Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-03-19
AMERICAN TARIFF LAWS
By FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN.

No other question of governmental
policy has been so persistently a political
issue as the tariff. BY refusing to re-
main down it has made every other
question of American politics seem but
short lived affair. 1t began by figuring
as a prominent factor in the breaking
down of the confederation; two colonies
would not submit to national tariff
law, and each colony wanted to have
tariff against the others products. Then
is proved TO be a prominent argument for
the making and adoption of the United
States constitution. From that day to
this it has been more or less an issue.
Sometimes it has been oYershadowed by
other questions, but its eclipse has al
ways been temporary.
Well might the tariff be an issue. From
the time when the first law went into
effect down to the present date it has
put nearly eleven billion dollars into
the Golfers of Uncle1 Sam. There is much
dispute as to where this comes from.
The high tariff man declares with con-
viction that the foreigner pays the tax,
and the low tariff man is equally san
guine that the consumer pays the
freight" Whatever the truth of the
matter is, the fact remains that foreign
goods coming into the United States have
had to pay eleven billion dollars for the
privilege of getting in-exactly like one
has to pay to get into the theatre.
That is the direct result of the tariff.
But greater even than this has been the
indirect result. The high tariff man be-
lieves that it has made the country rich
err by multiplied millions of dollars. He
looks at the superabounding prosperity
of the nation and says that it is the re-
suit of the protective tariff. He says
that while it has yielded eleven billion
dollars in revenue, it has yielded five
times as much in increased national
wealth. The low tariff advocate con-
cedes that we are a rich nation, but with
a positiveness equal to that OF his high
tariff friend, he asserts that it is in spite
of the tariff, and not at all because of
it, John Sharp Williams disclaims the
idea of high tariff being responsible for
prosperity by telling the story of wood
pecker that was pecking at a tree when
the wind rose and blew the tree down.
He says that to this day the woodpecker
believes that 1t felled the tree.
Between these two extreme views one
finds the doctrine of President Garfield.
When in congress, and chairman of the
ways and means committee, he discussed
the tariff and analysed these two views,
following the analysis with the declara-
ton that the truth lay between them in
the shape of a protective tariff that
leads to ultimate free trade" He want
ed the infant industries to be nourishCl
up to the point where they could hustle
for themselves and then withdraw the
government stimulant.
The reasonable man knows that there
hOfh sides but he is
scarcely prepared for the strength Of the
arguments each side can muster. An in
cident which happened last winter will
illustrate this The present vice presi-
dent Mr.. Sherman, had printed in the
Congressional Record parallel columns OF
figures, comparing the condition OF the
country under Democratic rule from 1888
to 1897 and under Republican rule since
then. It was an impressive array OF
statistics. and seemed convincing enough
for anyone.
The eve of Representative Lloyd, OIL
Missouri fell on this campaign docu-
ment, and he proceeded to counter in true
political prize ring style. He made some
calculations as to the relative grown Oh
the country from 1850 to 1860, under
low tariff. and from 1897 to 1907, under
high tariff He presented figures showing
that savings bank deposits had increased
246 per cent in the low tariff decade as
against &c per cent during the high tar
iff decade; all bank deposits l66 per cent,
as compared with SO per cent. His hgures !
set up the claim that the national wealth
had increased 100 per cent during the ten
ree-trade years. as compared with less
than so per cent during the ten high tar
iff years. According to the Lloyd figures
wheat was worth an average or more
than double as much. and corn more than
half more.
To all this the Republicans answer
that the 1S50-1S6O period was happy ac-
cdent; that the country was simply en-
joying that prosperity which resulted |
from the Mexican war and the discovery /
of gold in California, just as the Demo- |
Gratis insist that the panic of 1898 cams /,
from Republican misrule in the Harrison |
administration. So there you are. This !
series of articles will not attempt to set |
tie even a single point of this multi !
sided controversy but to tell the history !
of the tariff from the time that it first /
began, showing its interdependence with |