The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-05-11
AN ENGLIsHMAN's VIEW.

ers are indebted for the tulip industry. |
AN ENGLISHMAN'S VIEW.
Moreton Frewen, the celebrated
British political economist, recently
expressed great surprise that a certain |
class of statesmen attributed the pre-
vailing high prices to the tariff, and |
that an effort was being made in the |
direction of a further downward re-
vision. Mr.. Frewen, being an Eng |
lishman, knows all about the ms and
outs of free trade. and his views on
the situation at home as well as III |
this country are very instructive. Re-
garding the rise in prices and the
tariff, he says:
The position at Washington is very
interesting indeed. The young
and ardent Republicans have
convinced themselves, and what
is more important, their constitu-
ents, that the rise in the prices
of the necessaries of life-wheat,
beef, bacOn-has to do with
your tariff. Well, in England
we have no protective tariff Just
yet, but still the price of wheat
has doubled in the last Is years,
though we have all the world to
draw on. For our wheat supply
wheat which was 20 shillingS a
quarter is now from 38 to AZ
shiIlings. Beef, mutton and pork
have risen since 1896 quite 40
per cent with US. Let me quote
you Mr.. Sauerbecks latest in
deX number" of priceS-the aver
age rise for his 45 commodities
Jumped together. The index num-
Der for July, 1896, was 59.2; for
March, 1910, it was 1911. In other
words. a mixed parcel of As COM
modities which could have been
bought in 1896 for 80 sOvereigns,
or $50, now costs rs sovereigns,
or $79. But people here are GER
tain that the trouble is in the
tariff
Protection in the United States, free
trade in England and high prices in
both countries. What becomes of the
theory that the tariff is responsible
when some level-headed political
economist comes along with the facts
in the case?
Mr.. Frewen seems to be laboring
under the impression that the tariff
revisionists are making Roadway, and
that there is danger of the voters be-
ing led into error. He warns the cit
liens of the United States against such
a course in the following emphatic
words:
But if in this country you are going
to experiment with a lower tar
if, and 1 believe from what 1
hear that you are, If you think
you read any such writing as
that on the wall, you will run
into a cyclone of disaster. Pull
a rail or two off your tariff
fence and. you will first of all
increase your imports The ball
ance Of trade is already terri
bly, against you Increase your
imports still more and you will
evict vast sums of gold You
might easily lose two hundred
million dollars. Certainly that
Will cause rapid rapid enough D.iagi
through contraction of your
currency and panic. You had
this sort of a fall in prices in
1907. Just two things will cor
rect your present adverse ex-
changes; higher tariff ates, not
lower, and if you cannot get that
legislation, then perhaps the
best corrective is such a panic
as will be the inevftah bile result
of a lower tariff. a panic will
stop your purchases abroad and
will also expand your sales to
foreign countries; but how SEN
sible men with the danger signal
of heavy gold exports flying to-
day in full sight can urge tariff
man understanding. The party
which tries it on is likely TO
have very short shrift-
That is the truth in a nutshell. A
panic will inevitably result from lower
tariff rates. If the people of this
country believe a panic is necessary
for our weIlbeing and happiness, all
they have to do to bring it about is to
fall in line with the Democrats and
let down the bars and the panic Will
come. Having had experience in the
tration of the late Grover Cleveland,
it is hard to believe that a majority of
the voters can be fooled.
Here in Utah there is no danger
Perhaps we could stand a panic as
well as any other part of the country,
better than some. But we're not hank
ering for another period of depres-
sion, another Democratic era of low
wages and little work. This city and
the state of Utah are going along IN
der full sail jast now, and prosperity
is apparent on every hand, and the
people will endeavor to steer clear of
the free trade rocks as long as posi-
pie.
In the meantime. it is just as well to
keep posted on what is transporting,
and bear in mind the warning of slrcli
men as Moreton Frewen.
A FLORIDA HERO.