The San Francisco call., 1901-12-27
PROSPEROUS CONDITIONS.

THE Telegram Ct Portland, Or, bases sharp
criticism of The Cali on this sentence, which we
used in discussing proposed free trade with
Cuba: 1T is as much as we can do by careful egis-
aton to preserve the conditions of prosperity for
own people"
The Telegram scouts the idea that protection has
any part in a prosperity that it ascribes to the
and nature OF Our country the superior charac
ter of our people and Our democratic institutions"
AS rejoinder it may we'll be said that the charac-
ter of people is founded in the nature of in
stitutions and the legislation necessary for their
maintenance Suppose that after we achieved indie
pendence our legislation had been such as to leave
the people where Great Britain held them as colo
nists, compelling them to be producers of raw ma
terial and buyers of all manufactured articles from her
or other foreign nations, will any contend that
their character would be what it is now, their quality
the same even with the extent and nature of the
country and its democratic institutions as they are?
Even before the constitutional period which began
in $780, the leaders of the Revolution that indie
pendence meant something besides and much more
than political independence They that it meant
also industrial independence, the production of
material and its manufacture both by own labor.
The first tariff passed by the first Congress,
with that end in view and the purpose of all subse
quent tariff legislation has been the 1t has been
system of legislation designed to supplement politi-
cal with industrial freedom Jefferson believed in it,
and Clay reduced it to formula and called it ''the
American system" AS our population has increased
the necessity for it has seemed to survive and be
vital than ever.
No one denies that the resulting quality of our
people, their genius and initiative, have put many
forms of manufacture beyond the need of protection
but claims with that they would have
reached that stage without protection.
The industries that are now threatened by Cuban
free trade and unrestricted commercial intercourse
with the Philippines are agricultural In some of their
aspects they are industries. They diversity crops
They benefit all pre-exsting agriculture by giving
land Every acre in sugar rice and to-
bacco is an acre taken from the production of cereals
cotton and forage, and adds to the>yalue OF those
crops The Telegram says that: Fair and Just pro-
lection is good in its way, but it is time to cease
making political and economic fetch out of it."
Will that paper contend that specific forms OF agri
culture not much entitled to fair and Just pro-
lection" as specific forms of manufacture?
The Telegram says what no one denies, that with
without protection with without any particular
law or set or series OF laws there are periods of
prosperity and depression" No paper has more fire.
quently or clearly stated this law OF action and re-
action than has The Call. But here again legislation
has something to do with the severity and duration Of
the reaction when it individuals who are out
Of debt not feel hard times Nations that are not
in debt feel them less severely than those that are
debtors By the financial and tariff reforms insti-
tuted b. the Republican party since 1897 this has
ceased tc be a debtor nation We owe nothing
abroad for manufactured supplies nor are we bor-
rowers from other nations They owe us for sup
plies, and they borrow of us. The rule is simple
to understand, but its practice seems to depend
some form of authority The first protective code
that is recorded given TO the children of Israel
by Moses and he clearly stated the above rule by en-
joining them to borrow OF no man but lend to all
nations
The Telegram already signs OF a business re-
action To do needs clairvoyance nor sorcery
So in the depths OF the panic that began in
1903, and was prolonged by our status as a
debtor ration the gift OF prophecy was not
required 10 see the end of the hard times
and the reinstatement OF enterprise The panic
prolonged by the fact that it was slow process
OF liquidation OF our debts Another panic will
come, bat the liquidation will not require as much
time. We are on better basis A protective
tariff, sound money and less need Of liquidation will
mitigate il, and TO that extent legislation will prove
to be factor in the prosperity of our people
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