Lower coast gazette., 1909-06-12

We are led 10 tleSA Reflections iiDll ,lt l"Ci
that some Of oar best informed journals ar2 now
rejecting upon the democratic contingent in the
House ard Senate that is advocating protection.
per Sc. and especially protection for its respective
states. Self preservation is the first law of naJure
and to save the industries Of their own section Is
certainly the proper thing to 60 hE the melnbers
Of our law making bodies. whether they be demo-.
cratic or sa-caIled republican. New England. in
the beginning, was rather reluctant about coming
into the federal union and wanted free trade.
When New England became a manufacturing
country and the manufacturing interests became
larger than any others, then the representative
men Of New England advocated the control Of the
home market for its manufactures by protective
legislation. All this had It's counterpart in Eng
land. where the agriculturists OF tie country DOM
mated for hundreds of years, until the days OF
John Bright and Richard Golden, some seventy
years ago, the manufacturers became so powerful
as to d ,minate the entire country and then the
tariff on foOdstutIs, the 50 called corn laws. was
repealed and England is held up as the saviour Of
humanity because Of its repeal Of the corn laws
and OF its wonderful progress under free trade
conditions. In all the history Of modern ciylIiZa-
Jon there has been no country more selfish than
ENGLAND. They would not allow any iron manu-
features in the American colonies as long as they
could control the matter. r~eServing for the home
country all such special Industries wherein it eN-
celled, and wherein England desired Jo maintain
her control. The corn laws of England were
abolished because it finally became possible for the
manufacturers to utilize their influence to that
extent.
We see now what Germany has done within
the last forty years with its protective policy,
which has been Of typical severity and very threat
ening in many respects to US. From comparative
~obscurity in the manufacturing lines, Germany is
now the second greatest manufacturing country On
earth and leads in scientific chemical manufacture.
In Germany there is on an average, one university
trained chemist to every forty work people, q
ratio Of controlling Intelligence to ordinary labor
without parallel in the history Of modern industries.
France gave evidence Of being the richest ration
in the world when she paid to the German govern
ment in 1870, under the conditions of the Treaty
of Paris, one thousand millions of dollars as a war
indemnity. The country people of France, largely
the agriculturists, furnished the money and took
the bonds Of the country and the debt was prompt
ly paid. The protective policy displayed by any
government is only that Of enlightened selfishress
and enlightened selfishness is the foundation of
our modern civilization.
Our people may be carried away by one issue
or another and loose sight entirely Of the great
political forces lying quiescent, but at the same
time constituting the foundations Of political par
ties, and it may be possible, perhaps. to read some
people out Of one party or the other because Of
their disposition to vary from the definitions Of
party laws and to refuse to follow the dictates of
self constituted referees. Frequently reference is
made to party platforms, as though they were a
solemn obligation of everyone subscribing as a
member of the party, whether he believed in the
detailed recitation Of the party dogma or not. Let
Us take the state Of Minnesota, for instance, which
is 50 overwhelmingly republican and we find that
it has been essentially a free trade state ever since
it was granted statehood. It has elected a demo-
cratic governor because of the desirable qualities of
the man, and at the same time elected the rest of
the ticket republican by many thousands ma
jority. The states of the great Northwest are
agricultural and have resented as far as they
could within their party lines, and sometimes with
out their party lines, what they considered as the
encroachment on the rights Of the people by the
manufacturers of the United States. This has
been more especially felt ~latterly, since so many
combinations have been effected among the manu-
~facturers that today we find that practically every
commodity that we may utilize in any way is con-
trolled by some syndicate Or trust that u~tilizes all
the features Of monopoly, including boycott as far
as possible, to insure it's control. The people of
the United States are essentially democratic and
when the issue is clearly presented to them they
will express their sentiments at the polls, as they
did when they elected Cleveland it 1884 and again
in 1892. The republican party as it is now carried
on, is essentially aristocratic and monopolistic. en-
deavoring as far as it can to concentrate power
and control in the hands Of the few rather than in
the hands of the many, The democratic party is
the individualistic party, the republican party is