adapt
ed to. Protection tends to the es-
therein, we conceive, is it's chief advant-
age to country. Years ago bsfore the
invention of the steamship the delay and
expense of transportation constituted a
defence to certain extent against the
competition of foreign countries, but the
ease and oheapnessEof communication has
about eliminated that and we now have
to rely to large extent upon artificial
barriers erected by the tariff. To furnish
adequate protection the barrier needs to
be somewhat higher than in the old days
of the sailing vessel, butIit ought to be
noshigher than is necessary to equalize
the conditions of manufacture and pro-
duotion in this and foreign countries. Ell
is for the general good that the working
m Ell of this country should enjoy good
wages and if our tariff adds to the labor
cost of articles manufactured or
produced in Europe the differ
encs between the labor cost there
and here 1T adds enough generally
to insure the practicability of the pro.
duction of the same articles.here without
a.reduction of the rate of wages. Protec-
ton to this extent is defansible, because
1t is for the general good, but when it
goes much beyond that, either by impos-
ing duties upon articles which cannot be
produced in this country, or by making
them higher ON articles that can be pro-
duced. here than are needed to cover the
difference in labor cost then it becomes
fayoritism, except SO far as it is laid for
revenue. To tax an article which we
cannot produce to compel the people to
Use an inferior article which we can, is
not a legitimate use Of protection.
Neither is it legitimate to ..plaoe SO high
duty on an article which we can pro.
duce as to enable its producers to gel
quickly rich out Of it. Most advocates OF
protection ore ready to admit that this is
all correct in theory, but yet great
many Of theinsare constantly violating il
in practice, simply for the reason that
they find it extremely difficult to resi,t
the demands of special interests. A
congressman who is beset by large in
dustry that fiourishes in his district, finds
livery difficult to refusa it's demands. and
as neary every congressman is SO beset
there is great danger of duties being laid
in excess of what are needful for the
legitimate purposes of protection. A
protective tariff Of sufficient extent tc
equalize the conditions of production in
this and foreign countries will find very
few DIRECTORS in this country at the
present time, and such tariff is likely
to endure many years But tariff that
goes beyond that, ia sure to provoke a
reaction.