New-York tribune., 1908-08-20
FREE TRADE CONGRESS
Foreign Reinforcements for the
Asquith Government.
London. August 6.

,,ssn welcomed by the CoDuen Ciup' ehe AiAi'0
minister and Mr.. Winston Churchill, and nave
len. their moral support to a government WHICH
a. making a determined stand against an or
-,-os movement for a revival of indirect taxa
80. Ministers and the Liberal press behlnd
.hs,, have shown more sympathy for this as
-,rI,- Of foreign theorists who have failed 10
s,-ect and influence the fiscal policies OF their
,rn countries, than they displayed year ago
< III. Imperial Conference, in which Premlers
-sssn-ed with authority the deliberate opin-
,o- o< the self-governing colonies Iha1 Is
,o,n+ which tariff reformers naturally EN-
.,-s The Intervention of the colonial
I,,,s-s was cooIly received, IL not openly re-
..,+ed because tie experience of the states or
= .-,ri-a corresponded with that Of foreign
.to-e and was in favor of national. colonial
80 irnperial tariff systems. Outside assistance
.-oro irresponsible faddists and dreamers was
sf,,S,,-eIv welcomed because the Free Iraoe go'-
.-,-nent was in the last ditch with the o!eiec-
,;one going heavily against 1t ana ITS own re-
o,,-ces for financing social reforms virtually e1-
l.,,s,sd This reinforcement is not likely 10
prove helpful
The oIdtirae formula that universal Free Ar8ue
,-iII inevitably increase the aggregate Nedi'h VI
.,o world has ceased 10 have any leverage IN
-, 'il1 controversy The most infatuated
-o,,5enites admit that 1t is waste of breath 10
- about the millennium and the brotherhood
= nan They perceive the necessity OF appeal
a. - the enlightened self-interest OF nauors'
.5 of convincing them that tariffs are lnJuii ious
- them individually and that industries -
.e more prosperous. employment more diVe-Si1ieo
-5 ,,-osperity more general under rec iI0ue
NJ Winston Churchill. II is true, oescrloe" INC
rosI Of Cobdenism as cooperative Ooi---
z,aal+n based upon "a larger and more ii'i
.o,,- .,-7tresis''; but he speedily came down
lin
:, 1ieb+ning. He pulled himself together ana
,-,a-5o,,s1,- axplained how prosperous England
-, as under Free Trade and how fortunate
.,,o- nations would be If they could be lhuuoeu
=. <oIlovz her example MI Asquith. without io@
a., his grin upon the native soil, reinforced lii7
a-g,rneut bv references 70 recent aciiie'
,n debt paying. the necessity Tor uh'aAeu 81 rF
-,to- o< food and raw material and the faciilues
fo- obtaining as much revenue as Is Ie4"'ie
without change Of fiscal system ~
What neither Nj AsQuith nor MI VI a. 49,
oo,,15 explain was the increasing lack OF eni
,,--,a,- and the growing revolt against re-
80 IN England when. according 10 'Iieil
,,.-. the country was more prosperous man
5+iore with higher tariffs. Nor were tne IoI-
efer controversialists. in their turn illoie
T5,- ~ accounting for the infatuation OF pro
erassive states in adhering 10 pohcleS NiiioN
- Traders condemn ruinous 0lshoi
f---a+ ~aT q
zynicb were hampered by protection nut au
3,+e5 that there was no immediate chance Oh
-,eee for anv movement in the direction OF
,o--s- duties Professor Arndt read a paper U9
Herr Cothein. in which the industrial improve
r7a71 Of Germany was conceded, with a coulitei
barge that it had been retarded by the TAXA
So. - food and by burdens upon every work
t,.,,e household There were similar eX-
.,5f,i-e from France where it was said that pro-
--az Industries could he kept in operation only
- ,7igte- levies upon consumers; and from
America there was a wailing chorus OF dlssehI
4-o7, national policies, Professor sumner
-rcaking bass proclaiming that protected inter
es-s we're consuming one another MI FranKln
455ca,s srrfr treble declaring that the people
we're at the mercy of monopolists, and MI LOUIS
:, Posts wabbling bsrytone forecasting the re-
Ill of the working classes from high tariffs 10
..sne socialism When the confessions of this
unconditional experience meeting were closed
there was no reasonable explanation Of the per
,,e-se conduct Of these highly enlightened coun-
tries in persisting in running themselves "heh
they might ca silly prosper under Free Trade nor
Of the widespread growth Of the tar1h REFORM
movement in the United Kingdom
The doctrinafres. while repeating their plati-
-,des were startled by a spasm Of English sense.
NJ 7 F5obson instead Of making a conven-
1ionaj Free Trade speech. declared that good
deal had happened in the course OF sixty years
and that the oldtime arguments had lost thelr
force The Cobdenites had assumed that the
world was governed too much, that Industries
r771Js1 neither be protected nor regulated, that
competition must be unfettered and that laisser
faire was the highest craftsmanship Mr. Hob
son warned the wiseacres that these ideas were
as antiquated and rusty as the apprentice sys-
TEN and that the fortress Of Free Trade must
he defended on more modern lines The world
was nor governed enough; industries and cor
porstions required scientific regulation; combi-
nation had taken the place Of competition;
trusts were not confined TO tariff countries, but
hourished in Free Trade England; laisser faire
would no longer do; and since it was Impossible
TO keep down national expenditures by retrench-
rnent. new aspects of national finance must be
considered and an alternative policy provided
for the facilities promised by the tariff reform
ers for paying for social reforms. The old school
Cobdenites were evidently disconnected by Hob
sons choice between abandoning Free Trade and
regulating combinations which left the
petitor and the consumer helpless. They would
have preferred the cuckoo song, that there are
neither trusts nor sweated industries in Eng
land They were not prepared applaud the
suggestions that railways should be purchased
small producers enabled TO borrow money on
easy terms, the markets subjected to systematic
regulation and schemes Of legislation in viola
ton of oldtime ideas Of individualisTn strenu-
ously promoted
This outspoken call upoh the Free Traders to
wake up and To face the facts Of the new situa-
ton in England was indeed more significant
than the confidence of the doctrinaries in the
ultimate triumph OF their cause. 1t was a warn
ing that Cobdenism doomed in the kingdom
unless its followers were prepared to Iegisate On
lines and 10 finance a great many Socialist
measures. The Tariff Reformers knew how the
lied