New-York tribune., 1908-10-24
IMMIGRATION AND HARD TIMES.

To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: The present condition OF the country
minds of the complaint OF a good old farmer
who had asked the minister Of his church to pray
for rain. The rain came. but there came SO much
that the farmer remarked: Il never knew min
ister stop in time; he Is OVERRIDING everything
Under the policy OF tarir protection our Industrial
progress has been phenomenal but after suriching
our people it brought on excess OF immigration.
that. when the onward movement net check
by the general talk of interfering with the tariff.
this excess had an injurious effect the labor
market. It had rained. the fields had produced
bountifully but finally, when the rain did not stop,
there was complaint and some loss
Was It really inevitable that excess OF immigra-
ton must lead to such results? In that case,
the Republican party responsible7 A million imni-
grants IN a single year constituted an enormous
market for the farmer who got the benefit OF the
saved costs Of transportation across the ocean
The immigrants formed home market-and not
only for the farmer Had there been no distrust OF
the future in the ranks OF the manufacturers the
large immigration would have done no harm fer by
extending the home market they would have helped
in making manufacturing and farming profit
able, and their own labor would have directly in
creased the public wealth
It seems to me that the great argument Of the
Democratic leaders in the present political cam
pagn that the tariff IS responsible for the setback
the country has suffered, that the tariff
there would be such number OF unemployed,
is completely met by the facts have stated II IN
easy 10 that capital, which is pFoverbally shy.
will avoid risks when one knows whether not
prices will be seriously affected by legislation No
argument is here intended to the merits of the
question whether a change in the tariff rates
is necessary. Such a question should be decided by
experts and is to be hoped that sooner OF later
the tariff will be taken out OF politics and adjusted
as was done by the German parliament in ac-
cordance with the best judgment Of all people in
terested and competent That protective tariff IS
highly beneficial has been proven Enthusiastically
by our own experience-protection always bringing
on prosperity tariff only for revenue always
bringing on widespread ruin-and BY the experience
OF France (which country Is the most consistently
protective and therefore OF the richest in the
world) as also by that OF Germany. that it re-
quires either wiItuI or absolute ignorance OF well
estab ablished facts ascrbe to # panics depres
sions.
II seems 70 me therefore. that the speakers and
writer's on the Republican side should devote Eher
princfpa attention the real causes OF the pres
ent depression (Which. in spite OF all that has been
said is only q necessary reaction. not accom-
panied by real distress, after an extraordinarily
successful perod) and these must be looked for In
the uncertainty produced by the agitation concern
ing the reduction of import duties. agitation
fostered by parties during the last two
CHARLES A. EGGERT
Illinois Wesleyan University. Oct 3. 1905