Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1899-02-17
"A FOREIGN VIEW.
Prosperity As II appears In
Austria
rhe Age, Melbourne, n. $. W.

Inc age, Melbourne, IN o. W.
"fhe increased prosperity of the
States, Ian unprecedented volume of
their trade" aud satisfactory condi-
ton of the Federal revenue"-these
are ,hree points If domestic jubllation
in the Presidential speech to the Amer
lean Congress Il Is "A great boast To
make after the famine years that fol
lowed Americas brief lapse into the
Wilson Free-Trade Tariff of he Cleve-
land regime. But it is an old story.
There is no Government on earth which
has gwen so many alternate trials to
the rival policies of Free.Trade and
Protection AS America has done. And
"A rigid Investigation into the statistical
record proves to n demonstration from
which there is no escape that every
ProtectioniSt period has synchronized
with internal prosperity, and every
Free Trade period with industrial and
financial decline. From other and eX-
traneous causes it might well have been
otherwise, since divers circumstances
conducS to nations material welfare.
But it has so happened in America that
the fiscal issue has worked its natural
results. and the alternating policies
have marked the nations progress with
periods of stimulus and decline. The
periods in question are a, follows:
Protection, 1913 to 1917: Impetus
to trade and revenue.
Free. Trade, lSl7ito 1924 Decline
in beth.
Protection, 1924 to 1884 Impetus
10 trade and revenue.
Free-Irade, 1884 to 1912: Decline
in both.
Protection, 1912 to 1916: Impetus
TO trade and revenue.
Free-Trade, 1916 to 1860: Decline
in both.
Protection, 1860 to 1892: Impetus
To trade and revenue.
Free. Trade, 1892 to 1896: Decline
IN both.
Protection, 1896 to 1898: Impetus
to trade and revenue.
A fact has just been noticed here
which carries its own significance as to
how Protectionist America is cutting
into the Free-Trade markets of the
world. Messrs. James MEwan IL Co..
Limited, have just secured a contract
for steel plates for the Coolgardie water
supply scheme. The contract amounts
TO t250,000 for quantity of
30 900 tons. The execution of this
contract was at once placed in the
hands of the American firm of Andrew
Carnegie IL Co., of the Homestead
W Works, at Pittsburgh. This is the eff
feet of American competition. The
opponents of the Dingley Tariff used
To object against it that it would prove
too high to be revenue producing.
But as a matter of fact the Dingley
Tariff is reducing G12,000,00O
more revenue per annum than the Will
son Tariff did, notwithstanding the dis.
turbance of the war 1t yields "a rev
enue # over million dollars day,
which in ordinary times would furnish
"A large surplus toward wiping out the
Deficiencies of the Free-Trade periods.
One authority quotes the balance in
trade i'm f. + the United States for
the first Year Undar the Dingley Tariff
at SOLO 100000. We saw only the
other day in the cable Intelligence that
"a large transfer of gold had been or
dered from Great Britain to New York
The opposite process was always IN
operation in Free-Trade days, because
the balan" e was then against
America j. emily proper to add that
while these returns deal only with a
single month in the two years under
review, they are ON the best data avail
able believed to be a fair average of
the whole year, as wherever the re-
turns are available tor later months
they more than bear out the averages
of March.