The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-02-22
Tariff RendiuStment-

Tarin Rendjustment-
These are the aggressive tendencies Of
the times when the calm Of Washington
councils prudence. self-restraint. the
/ holding well in hand of the peoples
/ thought and action by the people them
selves. And there are retrOgressive tend
encies as we'll 10 which the spirit OF
Washington equally applies. The fanati-
/ cism OF existing conditions is the reverse
/ OF the shield. Il is as unreasOning to say
/ that an Outgrown law shall not be modi-
| fed as IL is 10 say that immature stat
I utes shall be enacted. One is the hysteria
/ Of precedent. the other is the nysteria OF
alarm. Men say Down with the tariff
/ Men say Maintain the tariff or
! Lift il higher still.' Conservatism
J the tariff to conditions Tariff mere
I ~ for protection Is no fetish; tariff
I for mere revenue is no god. No system
1 Of taxation is sacred II Is merely a
( means to an end or many ends IL is not
an end in ITSELF This is the voice Of
! Conservatism and it is the voice OF truth
/ and soberness.
/ Even self government is not an end in
( itself. II is q means 20 an end. With
| Anglo-Saxon peoples self-government is
! the means to the end Of individual and
| collective human happiness And all the
\ laws OF self-goverEiug peoples are just
/ that and nothing more. Tariff laws are
| 10 exception. II they are wise. they
grew out OF conditions. and so they be
( come unwise when the conditions out Of
l which such laws have grown have they
I selves outgrown the laws. When this be-
1 comes true. such laws need re adjustment
for the very same reason that calls for
/ their original enactment.
Home Market; Foreign Market.
we have entered upon an era OF pro-
duction that overwhelms our very under
standing. II was not so yesterday Yes
terday we made little we did not want
/ ourselves. and so the Home Market was
! then the word Of economic truth: and
1 that word spoke into life a system Of pro-
| lection as perfectly fitted for its pur-
/ pose as ever the mind Of man devised
Mills. factories. railroads. farms. mines
/ a thousand forms Of productive industry
developed magically. and over all the
/ busy genius Of invention 5TOOded. making
one hand do that which thousands toued
! % do before. lertilizing fields, abbreviat-
| ing space extracting gold from hopeless
rocks, discovering wealth and human uses
! in the very refuse OF a cruder day. And
50 il came to pass that our home market
| is supplied and the overlooking surplus
! threatens TO choke the very machinery
that produces It unless we find a place
to sell that surplus. And so il is that to-
day progress speaks new word Of econ
Omic truth as ncedful now as was the old
word then. AS the Home Market was
the word OF wisdom in its season, 50 For
| eign markets is the word OF wisdom now.
We have more coal. more iron, more
| skill in workmanship. more ability and
| experience in organizing capital for pro-
I hnH- m fFraHn Of
! the globe-almost more than ali Of the
rest Of the world combined. And so we
sell abroad our Orders, beams, and plates
1 Of steel and the many forms into which
wealth and work and genius have fash
toned the useful metals. We must sell
them abroad. Otherwise, idle over his ac-
cumuIated products. viii sit the labOreT;
! Iifeless viii be the thrObbing mill: desert
/ ed the producing mine; chained 10 the
rotting docks the ships Of export And
| this As true OF the fabrics OF cotton and
I OF wool: true OF meats. -four. and all the
| stufIs that feed and ClOthe the human
race For other nations have factories.
| too. Other nations spin and weave, and
plant and SOW and reap They viii not
| always perrsit US TO supply their citizens
/ The words home market which yester-
/ day was our talisman. tomorrow VIII be
| theirs. and for the same reason that Il
vas once ours. Conditions have turned
: the tables, and where yesterday we asked
/ protection from them. today they are de
handing protection from us. They viii
| erect tariff walls against us as we once
| erected tariff walls against them. Where,
! then. shall We turn with our ships Of mer-
| chandise2 What. then. viii be the desti-
nation Of our weighted trains OF freight2
| Not 20 ourselves. for we are already sup
piled. ana it IS our surplus that fills those
ships and burden those countless cars Of
| commerce. We cannot turn entirely to
| the Orient. for that market is not yet
sufficiently understood, although Il will
be. Il is not yet sufficiently exploited
although 81 viii be. II IS not yet our
monopoly. although IL Will be. And when
the Oriental market is opened in its full