Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-08-15

When Goblet. the great minister Of Louis
NV, In 1864 revised the French system OF
taxation on the basis OF the theory that
the labor Of its people is the greatest
asset OF a state, he laid the foundation for
modern commercial systems, and, as n BIZ
product. he produced the doctrine OF the
protective tariff. Until that time the
tariff had been used only as a means OF
raising revenue, and had been levied
solely with respect to how much the king
happened to need. In the two and half
centuries since Colbert's day, the tariff
question has been the chief concern of
fiscal legislation In every commercial
country. In that go years the protective
tariff has built new nations and has
wrecked old ones; Il has encouraged manu-
facturer and discouraged agriculture; II
has fattened the farmers and starved the
the manufacturer 1t has fostered commerce
and It has killed trade; 1t has caused ma
tons to go 20 war and It has prevented
wars--one thing or another, according to
how, when and by whom Il has been used.
Statesmen OF every nation now generally
admit that the German tariff policy, in the
selfish interest Of Germany. Is the most
scientifically wrought and the most skill
luNy hppneQ NdTlAA nSeNeW yet 6NolNth'
The importance OF the German empire
among the nations OF the world is great,
not in the ratio OF the strength of its
military establishment, but according to
it's Industrial and economic condition.
That tho German empire now Is the most
highly organized industrial nation OF the
world, ana that 1t has attained this SUI
premacy in only thirty years, cannot be
- s.,4W tn, ~ fl,.1
German tariff policy.
The zoliverein-the German Customs
union-was formed in 1883 to put an end to
the restraints laid upon trade by the ex-
cessive tariffs levied by each one Of the
two-score German states and which
practically prohibited general internal COM
MERGE AS It was the first purpose of the
Zollvefcin to remove restrictions from
commerce, Il was inevitable that German
fiscal thought should have inclined toward
free trade rather than protection. BY the
time the German native industries has
begun thoroughly to recover from the ex'
haustion Of the Napoleonic wars, Golden
was leading the free trade movement In
England and was affecting the fiscal
politics Of all Europe, as well as OF
America.
Thus In 1863. when Prussia had gained the
supremacy OF Germany and had excluded
Austria from the nation, the Zoll parlia-
ment in Berlin was controlled by the anti
pfotectionists, and the tariff revision &C
compushed at that time, making the fornia-
ton of the empire economically certain
was a tariff for revenue only. Bismarck
at that time, was an earnest advocate of a
strict revenue tariff At that time Ger
many was concerned only with the prob
lem OF freeing It's commerce from every
possible restriction, in order that trade
might exist, whether Its profits were small
or large Nevertheless, the inclusion OF the
German states within a tariff wall, pro-
vIding absolute free trade for domestic
comrnerce and levyIng the necessary rev
enue tariffs on foreign trade, had the re-
suit OF furnishing some degree Of incidental
protection to the nRscent German manufac-
turers. 'r
After the new empire had been estab-
lished for five years. and It had become APP
parent that German union was permanent
and that internal dissension need no longer
be feared Bismarck's economic policy
CHANGED from subjective to objective. I'm
peFial unity assured the prosperity OF deo-
nestle commeroe. 1t now became neces-
sary for Germany to develop its industries
ana TO foster and encourage its foreign
trade with this change in the nature OF
the problem before him, Bismarck, wholly
without varying, went back on his free
trade record ana became an ardent pro-
tectiohist At that time the will Of the
iron Chancellor was law in the German
Parliament, and as soon as he had worked
out the details OF his protective scheme the
Reichstag passed the first German protec-
tive tariff bill In May, 1879. 1t Is a Curl
uusly interesting coincidence that most
writer's of histories say that the rise OF
Industrial Germany began in 1880.
Bismarck said: Free trade is the weapon
of the strong" Therefore Britain could
afford free trade, but Germany could not.
He resolved to give Germany a tariff sys-
tenn which would provide it with weapons
OF offense and defense, and with which
trade adversaries must reckon. In framing
the first protective bill, Bismarck and his
assistants violated all the precedents OF the
legislative advocates OF protection in that