The Globe-republican., 1899-12-28

meat
Perhaps the ablest and most COM
meyer free trade contention that 1.-The
customs tariff is the mother of trusts"
is that which is to be found in the
paper contributed by DR.. Samuel
Adams Robinson to the proceedings Of
the Chicago trust conference of Sep
TENDER, 1899. In the current issue Of
the American Economist this interest
ing contribution is reproduced in full.
1t will be noticed that the paper sub
mitted in behalf Of the American policy
Of protection to American labor and
industry is in no sense an apology for
or defense Of that policy. DR.. Robin
son would as soon think of apologize
ing for the Apostles Greed or the Ser
mon on the Mount He takes the Of
fensive, not the defensive-hOw effec-
lively a reading of his very forcible
paper will show.
The tone assumed by DR.. Robinson
is indicated In the title of his contribu-
ton, Free Trade as Trust Antidote. !"
Believing as he does that free trade
b to a country such as ours calamity
Ina a curse, the writer loses no time
Yin defining his attitude of vigorous at
tack upon that doctrine which scans
so we'll as a theory and proves so
atrociously destructive in practice.
With a well-aimed shaft of irony he
begins by puncturing the pretension
that free traders are enemies of trusts,
and he shows beyond question that 1t
is not the trusts. but the protective
tariff, that they wish to destroy. He
says:
Assuming, however, for the purpose
OF this discussion, that the enemies OF
protection are also the enemies OF
trusts in equal sincerity. it ought to
be plain to every unbiased mind that
the remedy for trust oppression is not
to be found in the death Of domestic
competition. At least We should not
make a headlong rush for that remedy
until we are sure that it is the right
one. Rather let us be wise and pa
tient and inform ourselves as to the
precise character Of the disease before
attempting to diagnose and prescribe.
When we shall have done this it Is
not impossible that the trust antidote
will be forthcoming in the shape OF ef-
fective laws born, not of guesswork
and dogmatism, but Of knowledge
gained from test and experience.
III experience has taught anything.
II has taught that in a country such as
ours, with its limitless latent resources
awaiting development, you cannot
pluck the fruit of prosperity from the
Tree of free trade. 1t does not grow
there. Do men gather grapes Of thorns,
or figs Of thistles? On general princi-
pies the remedy for monopoly is not
the limitation of internal competition.
Gasoline is not good medium for fire
extinguishment Free trade is not the
remedy we are in search of, unless the
people of the United States are pre-
pared to enter upon an experiment GER
tain to overthrow our industries, but
not certain to smash the trusts. So
say, for the present:
Rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others we know not Of
The certain effect of the destruction
of new competition through the re-
moval of protection. the only guaranty
of unrestricted domestic competition. is
convincingly pointed out by DR.. Rob-
inson. He emphasizes the fact that
competition is the only menace which
the trust has to fear, and that to de-
stroy that competition would be to
play into the hands of the trusts. 1t
would inevitably lead, first, to a sweep
ing reduction of American wages and
of the American standard of living.
and, second, to the formation of the
International trust-a trust composed
of wage payers against whom the
wage earners of America would be
powerless in the absence of the advan-
tage which they now possess by reason
of the protective tariff.
The facts as to tin plate-that, in
practical operation. the ostensible duty
OF ~ cents pound is reduced to
about y a cent per pound. and that
while American makers were advanc-
ing the price u cents a box the Welsh
makers put up their price $1.45 a box
-theoe and other relevant facts are
cited by DR.. Robinson to show that the
American tin plate trust has not yet
been convicted Of the crime of arbi-
trarily advancing prices to a point not
justified by the large increases that
have taken place in the cost of mate
rails, wages, etc. and that in free
trade Great Britain the advance has
been double that put in force in pro-
tected America. He also shows that,
whereas American tin plate workers
have been granted an advance of Is
per cent over the wages they received
under the Wilson law. the tin plate
workers Of Wales have been compelled
to submit to a 10 per cent reduction
Of their wages.
The concluding portion of DR.. Robin
sons article bristles with points well
put On the question of tariff and
wages he says:
The question of the effect of a pro-
A.