The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1906-09-21
TARIFF AND TRUSTS.



One that the : lstry has prospered both un-
der low and high tariff. and the Iother that
under each 1t has had it's periods ,of depres-
sion.
whatever of artificial stimulation in manu-
| featuring Industries the country has had, and
! whatever of wealth this has contributed, the
| Republican party Is entitled to the credit
| But how far this stimulation has been at the
! expense of the rest of the people, and how great
would have been the normal growth under a
low tariff and whether the wealth of the coun-
| try would have been more evenly distributed,
are questions which assertions do not solve.
The answer Of Democrat to the argument
in favor of high protective tariff is twofold
First, the marvellous Industrial progress and
evenly diffused prosperity which existed be-
fore the war, under the Democratic policy OF
low duties; second, the idea which is elemental
and constitutional. that when tariff Is levied
not - collect revenue, but to give protection,
a system of pillage is at once instituted under
the form of law, for in its last analysis 1t means
the taking from and giving to another that
which has not been earned
The effect of this system has been to increase
and centralize wealth In the hands of its bene-
ficiaries In one OF the many beautiful essays
by Ruskn he draws comparison between the
bag baron of modern days and the crag baron
OF feudal times.
He said the barons OF old contended for the
highest point overlooking the road, and when
once attained by the strongest, he levied toll
on all who passed below. the modern bag
baron when he reached the highest prom
ontory of trade levied tribute on the toilng
millions who passed his point of vantage.
But the comparison is inapt In one particu-
lar for the barons of America do not contend
with another, but combine their lawless
wealth and predatory power to render their po-
sitions more and to levy still further
exactions upon the American people
Tho urofeetjve system even though NJ
cede it has increased wealth, has done more
to weaken the moral fiber of the republic, to
corrupt its politics, to destroy indfvidualism,
than all other agencies combined The ethical
side of the question Republican will never
discuss though 1t has an immense bearing on
the problems of American life. An average pro-
tectionist thinks he has done his full duty and
has answered all argument when he can pro-
duce government statistics to show that some
mill his increased it's output or that another
plant has begun successful operations But
he has never answered the argument, even on
the ground of his own choosing, for the wealth |
of the United States increased in greater pro-
portion and was more evenly distributed under
a low Democratic tariff for revenue than un-
der the protective Republican system
Rural wealth doubled in the low tariff dec
ade between 1850 and 1860 which has never
happened since in our history
Urban wealth a little more than doubled In |
the same decade, and doubled also in the dec
ade between 1870 and 1880, while rural wealth
has barely doubled in the three decades from
1860 to 1890
In 1850 the farmers owned more than one
half the wealth Of the country, and in 1900
they owned less than one-ffth
These facts are unimpeached witnesses that
the man who tills the earth, who goes out in
the spring to pillow the soil and SOW the seed,
who eultivates in the blaze OF the summers
sun and in the fall gamers the harvest Of corn
and wheat and cotton to feed and clothe the
millions of his countrymen, has had diverted
by law the fair reward he has earned by the
sweat of his brow
what he sells in the open free markets OF
The world is at the lowest price because 1t 10
sompetitiye and what he buys is at the high
est because 1t il non-competitive and fixed BY
artificial not by natural laws
And it is as true OF the wage-earner, whose
average wage may have Increased but the cost
u whose living has certainly been raised in
double proportion to any increase In earnings
But the protective tarin has not been the
,ause OF a higher wage much as the intelli-
rent and united organization Of working men,
Who know they have not received their just
hare of the profits which their labor has pro-
iueed and have persisted in demanding fair
md living wage
What is true OF the farmer and wage-earner
s also true of every man who exchanges the
work. OF his hand or brain for a livelihood,
whether found in the office, in the counting