The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1909-09-07

-0''-0 the ine-'itb BILE outcome OF
which would be the retardstion. II
iuu, me complete cessation. of develop.
ment in backward countries.
when Golden elaborated his free.
trade doctrine he gave 1t an appear.
ance Of reasonableness by assuming
that the countries of the world were
nrraneed by nature so that one set
would prove complementary to the
other. He was emphatically of the
opinion that England was especially
fitted to be the worlds worksh p. and
that the United States was, created
to grow food and goI products for
British consumption, and that conse.
quently the peoples of the two coun-
tries would profit most, the former
by manufacturing and the latter by
tilllng the soil and exchanging Its
fruits for the articles turned out by
British factories His scheme con-
verted the universe into sort OF
commercial checkerboard in which the
white checker would always keep on
fits own squares and the black would
stick closely to its color.
The contention seemed plausible
and at one time was perllously near
general acceptance But the impera-
tive need OF the United States a coun-
try of boundless resources. for a
greatly augmented revenue compelled
the adoption of a policy which speed
lily demonstrated the utter fallacy Of
the idea that Great Britain was bet
ter fitted for manufacturing purposes
than the United States, or that the
British people had qualities which
made them better artisans than Am
orleans could hope 10 become,
1T ig surprising that the thorough
demonstration which the experience
of the United States furnished has
not made 1t perfectly clear that the
effect OF the success OF free trade
would have been to rctard develop
ment in all backward countries and
that 1t would have resulted in
wasteful dependence of one part OF the
world on the other.
The tremendous advances made BY
many nations in recent years are
chiefly cue to a deliberate disregard
OF the teachings of the Manchester
school of economists. who sought to
inculcate the belief that 1t Is uneco-
nomic to stimulate production by ar.
tiiclal methods. The oyerworked H.
lustratlon Of the growth OF pinoapplcs
under glass fooled some for time,
but 1t did not succeed in imposing up
on rational men. who knew that pro-
lection contemplated only the stimu-
latlon OF industries which promised a
profit. and who recognized that the in
dustries they desired would never be
established il they waited for Nature
to do that which can only be accom-
plished by art
IF all countries had adopted free
trade. Judge Gary would never have
been at the head OF the greatest of In.
dustfial taorporntions. The pre.am-
inence which Great Britain had attain
ed in the iron industry would have
been maintained, and that country
would today be importing iron ores
from the United States II she could
obtain them moro cheaply than from
Spain or other places to which she
resorts now that her deposits are
nearly exhausted Without the bar.
rier which the tariff erected we could
never have created the great iron and
steel industry which gives the people
OF the United States a cheaper sup
ply of the products OF those metals
than is enjoyed by any other people
aid has cheapened them for the whole
world
"The great merit OF protection is its
tendency to promote a uniform devel-
opment of mans capabilities over the
entire world. II has converted the
best part of the American continent
Into a workshop, and through it's
agency the whole Of Europe Is being
covered with factories. In Japan II is
being invoked to create national In
dustry which will save the islands
from contemplated exploitation. and |
China Is likely TO follow the example
of her island nelghbor in the near fu-
ture. II she adopts protective policy
and makes good use OF her great re.
sources, the whole universe will be
benefited in the long run.
1T Is possible that universal devel.
opment may prove unsatisfactory TO
some interests. but It is not conceIy. |
able that any serious economic injury
Will result from the practice of bring
Ing workshop, raw material and con-
sumer close together. thus eliminating
much unnecessary waste of the kind to !
which little attention has been paId by
the advocates Of conservation, but the |
elimination OF which would probably |
benefit mankind more than some of
the more pretenuous schemes whose |