The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1898-08-06
is A MAN OF. STRAW.
Contentious of Free Traders Re.
futed by Facts and Figures.
Their Most Cherished Dogmas De-
moiished by the Extraordinary
Growth OF Our Foreign Trade
Within Past Eleven Months.

The action Of Secretary Day in sub
| uniting TO congress request for an
appropriation of $4,000 to send a COM
mercial commission 10 China, with n
view to investigating the possibilities
of extending American trade in the
orient, seems to have stirred up the
free trade press amazingly. The Cob
denite organs have been singing rather
| small of late, In view of the tremendous
| increase in our exports of agricultural
and manufactured products that has
| followed the enactment of the Dingley
tariff, as shown in the marvellous COM
mercial statistics of the past IL months.
editorials, showing that the policy
of protection is destructive of foreign
trade In the face of figures showing
that our foreign trade has expanded
| TO an extent that astonishes the civil
lied world. You cannot hope 10 gain
| for the Manchester theory a respectful
hearing at a time when the enormous
facts of commerce completely ami
hilate that theory. How are you going
10 predict eternal ruin for a country
that has In the past year sold 10 for
eign consumers more than double the
amount IL has bought from foreign pro-
ducers, leaving a favorable trade bal
ance of $600,000,000 as q result of the
years business? People will not be-
lieve your assertion that protection
hangs around their necks as n milestone
40 t.4f eel
only have our exports Of manufactures
increased immensely under protection
and broken all records, but that we
have actually sold TO foreign countries
in the past year s50,s0o,000 more of
manufactured goods than we have
bought of them.
Under these conditions things were
looking bad for the free trade editors,
when they saw, or thought they saw,
in Secretary Days proposal for a
Chinese trade commission a chance to
breathe a little new life into their MORT
bund propaganda. In his letter to Con-
gress Secretary Day stated the facts
of the case in plain, clear language
when he said;
The export trade OF the United States is
undergoing a transformation which prom
| ises TO profoundly influence the whole eco
| nomic future OF the country. AS Is well
| known. the United States has reached the
| foremost rank among the Industrial ma
| lions. For a number OF years It's position
as the greatest producer Of manufactures
as well as OF raw products has been undis-
| puted but, absorbed with It's own internal
| development and satisfied for the time be-
ing. with the enormous home market OF TO-
| 100000 people, II has until recently devoted
but kttle concerted effort 20 the sale Of ITS
manufactures outside OF It's own borders.
Recently, however. the fact has become
more and more apparent that the output
| OF the United States manufacturers has de-
| veloped by the remarkable inventive genius
| and Industrial skill OF our people with n
| rapidity which has excited attention
throughout the great centers OF manufac-
turing activity In Europe, and has reached
| the point OF large excess above the demands
| OF home consumption.
True, every word of IL, and n splen-
| did tribute 10 the success of the policy
that has produced these results. Most
people would conclude, with Secretary
Day, that In view of the wonderful
showing for the fiscal year just clos
| ing, IL was time TO put in train some
well-defined measures for carrying
the trade into foreign fields. Not 40
the free trade sophist OF the New York
Evening Post, who shouts: "The adj
ministration surrenders the very cita-
del of protectionl" and then proceeds
TO pervert the obvious Specification of
the letter of the secretary of state, rs
| follows:
Satisfied for the time being with the
mn rlra htff mr.. M w.t.
I'll Why. the very basic principle OF protec-
| ton is that the home market is all that the
| American nation needs, or ever can need
whether II has 1000. ZOO people, or 10 goo,
or twice 100000. Admit that the home
market no longer sufiices for nation OF
| 70. 0o0. 600 people, and the very keystone OF
McKinleyism is gone.
The war has opened the eyes OF all par
ties TO the fact that the old Issues have be-
When McKinley's secretary OF state and
closest personal friend In the cabinet ridi-
cules the home market theory, everybody
can see that the republican party VIII
never make another high tariff campaign.
Comment of this sort deceives no
body. IL Is neither truthful nor intel
llgent, but II Is thoroughly character
istic of the Evening Post. That news
paper leads the free trade press OF the
United States In the recklessness of Its
assertion of things that are not SO.
In the present instance IL goes rather
beyond It's normal average OF perver-
sion and Misrepresentation, and
reaches the point of downright abb
surdity In the contention that pr3tec-
tion has never contemplated any trade
beyond or outside of the home market.
Such an assertion, In the light Of the
foreign trade figures for the past IL
months, sounds futile and foolish. AS
Chairman Dingley remarks: ut Is
hardly possible that those who make
such statement are not aware that
they are setting up man Of straw In
order to afford the occasion for knock
ing IL over" That kind Of argument
may meet with favor among the Cob
denites, who have Of late Jared badly
for arguments of any sort in favor OF
their pet theory, but to the American
citizen of average brains and intelli-
gence IL is rot pure and simple.