Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-12-08
THE PRESIDENTS FACTS.

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paper man said: II hate facts; they
trammel one So" In his late message
there is a suggestion that President
Roosevelt may cherish this antipathy for
q like reason.
The presidents exhuberance over the
protective principle in general and the
Dingley tariff in particular sweeps him
into the declaration that "our past ex-
perience shows that great prosperity I'm
this county has always come under a pro-
tective tariff. and that the country can
not prosper under fitful tariff changes
at short intervals
In one sense this remark is true. for
we have never had a tariff that did not
contain an element OF protection.
But the first tariff, though 1t was
avowedly for the purpose of protection,
would be regarded now as an extreme
free trade measure. The president evil
IDENTIFY intended that his Qualification OF
protection and his attempted historical
vindication OF il should apply to the tar
IFS that have come in the later evolu-
ton OF the protective theory. II this was
not his meaning the words which we
have quoted from his message are en-
tirely without point; II It is his meaning
he has fatty contradicted the record.
The first distinct step in the direction
OF a protective tariff. as we know the thing
now. was taken in 1916. the year after
the end of our second war with Great
Britain. This enactment was followed al
most Immediately by a disastrous panic.
II cannot be said that the panic was the
result Of our advance in protection, but
the fact that the panic came right after
our first decidedly protective tarifN shows
how faulty is the presidents theory that
high protection has invariably proved
creative OF prosperity.
An attempt was made in 1890 to in
crease the rate of protection, but it fail
ed. The tariff. however, was raised in
1874. but the predicted prosperity did not
ensue. Another increase of the tariff
was put on four years later. and still
no perceptible Improvement of conditions
was realized.
In 1888 congress passed compromise
tarid bill under which the country pros
pered until speculation brought on the
panic of 1887.
This tariff act reduced the rate of pro-
lection gradually and even the protec-
tionists OF that time did not ascribe the
unfavorable conditions of 1887 TO the re-
duetiOn Of duties. but to the removal
OF the governments deposits from the
United States bank.
The wings were returned 70 power in
$50 and two years later enacted high
tariff. Il was repealed in 1886 before II
had had any noticeable effect one way
or the other. Then came the famous
Walker tariff. which Mr.. Blaine and
other protectionists have classed as a
free trade measure
II is admitted by everybody that a
period OF unprecedented prosperity fol-
lowed the passage OF the Walker tariff.
which was a marked retreat from the
high tariff ground the government took
in 1872. Mr.. Blaine in his book goes into
a labored argument to show that the
free trade tariff did not cause the great
prosperity which the country enjoyed
under It. but 1t certainly did not prevent
it, and the record OF its effects is a stri1-
ing commentary on the Roosevelt theory
that protection and prosperity have been
found inseparable throughout our his
tory.
The panic of 1879, which many of US
remember so vividly, came under a tariff
that was the highest we had ever had
up TO that time. In 1898 we were living
under a still larger measure of protection,
but 1t did not avail to avert the panic
OF that year.
It is absurd to attribute that panic to
the Wilson tarif. for # was not passed
until after the worst OF the panic was
over and a distinct improvement of con-
ditions had set in.
The president should have refreshed
his knowledge of history before he put
it down in black and white and pro-
claimed IL to the world as a fact that
great prosperity in this country has al
ways come under the protective tariff"
obviously meaning that periods OF special
prosperity have been directly due to high
tariff legislation.
The president took occasion I'm his mes
sage to retract his recent declaration
that there was no tariff on anthracite coal,
even to go a step further and advise L.ie
repeal OF the duty on that article.
The Journal has already commended
him for this candid confession and the
good suggestion that accompanied II.
The president would entitle himself to
still higher praise il he would correct
the gross blunder he committed in his
alleged historical statement of the rela-
ton between prosperity and protection.