Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1907-01-10
CAUSE OF PROSPERITY
Free Trade Between States the
Greatest Influence.
raE TARIFF a PERENNIAL ISSUE

AA>ASe~>s ~e>0
protection TO Trusts Has Vastly In
creased the Cost of Living, With
Which Wages Have Not Kept Pace.
The United states Has PrOspered In
Spite of High Protection.
What a blessing 1t has been to the
American people that the fathers Of
the republic insured free trade In the
United States. IF each state In the
Union could enforce tariff tax against
the other states or any one Of them.
how hampered commerce would have
been. Every state line would have
been a string of customs houses. and
collectors of tariff taxes would have
searched every one who wanted to go
from one state to another, as is the
ease In the European states today.
Free trade between the states has been
the most potent cause Of our marvel
GUS internal commerce and Of our pros
perity in spite Of the drawback Of the
high tarlll That imposes such an OBJ
stucle in our trade with foreign ma
tons.
Until the constitutional limitations
restricting taxation are removed the
federal government is virtually COM
PEELED to raise the necessary revenue by
tariff taxes and internal revenue tax
alton or resort to the method Of direct
taxation, apportioned according to the
population Such a direct tax would
be unequal taxation, and no party has
advocated imposing 1t either in lieu OF
other taxation or to constitute a part
of the federal taxes.
Therefore the tariff taxes and inter-
nal revenue taxes are virtually the sole
mears Of raising the necessary reve-
nue. to support the government. The
question Of tine relative percentage Of
tariff taxation Is therefore a perennial
issue that cannot be easily obliterated,
and 10 settle how high or low the tar
ifY wall shall be IS Of the utmost impor-
lance to the American people.
Tho original pretense for the high
protective tariff was to encourage in
FAINT Industries, but the tariff laws be-
fore the civil war were very moderate
IN comparison with the present law,
amd yet the infant Industries conduct
ed by individuals have now grown to
be gigantic corporations and still de-
mand protection. The further pretense
+ now made by the Republicans that
the high protective tariff Is necessary
to protect the wage Garner and increase
his wages, but this pretense Is shatter-
ed by the fact that the cost Of living
has increased much faster than wages
have under this Republican system.
and the wage earners are revolving
against the Republicans, having dis
covered their prosperity is not enhanc-
ed by the plundering of the tariff pro-
tected trusts that high protection has
fostered.
But the great argument Of our mod
ern stand pat statesmen is that to re-
wise the tariff would upset the present
prosperity, but in fact we have pros
pered in spite Of the drawback of pro-
lection and chiefly because Of free
trade between the states, which has
produced an enormous traffic from one
state to another without the blighting
Influence Of high taxation.
II the tariff was so revised that in
stead of protecting the trusts the rates
were fixed to produce enough revenue
to run the government, honestly and
economically administered, how far
greater our prosperity would be! Our
trade with other lands and theirs with
ours would be vastly extended, and in
stead of the trusts selling cheaper to
foreigners than to oyr own people we
would have the choice Of the markets
OF the world to buy and sell in.
With free raw material our manu-
facturers would compete in every mar
ket. and instead Of the cost Of living
being nearly 30 per cent higher than
1t was ten years ago and wages being
less than 20 per cent higher-a clear
loss of 80 per cent to the wage earners
the two would so adjust themselves
that the workingman and those with
fixed incomes would participate in the
prosperity that is now monopolized by
the trusts and the few at the expense
Of the many.