Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-05-14
MOVING BACKWARD

mOb1NG bACkWAhO
 Eight years ago VI.ia-n McKinlsy, then, as always, an arasnt aayoeare Of tile protective pohc., lropoaLd.o t..e inquiry wnStl-er so-..e potion O. or .plotsStlve tarin d~ti.s DO long,r needed to s-stain Amsrlesn ina~stry coda not be traced Tor coAee5sioas lrom 1orei n coantries that. wo-la enable or ex- porters to eLter ioreign markets oa more liberal t.rms. It was a modest breach in the tarln wall tllls proposed. But what became of the saggssnon? Absolutely not.ing so lar as congress is concerled. TLe reciprocity treaties negotiated at 50 much pains under the terms of thu Dlngley law were pigeon holed Not step was taken toward loosening the the grip of tho tari1 ca imports until the roosevelt admniistra- tlon negotiated the German agreement and ti.e otnsr like agreements with 1or- eign countries. which outraged the oeaAa P0h NACAAC44t, D0b CASOtA 2AC0 tuC hope of a real tariff revision.
 Notice has new been given to foreign countries of the termination of these agreements, because the new tariff bill will take their place. That bill it now seems probable, will contain no con- sessions whatever to foreign trade. It demands that those nations having pref erential treaties or dual tariffs shall give US the most favored nation treat ment without any concessions on our part. It is expected that tho demand will be met because We hold over them the formidable weapon of 25 per cent maximum tariff, in addition to the reg ular duties. This policy is a complete reversal of that contemplated by Mir. Mckinley. and before him by James c. Blaine. Going after the trade with a club was not dreamed of by either of those eminent protectionists. Their the ory was that certain products could be interchanged prohtably at low rates of duty to the advantage of both parties to the transaction. Mutual concession was tho keynote of their reciprocity policy. The Aldrich bill grants nothing in the way of concessions. It simply says that unless we arc treated as we like in foreign countries or as the pres. ident thinks we ought to be treated, then rstaliatory destruction of all trade will be kept in force.
 If this sort of thing goes into effect 1t means that protectionism in an ex- treme form has secured stronger grip on the country than ever. The aglta. ton for revision downward had its inception in demand for wider mar kets, and It's most effective advocates were those who urged that If we let down the tariff bars little, foreign countries would be less disposed to dis criminate against our products. But there is no revision downward in the Aldrich bill, no concession whatever to foreign imports, in spite of the neces- sity for revenue; and instead of con- ciliatory policy toward the nations with which we trade, it has adopted retal- iatory program which looks toward higher instead of lower duties. And SO the net outcome of the campaign for freer trade, larger markets and downward revision is to be higher du- ties and tariff warfare and tightening of the bonds of protected interests.
 We judge that by the time MT. Aid rich gets through, those who demanded tariff revision will be sorry that they spoks.