Sunday morning globe., 1901-09-15

hlnley the tWenty-ntLh FresldehJ OF lh'
United States.
En- 20 ,raycm mt or Hlm, Inlp,try.
Our esteemed contemporary The
Post Is an able and brilliant advocate
of protection. II attributes our mate
rial progress. our social and intellect
ual advancement our marvellous I'M
idustrial achievements solely to protec
4 idon. 10 can see nothing but good in
.this system of national favoritism, that
hampers the production and distorts
the distribution of wealth. builds up
enormous fortunes that corrupt gov
Iernment and menace free institutions
even now. when the trusts that have
grown To such dangerous proportions
under the fostering care of our pro
Itective tariff system are paying enor
NOUS dividends on fictitious capital
The Post is not prepared to put every
Itrust.made article on the free list. To
do so would, it says, "be the practical
abandonment Of protection When a
thing has outliyed its usefulness, when
1t no longer serves the purpose for
which it was originally intended
when. i'm fact, it becomes an obstacle
to industrial progress and a prolific
source Of official corruption, it is the
part of wisdom to discard it,
Practical common sense" it con
.unues. in the United States and Eu-
rope recognizes in our phenomenal in
.dustrial and commercial triumphs a
yindication Of protection and necessa-
.hly a condemnation Of free trade
But why hasn't protection produced
the same results in France, in Italy.
and Germany? They have also protec-
tive tariffs. How is it that England
has made such marvellous progress
since she discarded the protection pol
ley? Are not her phenomenal indus
trial and commercial triumphs' as
much vindication Of free trade as
ours are of protection? The assump-
tion that our material progress is due
to protection turks the fallacy post
hoe ergo prOpter hoe, which, if admit
ted. leads to the most absurd conclu-
sions. In this fallaCy we assume that
one thing is the cause Of another with
out sufficient grounds. In ancient times
IA plague or other public calamity,
which followed the appearance Of a
comet or an eclipse, was considered
10 be the result Of it.
The productive power of this coun-
TRY is far greater than that of Eng.
Hand. and we differ from her i'm hav-
ling protective tariff But the as.
sumption that this greater power of
production is due to this difference is
mo more valid than that it is due to
our national banking system, our de-
|.imal coinage or our criminal trusts
To ascertain the effects of protection
20 know whether it advances or retards
he progress of nations, whether it i'm
proves the condition and lightens the
burden of those who live by their Ia
Dor. we must establish with certainty
what it Is and how it operates TO do
.his nothing more is needed than care
ul thought-the making sure of every
step without jumping to conclusions
This practice Of jumping to conclu
ions. Of considering essentially differ
eut things the same because of some
superficial resemblance, is the fruitful
source Of the manifold and mischiey
)us errors that envelop the tariff ques
tion.
Protection, as the term has come tC
be employed in this country, indicates
a national policy Of imposing duties
IN imported commodities Cas a means)
in order Cas an end to encourage do
nestle industry
In the protective sense, to encourage
an industry is TO levy a duty sufficient
y high TO prevent foreign manufac
.urers Of a similar article finding q
market here and thus enable the Amer
lean manufacturer to obtain larger
profits than they otherwise could 10y
making their American customers pay
higher price for the article Oul
early pr0tectionists-A Hamil
{ ton. Matthew Carey Hezekiah Niles
and their Compensated for protec
lion TO encourage infant industries.
} Our modern protectionists ask it to en-
courage home industry To ask nov
the encouragement Of a billlon.dolla
steel trust as AM encouragement to it
establishment would be manifestly alb
urd.
We have two distinct proposition
confronting us, the proposition tha
new and desirable industries shoulD
be encouraged, and the proposition
that home industry should be encouI