The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-11
SOME NEW BOOKS.
American Tariffs.

ever been made to the economic history oil
the United States will be found embodied
In the two volumes entitled American
Tarin Controversies in the Nineteenth Cen
tvry, BY EDWARD STANwooD (Houghton.
Minain 4 Coy. Before the publication Of
these volumes tho author was widely and
favorably known to American readers by
his History Of the Presidency" and his
sHistory of Cotton Manufacture in New
England From the last named book 1t
might have been inferred that he would
prove thoroughly qualified TO discuss Ameri-
can tariffs in both their political and their
economic aspects. The forecast Ia justifed
in the work before us. which covers the whole
ground of tariff legislation from Colonial
times to the Dingley act, We should say
ut once that the space at the authors dis
posal lie not wasted on a perfunctory ex-
position of the theories of protection and
free trade. Mr.. Stanwood avows HIM
self a protectionst. and his treatise ls
written from the protectionist point OF view
At the same time. he is scrupulously fair
a. regards statements Of fact, so that the
advocate Of tariff for revenue may~1raw.
II he chooses. different deductions from
the premises here, set forth. Especially
creditable is the chapter on the question
whether tariff for protection is consti-
tntional. all the arguments on the negative
aide of the controversy being scrupnlously
reproduced. An eminently useful charac-
teristic of the work is the care with which
the author traces not only the fiscal effects
Of our several tariffs. but their relation TO
the development Of particular Industries.
We shall consider that part Of the first vol.
ume which carries us to the enactment OF the
CIay Compromise Tariff Of 1883 Among the
important topics here considered. aside
from the constitutionality Of protection,
which, OF course, is fundamental, are the
protective character OF the first tarif and
Alexander Hamitons report on manu-
features
Before indicating, however. what Mr..
6tanwood has to say upon these subjects,
We should glance at the two initial chapters,
which deal with the gradual formulation
of the tariff issue during Colonial and Revo-
lutionary times and UP to the period when
the Federal Government was organized
under the present Constitution.
II is improbable that any student OF the
development OF American opinion with
reference to tariffs will dispute Mr.. STAN
woods assertion that In the United States,
at the close of their war for independence,
opposition to the restrictive system adopted
by England toward its colonies and toward
other countries was we'll nigh universal.
Free trade in the broadcast sense was natu-
rally associate ed in the minds Of Americans
with the political freedom they had won
freedom from monarchical institutions,
from arstocracy and class rule, from for
eign dictation and even from centralized
government. The free trade they believed
in meant the widest liberty for all men
everywhere to engage i'll any commerce
that seemed to promise profit, the abolition
of all restrictions upon the movements Of
ships and cargoes, wherever built or owned
or by whomsoever commanded and manned;
the sweeping away OF all prohibitions upon
the admission of the products Of the world
and the abandonment OF tariffs that might
hamper or impede the free movement OF
merchandise Mr. Stanwood deems it not
unlikely that had the Constitution of the
United STATES been drawn IN l7s2 instead
of 1887 it would have contained prohib-
ition of all laws inrestraint of trade foreign
or domestic
Internal and external causes, however,
operated quickly and strongly TO change
the attitude of practical statesmen on this
side of the Atlantic, The disorganization
consequent upon the o. & war and the heavy
debts incurred in prosecuting it compelled
a recurrence TO customs duties as the most
available source of revenue. At first,
indeed. the articles taxed were few--lux-
uries for the most part-a the rates
were low. State jealousy also played an
important part in bringing about change
Of opinion with reference to the expedi-
ency of tariffs, The situation of New York
between Connecticut and New Jersey
Ii adduced as an example.
The growing commerce of the port OF
New York, and that city's opportunity of
supplying the country in all directions
with imported goods rendered the imposi-
ton of light duties by the New York Legis-
lature an easy way Of raising revenue. On
the other hand, Connecticut and New Jersey
wished to reserve their own trade to them
selves. Connecticut endeavored to retain
or recover it by "A tariff aimed as directly
at products of New York as at foreign
goods imported through New York. New
Jersey adopted the opposite remedy 1t
threw its ports open to commerce and levied
no duties on merchandise arriving from
any part of the world Such rivalries on
the part OF the States, though they
rendered the whole commercial situation
intolerable, incidentally called attention to
the power that resided in restrictive and
retaliatory tariff laws rs wea pons OF offence
and defence.
A third cause for the change of opinion
between 1852 and 1857 with regard to the
wisdom of tariff restrictions may be found
In the fact that the necessities OF war and
the prolonged exclusion Of the Thirteen
British CO lones from the world y markets
had introduced manufactures, although
not upon a large scale, and had turned men y
attention in some of the more settled com
munities TO that branch Of industry When
the danger arose OF a complete extinction
of the establishments already in existence,
and Of a virtual prohibition OF the intro
duction OF other manufacturing trades, the
ippour Of British goods being menace
both to infant and to embryo manufactures,
there was demand for protection In the
modern sense Of the word.
In view of these facts there Is no difficulty
in understanding the course of events in
the period between the close OF the Revolu-
tionary War and the meeting of the Phia-