The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-09-07
made their money through the benevolent

We quote the following words from
that article: "There are different meth.
DDS whereby we can arrange commerce
relations with different countries from
the point of view of protection. One is
known as the dual tariff, or a differential
tariff. This kind of tariff has a double
schedule, one higher and one lower. The
higher one brings a kind of punishment
or retaliation upon the country which puts
too high a tariff on the goods of another
|country. The Norwegian tariff law goes
the other way; they use the lower
schedule as a means of prevailing upon
other countries that these might put as
low tariff as possible on Norwegian
products. The result may IN many in
stances be the same But Norway would
rather go the way of peace in this case
than the way of war, as other coun-
tries do. McClearly rightly says that the
Norwegian system is the most humane
and the most progressive and the most
civilized. The present Norwegian tariff
has new principle, and McCleary has
discovered it." Now, most of the above
quotation is supposed to give the sub
stance of an article of Mr.. McCleary i'm
the April Reviews of Reviews, entitled
Single or Dual Tariff-Which? ?" Whether
the editor saw the article or not, the
impression created by his words is wholly
wrong and misleading. What our con-
gresham said in that article about Nor
way reads as follows:
Norway has been placed among the
nations having the single tariff system.
And this is correct in fact, though not
in form. Norway's idea is unique, and
is well worthy of special consideration.
Norway's law carries two rates of duty,
after the French system. But, unlike
France, Norway gives to every country
her best rates of duty, unless she is dis
eliminated against. She holds in reserve
the higher rates of duty, to apply to the
goods of any country that may discrim-
mate against the goods of Norway.
This is but matter of fact statement
of the Norwegian tariff laws, without
any of the warm praise the editor of The
Scandinavian claims Mr.. McCleary be-
slowed upon that country. As to the
wonderful discovery made by Mr.. Nc
Cleary, since the editor leaves us in the
dark about it, it must be supposed chart
tably that he, too, is as much in the
dark as his readers about it.
The editor of The Scandinavian gets so
enthusiastic about shis new idol, James
Thompson McCleary, that he gives vent
to the following: That an American
congressman shows such thorough
knowledge of the tariff laws of small
country like Norway, proves how
thoroughly he understands all about the
tariff"
1t is very strange that a Scandinavian
editor should be so carried away by his
zeal that he belittles his own country by
trying to reflect on its size in order to
eXalt Mr.. McCleary. 1t is not so, any
way. Though Norway is small, geo.
graphically, it is one of the most inter
esting! countries Of Europe. The in
fiuence of Norway has been, and is still
largely felt in the United States, not
only through our large immigration of
Scandinavian people, who constitute
some of the best classes among our var
led citizenship, but also through the illus
trious names with which Norway has en-
riched America, Erickson, Bjornson, etc.
McCleary does not deserve much credit
for having found out what the Norwegian
tariff is, in these days of wide news
paper reading and discussion. But let
one thing be plainly understood. Mr..
McCleary, as fierce, uncompromising
standpatter, is not in favor of closer
commercial relations with Norway, or
with any other country, for that matter.
His is the policy of exclusive selfshness,
dIIcI Tie ldSIllOH Vi Tie Olu HILL WHO
prayed for 'Me, my wife, my son John,
his wife, we four and no more"
1t was McCleary, who last year, at
the very session opened with message
in which the president gladly referred to
the fact that commercially, Russia had
'ust decided to treat us on the most
favored nation basis, introduced bill
in the house to impose duty of twenty
five per cent above the Dingley schedules
against any nation that might discrim-
mate against us. The real object of the
bill was to punish Germany for asking
is to make trade concessions. That is,
McCleary wanted to'punish Germany for
doing precisely what we are doing now
through our high tariff. On Feb. 18th,
last, in New York city, referring to his
pet measure, which was ANONYMOUSLY
killed, Mr.. McCleary said what follows,
and we quote from The American Econ
omist of Feb. 10th, the organ of the
American Protective Tariff league:
Notwithstanding the natural reluc-
lance of one who loves his country and
has abiding faith in her institutions to
discuss such a proposition as that of
trading off part of our national SOW