El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-02

win in the next general election
in Great Britain it will be because
they hold the trump card of tariff re-
form The Conservatives, or unioniSts,
as they prefer 10 call themselves, in,
sisted that the tariff question was the
paramount issue in the campaign of
last January. 1t mnst be admitted that
, the UniOnist gains in that election
nearly all were the result of the tar
if reform propaganda If the cam
paign had been fought altogether up
on the tariff issue the Unionists would
have won a victory. This has been adj
mitted by the shrewdest politicians of
the Liberal party, who recognized the
! fact, even before the election, that
Liberalism could not hope to win in a
defensive battle solely on the issue of
free trade 1t was equally certain that
they could not win except by supporting
free trade. Although the constitutional
crisis precipitated by the clash between
commons and lords, and the progressive
social legislation advocated by the Lib
eral government resulted directly in a
feeble victory for the Radicals, the
election definitely determined but one
thing. and that was that free trade is
no longer a settled doctrine OF British
polity.
Frightened by Socialism.
If the UniOnist party could stand
squarely on the merits of its doctrines
of democratic Imperialism and tariff
reform, it probably would be able to
destroy the present radical-liberaI or
ganiZation. The trouble is that dem
ocrstic imperialism and tariff reform
are shibboleths of a comparatively few
men, mostly ex-hberals, who are gen
timely frightened by the spectre Of So
cialism. They depend for votes upon
following purely Tory. made up of the
! privileged landlord class, the estab-
lished church, and the Lie 1or trade.
That these Liberal Unionists leaders are
able TO dictate the positive policies of
| the Tory political machine is proof of
the essential weakness of the ortho-
dox Toryism. So it was in the last cam
paign, when the Liberals made a direct
attack upon privilege; the party of
privilege declining a direct battle, fol-
lowed the lead of the erstw lille Radical
Chamberlain and shouted itself hoarse
for tariff reform.
English Idcns vs. Americas.
1t is superfluous, perhaps. to remind
the reader that tariff reform in Great
Britain means exactly the opposite OF
what it does in the United States.
Tariff reform in England is a sugar
coated phrase meaning protection,
the word protection" being odious
on account Of the great free trade
successfully IodQ OE GODOcIl
and Bright little more than half CEN
fury ago. So successful was that free
trade battle that the Tory party defin-
itely abandoned the doctrine Of protec
ton, and was reconverted only by a
great effort.
Great Britain has practically no
tariff levying only a small tax on
tobacco, spirits, perfumes and other
such luxuries. and upan tea and a few
! other non-c competitive articles. The
principle of protection is denied in the
! British tariff system, and its revenue
customs are derived from such arti
cles as TO prevent even a slight Incl
dental protection. In this respect Great
Britain stands alone among all the ma
! tions of the earth, separated even from
its own colonies by tariff barriers; Who'll
ly defenceless in a tariff war because
deprived of the only weapon effective
in such warfare-the power OF retaaia-
tion
UniOnists Want Tariff.
|. The patriotic intelligence of the I'm
ionist party deplores this isolation, no
longer f'splendid". and would substitute
for the present system an imperial tar
if union, which would institute a pro-
/ tective tariff for Great Britain, and, by
means of a preferential system, include
all parts of the British empire within
the British tariff boundary, thus effect
ing an economic union of the empire
| Solidarity of the empire now is main
tanned by love and fear-love of the
crown and fear of foreign foes To
love and fear Mr.. Chamberlain would
add-interest. Just now Great Britain
can give no preferential favOrS to the
commerce OF its colonies, because its
ports are free and either colonial or al
len may bring in his wares without pay
ing anything to the customs officers
Britain the Dumping Ground.
Tariff reformers refer to Great Brit
ain as the dumping ground" of the ma
ton Any manufacturing nation can
| send its wares into England 10 compete
! on a basis of entire equality with Brit
ish manufacturers. Therefore, when
trade IS dull and factories are closed,
it is comparatively easy TO convince the
workmen that he is suffering because
of this free and untrammeled foreign
competition.
uting the materials to several concerns
instead of to one.
There is a prevailing opinion. among