The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-06
AMERICAN TARIFF LAWS

o Frederic J. H.sLia

j " 1III
election did mot preAt he prstsction.
lists. The Whigs ara not oontrof Con.
gress and this preventoA the TAYLOR.
Fillmore admiHistratlon from revisinr
the tariff of f8lG .Tharsafter the tara
IN question wss keDt q TIE hnek-
ground. So we'll ala the tarifY % la1s
work that even ysasss q. blaine says
in effect in his Twenty Years "a coSi.
as practically settled. It 10 true that
the Republicans made Il one Of their
cardinal principles IN 1855 and again
In 1850, In which latter year Pennsyi-
vania turned the tide from Democracy
to Republication. more on the tariff
issue than on the slavery issue.
After the election Of lincoln and
before the retirement Of Buchanan, the
Morrill, tariff law was passed--fts en-
actment being brought about through
the prospect OF war. Little was heard
OF the tariff during the war. although
many additional duties were put on
Along about 1870 the demand for tap
IN reducticn was heard. Grant heA
been Democrat and . low tarif man.
and was still Inclined to low tayilEs.
In 1871 the low tariff party actually
accepted ~ its candidate q very hfgh
priest Of protection--Horacs Greer:
and high tariff party rsnominate6 :
man who had In his early life been
- much OF low tariff man a 0roAIy
mad been protectionist 0resiy haH
egreed not to veto any tariff bill Con.
6ress might pass. should the Demo-
Gratis capture the legislative machinery.
Inc democratic platform Of that year
recognized honest but irreconcfltnbIe
dinerences Of opinion with regard Is
the respective systems Of protector
and free trade" and declared That ssv,~
remit the discussion or the sub3ecf ~
the people In their Conrressonai ,fs.
tricts. and to the decision OF the Con.
gress thereon, wholly free from sxecu-
tive interference or dictation." Such
s,s ueclaration remains undue In tarifr
The Democratic platform OF ,s7s do.
nounced the tariff then In erect. -.
serting that 1t was laid upon nearly
5000 different articles. that Il Wa
masterpieces OF injustice, ineduaIitv' ara
raise pretense. They blamed II WIN
the decadence of American sfySnnins
and asserted that IT, cost the country
nve times as much AZ 1t benefited the
treasury In 1873 and 1915 ana faao
the Republicans declared IN milA Isr~
guase for protection. ana IN the lat
Ter year the Democrats contented tbern-
selves with the simple, statement fhst
they wanted q tariff for revenue onIv.
The soft pedal playing on the tarifY
question that characterized the plat
forms OF 1880 was less in. evidences IN
1883. The platform Of the Democrats
OF 1883 was very mild" ON the tarifY
question, but the Republicans p,,s 4
great deal Of ginger into theirs.
The events of 1890 lent theu,seIves
~ readily TO the Democratic cause AZ
those OF later years have lent them
serves TO the ascendency Of protection.
just as the Republicans prophesied that
a high tariff in 1897 would bring about
5000 times and the good times came,
50 the Democrats prophesied m 1890
that the passage Of the MCKINLEY biil
would bring about high prices. ana
high prices came. The law
went into effect Q month before the
congressional elections OF 1880.
systematic campaign was made shove
ing how prices had Increased. TIN ped
diers were sent around with tinwnra
marked up TO absurdiy high prices.
their mission being to convert the
housewives to low tariff more than 10
sell tinware. Political tears were shsA
over the poor sewing women who had
to pay an advanced price for peari butt
tons. Young men felt the pinch OF the
tarin because OF the advanced price OF
cigarettes and cigars The newspapers
set out TO show. how much further =
dollar went under the tariff of 1854
than It would 80 under the McKiniey
tafiff. n does not matter that the adj
vance of prices because Of the Mo-
Kinley bill was more imaginary than
real, more temporary than permanent,
the result q the campaign was the
biggest Slaughter of Republican Con-
candidates the country has
seen, andS the Democrats came into
control Of the House by the biggest
any party ever had in that
body.
Two years after that the tariff quss-
ton was the paramount issue. and II
the Democrats had previously thrown
out ili<-and-water tariff bait TO the
voter. they were not going TO do 20
this time. IL called protection robbery
to start with and Their warmed up TO
the subject. The Republicans stood By
their protection guns. They lost. The
Wilson law, with all the evils OF the
panic period followed. Thiss time the
laid claim 20 the gift OF
prophesy and events bore ont, IL they
did not justify, THAR prophecy The
remaining history OF the tariff as q
political issue Ii well known. Per-
haps too much il claimed tor protec-
ton and too much blame IL laid upon
It, perhaps the same may be said OF
low tarfff. but These claims ana
charges as made for each system serve
well 20 make the tariff perfect po-
littieal issue. The present state OF ac-
quiescence IN protection has coun-
terpart in past state of acceptance OF
free trade. who knows but that the
may swing again7 And
again? $50
Copyright, 1909. by Frederic J. Has
KIM
Temorrew--Ameriean Tariff Laws.