The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-12
THE pnoTEcr1oN1sr coUP.

In the attitude Of the administration
on the subject of the tariff there Is great
need of skill In denial and explanation.
And the skill Is being displayed by the
administration politicians.
Robert P. Porter is the peripatetia
plenipotentiary of the Mckinley admins
tration. Col Porter-for. being true I'M
perialist, he must be invested In title IL
in no otherwise with the military flavor
-is liable to turn up any time anywhere
on the -earth's surface. He was the adj
vance agent of benevolent assimilation
in Cuba, and his preliminary essays on
the constitutional aspect OF Imperialism
have recently found gratifying sustain
rreme court.
The latest appearance Of the colonel as
orator, economist and philosopher was
on Monday last before the Chesterfield
Chamber Of Commerce. somewhere In
England. AS tho cable dispatches tell US
with much circunlstantiality he delivered
a discourse there and then on '"Tne Epi-
demic of Industrial Pessimism in the
United Kingdom" Col. Porter ever
maintains his distinctive character as
q political advance agent. 1t was in this
role that he appeared in the delivery of his
Chesterfieldian speech. He was there TO
assure the English brother that there
was no cause for uneasiness on the pos
sible industrial invasion of the Yankee.
When one reflects upon the settled prin-
ciple of the imperiallst politician to hold
aloft the flag of national superiority and
to exalt the bird of freedom the speech
Of the colonel comes as a. surprise. 1t Is
finished their education along the lines OF
the eternal undoing of all foreign COM
petition with us in any direction wnat-
ever, and the colonel being easily iden-
titled as the very dean Of the faculty,
the effete Europeans must have rubbed
their drowsy eyes when they heard the
| colonel assuring them that we arc but q
modest race at best and that we have no
thought of disturbing the sense of seeur-
ity and superiority which burns in the
breast of every true Briton.
Here for instance is In outline a. kind Of
doctrine which, coming from even the
sleepiest "Aunty'' of them all, would q
few months ago arouse contemptuous
laughter from one end Of Pennsylvania
| avenue to the other. Quoth the colonel
in his ChesterfieIdian speech, ~.
"It is extremely doubtful whether the
| United States are prepared now to COM
ufacture except in iron and steel machin-
! cry and the coaTser grades of cotton
goods. The tariff indicates that Ameri-
can economists and statesmen do not
| believe the United States are yet able
| to take an industrial position by the side
| Of Great Britain"
How pleasing 1t is to have such an
exhibition before our mental eyes Of
national dif1dence and modesty, 1t was
no mere emotional outbreak on the
part Of Col. Porter either. The tariff
may have done big things; but it has not
done so much for US that we are in sit
| uation to tackle the British brother as
| q factor in the worlds manufactures
| No, indeed Let no one have any such
| delusion while the colonel can afford him
enlightenment on Industrial pessimism.
! The time for throwing down the custom
| houses has not yet come. We are as yet
a weak and struggling people industrially,
and we need the prop Of protection lest
| we fall to pieces
"Ah; but If you keep your prop" cries
| the vindictive European, 1--WE will find
one like It, and your products cannot
even hobble on one leg into our European
markets" Innocent and inept foreigner!
There's where the colonel has you. Read
that Chesterfield speech and reflect espe-
cially on this:
''In spite of European mutterings there
| is little likelihood of a combination Euro
pean tariff war against the United States
| because the nations so concerned are so
| hopelesSly involved in tariff conflicts be-
| tween themselves"
! No. There will be no dallying with
| the free trade heresy. The colonel has
said SO; and he is the advance agent Of
| the administration. Nor will there be any
! tariff legislation directed against US by
foreign nations All this, reaching US on
such high authority, we must just settle
| ourselves down once more to the sleep
of protectionism, undisturbed by any
| nightmare Of free trade as essential 10
| the grand era Of trade expansion on
| which we have entered.
1