Arizona republican., 1899-10-13
PH1NIx. OCTOBER IA. 1899.
WISH FATHER TO THE THOUGHT

The attitude of the New York Even
 ing Post upon the question of trusts
 which is now agitating the country IS
 worth a little attention. That paper
 is the leading exponent of the free
 trade sentiment of the nation and it's
 utterances upon the subject referred
 to are typical of the other newspaper
 representatives of that school of po-
 litical economy. This class of papers
 is generally of the commercial order,
 and is normally devoted to the inter
 ests of capital and business corpora
 tions. The New York Post has always
 been a warm defender of such interests.
 It is unquestionably still friendly 10
 them, and no doubt at heart despises
 and decries the attacks to which the
 trusts are now being subjected But
 this paper is so rabid in its hatred Of
 the policy Of protection that it views
 the impending warfare upon combina-
 tions of capital with great complacency
 because it thinks it sees a chance to
 use this agitation to strike at the tarif
 through the trusts. It omits no op-
 portunity to support the charge which
 has been advanced by the democratic press of the country, that Protection
 is the mother of trusts" It would be
 an insult to the intelligence of the
 Evening Post to suppose that it be-
 lieves this charge to be true. But it will take any position, however absurd from which it can assail the protective theory. The best that can be said for the Post in this matter is that it would be glad if it could be proved that the trusts are an effect of our protective tariff Its wish is father to it's thought. But a paper so we'll informed on com mercial matters as is the Evening Post cannot be ignorant of the fact l that in free trade countries, and espe- cially in England, the citadel-and | about the only citadel now left-of free ] trade the great combinations of capital popularly called trusts are just as com l mon as they are in this country. But ! the Evening Post conveniently forgets this fact for the sake of it's argument Speaking of the present political situa- ton it says:
 Were parties in a normal condition, the opportunity of the democrats would be excellent Unfortunately that party has driven out most of it's leaders who were possessed of intelligence and character, and it's present managers do not know enough to frame a policy that shall appeal to sober and substan- tial people. The protective system is so obviously outgrown by the country that it's abolition would now be regard ed with little apprehension by large classes of manufacturers, and it would be the most, if not the only, effective measure that congress could frame against combinations of capital.
 Mark the cool assumption here that the overthrow of the trusts or ''con- binations of capital, will be most surely effected by the total abolition of the protective system. But it is not likely that any considerable number of people in this country will favor the abolition of the protective tariff be- cause such action might possibly put an end to combinations of capital. It is at least a debatable question wheth- er the wiping out of our tariff laws would have the same effect as to trusts. But there is no room for doubt that { such a total reversal of the commercial policy of our nation would plunge us nto disasters compared with which { every evil that has as yet been even ( imputed to the trusts would be insigni- l fcant. Our country is at the present s lime standing on a pinnacle of pros 1erity unparalleled in it's history This ! condition is due largely to the benef- I ;ial effects of our protective tariff sys- f em. Every return to free trade in the , past has been marked by disaster There is every reason to believe that c uch a change now would plunge the I country into commercial chaos In r pite of this a paper of the standing of S he Evening Post adopts the most ] abid arguments of the democratic ( 'ress in order to carry it's point. War | n the trusts, no matter how justif- Q ble, will fail to shake the confidence | f q majority Of the voters of the | jnited States in the protective system i t has been tried and not found want | 1g. t