The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-11-14
Paying For High Protection

"nlle IL Is not difficult to name a
number of things and several thousa I'D
persons OF which and whom the New
York Sun disapproves, it is hard %
find anything which has its absolute
Endorsement. 1t is true that at times
it has seemed to dislike our divineIy
inspired tariff. but it has always disap-
proved still more OF anybody who tried
to get it reduced. 1t is. therefore.
with gratitude that the following edi-
torial comment is reprinted:
Is there any part of the business o!
importing that is free from graft
Is there any graft in any part of the
business Of importing that is not ex-
tortionary on the part of the sworn
servants of the United States treasury
docks that can be unloaded withou:
graft, the same payable to an Official
of the United States treasury: Does
not the bulk OF all demurrage charges
on our water front depend for its miti
cation upon the liberal payment Of
graft to somebody representing the
United States of America:
Here is an entirely truthful exposi
ton Of part of the price we pay for
high protection. tariff may stimu-
late infant industries. and we are moro
or less committed to the principle that
it does DO so. Unfortunately, if W.
give one section of the community
privileges over another. we upset the
balance of our political system to eX
actly that extent. In fact. we throw
the balance out of gear in such a wa
that it has a tendency to get worse in
stead Of better. The appetite of the
protected industry grows with what i,
feeds on.
This is not the worst of it. and the
evils the Sun points out are amone
the least of those which we have vol
unfairly brought upon ourselves. The
great evil is the terrible deterioration
| in the quality of what we produce. witt
the consequent degeneration of the
worker who produces it. Ten years
ago the Dingley tariff had been in OPP
Grafton for only short time. AL
| the protection that it could give haC
doubtless been appreciated. but its de
| moralizing power had not been real
| lied. To take simple instance. i
any man will consider any article o
| attire. say his suspenders, and asl
himself how much longer they LASTED
at the same price ten years ago. he will
get an idea of what the tariff has done
There is no department of industr!
to which this does not apply. 1t had
in fact, become so dangerous in thu
manufacture of steel rails that tn
railroads had to bring the most activ
pressure to bear upon the manufac
turers in the interests of public safet'
in order to secure an article upol
which had been expended a REASONABLE
amount of time and workmanship.
This is not to say that the principl
Of protection is bad, but to point on
how inevitably it has become cor
rupted, with the results which the SUI
acknowledges. What it has done i
the way of debauching our legislator
at Washington, no words can tell. an
the grim fact still to face is that tn
evil increases as the years go on. A
ready our tariff is embroiling us wit
the peoples with whom we trade.
is rendering our schemes of colonial
ton abortive. and. last and worst c
all. it is building up between the Eas
and the West of our country section
alism which bids fair to become as bit
ter as that which existed half a Ger
fury ago between the North and tn
South Wall Street Journal.