Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-18

that the Confederation went to pieces.
But Mr.. Madison proposed to make the
same colonies which composed the
Confederation swallow the camel of a
much higher tariff He succeeded. and
"the encroachment of American man
ufactures," to which the states would
not agree when members of the Con-
federation, was meekly acquiesced in
when members of the United States.
With Madison 1t was a case of every
thing to gain and nothing to lose. He
understood full well that If the gov
ernment could not levy a tariff on
imports 1t meant ruin. anyway, and
the test might as we'll come then as
thereafter. Madison, Fillmore and
Mckinley are the only three authors of
tariff laws who ever reached the presi-
dency.
Alexander ]. Dallas, secretary of the
treasury under Madison, was the vir-
tual author of the tariff of 1915. 1t
had been the custom for the secretary
of the treasury to be called on for
report showing the needs of the treas
ury and the direction a change in the
tariff should take. Hamilton had pro-
duced his report on manufactures, and
Albert Gallatin had done likewise, taxi
ing the opposite view in the main.
Dallas was born in the British island
Of Jamaica and took the oath of alle-
glance In 1888. 1t was on his sugges-
ton that the Second National bank
was incorporated in 1916, and his serv-
ices as secretary of the treasury dur
ing the financially perilous times fol-
lowing our second war with England
have always been regarded as of a
high order.
It is rather hard to assign the au-
thorship of the tariff of 1924. 1t was
reported by the committee on manu-
features, of which Mr.. Todd of Penn
sylvania was chairman, though the
measure was framed by the committee
acting as WHOLE. Mr.. Todd steered
ii through the house.
Silas Wright wrote the report on the
bill which was afterward distorted into
the tariff of denominations. Chairman
Mallory of the committee on manufac-
lures, managed the bill in the house,
but the probabilities are that the credit
for drafting the measure is largely due
to Silas Wright Wright was a political
power in his day. and as member of
the United States senate he made him.
self one of the leaders of the national
Democracy.
John Quincy Adams was the author
of the bill which furnishes the basis of
the tariff of 1882, and as such was the
only former president who ever drafted
q tariff law. Madison, Fillmore and
Mckinley became president after their
bills became laws, but Adams seized
the warning factions and figuratively
repeated that celebrated admonition:
"We must all hang together or we Will
have to hang separately" For once he
secured unity of action, and protec-
tionists were rot hanged separately.
The feat of Henry Clay in effecting
his famous tariff compromise of 1888
stands out as one of the most remark
able political maneuvers OF all tariff
history. He saw that protection was
doomed, and he promptly set about to
insure it's maintenance as long as pos
sible. He foresaw that defeat was the
portion which would befall the doc
trine and he sought TO get the best
terms the enemy would give. He
wanted the change to be gradual one,
and thought nine years time enough in
which the manufacturers should be
asked to change from high tariff to
low tariff basis. One of the favorite
statements about his attitude was that
he never expected that the low tariff,
which his compromise provided should
60 into effect in 1912. should become
operative; that he expected new high
tariff law to be passed before that time.
But such a statement does not seem to
do Justice to the candor of the man.
Making the oil of protection to mix
with the water of free trade was diff
f1cult feat, but one which Clay was
able to accomplish. AS compromiser
Henry Clay stands out In first place
among the statesmen of the country,
his compromise on the slavery question
in 1850 being no less remarkable than
his tariff compromise of 1888.