Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-01-05
THEORY WON'T WORK
HOW FREE TRADE WOULD iNjuRE
The WAGE GARNER.

HOW FREE TRADE WOULD iNJuRE
THE WAGE GARNER.
Revision OF the Tarin. According to
Democratic Ideas, Means IdIeness
For Labor and the Sacrifices 81
American Capital.
In an article headed Tariff Revi-
sion" the New York Press says In part:
Do the Governor Cumminses and the
Representative Fosses hold as clear an
understanding as to what they want
and how it may be done In the way Of
tariff revision ais the Democratic free
traders? We shall do the simon pure
free traders the justice to say that
they know exactly what they want
and how they would go about getting
it. Wherever an article can be pro
duced abroad for less money than 1t 4
can be produced here they want the
United States to let that article come
In free of duty. They desire this on the
theory that since the article can be
produced and is produced for less mon
ey abroad than here it can be sold and
will be sold under free trade for less
money here. The benefit which the
free trader thinks he sees in this is
that the American people will be better
of for this change because they can
get this article for less money, thereby
reducing their cost of living, and in
turn can sell abroad more Of the arti-
cles which we produce at natural ad.
vantage. thereby increasing our export
trade with those foreigners who, Sell
ing more to US, will buy more from us.
The trouble with this theory, Of
course, as the believers in the Ameri-
can tariff system see it and as the
American people have had experience
with it. is that when we let the foreign
articles come in free American wage
earners are thrown out of employment,
American industries are destroyed and
American capital is sacrificed, with the
result that the American people have
not the means to buy foreign articles,
however cheap they may be. The peo-
pie have not forgotten their experience
Of this sort in the second Cleveland
administration. American history tells
them that there were similar results In
previous generations when similar ex-
periments were made with free
trade. -
The Press does not wish to be under
stood as saying that there ought not to
be any tariff revision if by any posi-
bic chance any possible man can dis
cover any possible benefit to come
from it. 1t goes without saying that
this newspaper, strong believer In
the American tariff system, sees moth
ing but absolute folly and destruction
in the proposal of the simon pure free
trader for tariff revision, which they
mean in fact to be tariff ripping.
We should welcome any revision Of
the tariff or any revision of almost
anything else in the world that could
give us new markets without destroy
Ing our own home markets and that
could enable us to buy cheaply abroad
without compelling American produ-.
GERS to cease selling at home We
should be thankful for any programme
which would guarantee to the Ameri-
can people that they could all stay at
work and that they could all make
more money than or even as much
money as they now make under re-
vision OF our duties that would enable
| US both to buy more abroad without
buying less at home and to sell more
abroad on that ancient theory which
never works out in practice that the
more we buy from foreigner the
more he will buy from us.
We should above all be filled with
happiness if any one could discover
how tariff revision OF any other re-
vision can keep the Standard Oil trust
from increasing the price of its COM
modify to consumers when there is no
tariff on oil. We believe the increased
cost of oil to consumers is now about
5 per cent above what it was a few
years ago. There was no tariff on oil
then. There is no tariff on oil now. So
1T is with anthracite coal. There is no
tariff here to enable the American pro-
Queer of anthracite to put his prices
up without foreign competition, but
he has put them up. He keeps putting
them up. These two trusts, without
the benefit of any tariff, find that an
actual, practical combination in re-
straint Of trade beats all the theories
that ever were dreamed of about the
shelter of protection for creating,
maintaining and enriching monopolies.
Still this paper declares. and we
think all other Republicans will agree
with us, that if there is any tariff reyi-
sion that can cure these grossest two
offenders in the manner of eXtortion
we ought to have it. And we repeat
that If there is any sort of tariff reyi-
sion, not tariff ripping. that can give
us more foreign markets without kill
ing our own: that can enable us to buy
cheaper from abroad without ceasing
to buy at home; that can enable us to
give employment to foreign wage earn
ers without putting our own in the
street: that can increase our sales
abroad while we continue to magnify
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