Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1904-02-11
FOR FREE TRADE
WOULD ACHIEVE COMMERCE. Al
SUPREMACY FOR V. S.
Says Patrick Henry Winston Of Spokane. The
Bunch Grass Statesman Makes Quite an
Argument In Support Of His Premise. Food
for Thought Anyway.

The United States have it in their
power to achieve commercial supremacy.
Since Cobden's and Bright's free trade
ideas prevailed in England she has ruled
the commerce OF the world, but she is
about to abandon her settled policy.
For time Germany bid fair to rival
England as a free trade power. After
the disaster of Jena, Germany repealed
all laws restraining commerce. Her
great men like Stein, Hardenburg and
Humboldt made clean table Of all the
rubbish of paternal government, but
under the direction of Bismarck, after
the war with France, she abandoned her
free trade policy and proclaimed the pro-
tective tariff principle, leaving England
the only country that kept open house.
Protection that at first was ueed to
foster infant industries, and afterwards
as source OF revenue, has become a
club with which to beat commercial
rivals. If England adopts the protective
policy We will have the spectacle of all
the countries OF the world engaged in re-
strietiug trade.
This system, SO directly opposed t.
natural law, suggests the enquiry wheth.
er the true policy Of the United States is
to continue the protective system or 60
to free trade.
There can be no commercial supremacy
where there is no competition. If all the
Q ,untries build tariff WALL or ,und til. m
selves, how is it possible for one to out
strip the other III commerce?
Suppose this country were to say
eve are able to compete in tho markets
Of the world with all Corners. We are
ready for the free exchange Of the pro-
ducts Of our industry, with anybody, at
any time or any place." what would the
result be? = '>~,..s,s G;
We think it unnecessary to:discuss
the "bugaboo" Of competition with the
pauper labor Of Europe. We leave this
rubbish to campaign orators. The fact
that we send abroad our manufactured
goods and undersell the foreigner in his
own country disposes OF the "pauper
labor" fallacy. !. The truth is that the
manufacturing classes Of England. France
and Germany have always been able to
buy as much with a days wages as our
own.
What a world supremacy free trade
would open to us! 1t would give us the
option on all the markets Of the world.
Japan and China contain half the peo-
ole in the world. They are not manu-.
featuring countries. Are we going to
force them to become such by continuing
the policy o! protection?
We grow more cotton and wheat than
we consume. We manufacture more
products than we use. Common sense
wonld seem to impel us to exchange,
without let or hindiance, the surplus for
those things we do not produce.
In what is known as the Inland En-
pire We produce, at least, ten million
bushels of wheat more than we consume.
This surplus goes abroad to be ex.
changed for other products. This ex-
change, instead of being free, is taxed,
If the wheat is exchanged for silk in
China, the tax amounts to half the value
of the wheat. This is precisely the same
as if this government conf1scated one
half of the wheat and permitted it's
owners to exchange the other half free.
This is not only good democratic doc
trine but was good republican doctrine
in the days of Charles Sumner, Wendell
Phillips and VIM Lloyd Garrison, before
that party was contaminated by the
commercialism OF Blaine and Mckinley.
-Winston's Weekly.