The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-10-04
HOW FREE TRADE
SAPS INDUSTRIES
Discomfort Cannot be AppeaSed
by Multiplying Causes.
LION WON'T LIE WITH LAMB


We Never Before Enjoyed-Shall
the Fatal 5Iunder Of 1894 Be Re-
peatedl
tClosing Appeal of Hon George B.
Curtiss in his Industrial Development
Of Nationsl
An apparent change in public senti-
mont upon vital questions of public
policy, especially when it indicates a
departure from long-established prin.
ciples which have worked we'll and
which have been approved by conced.
edly wise and eminent statesmen,
should be construed with great care
by those having the welfare of the re-
public in keeping, and be encouraged
and fostered only upon the most pro.
found analysis of the causes which
give it inspiration, and upon the sin
cere conviction that the end to be at
tained is the permanent welfare of the
whole people. The Greenback party,
during the business depression which
followed the war, and the free-silver
frenzy which imperiled the financial
integrity of the country in 1896, we're
both formidable manifestations of pub
lie sentiment which received such en-
couragement from political parties
that they gained a degree of strength
that made them national perils-all
because they had been temporized
with and encouraged by political as
pirants for office. They We're only
checked by the courageous action of
those statesmen and citizens who had
the courage to defend sound and long
established financial doctrines and
principles.
The downward revision program is
a policy calculated to assuage irrita-
tions and to conciliate opposition by
sacrificing principles. 1t may triumph
for short time, but the end will be
return to sound protective princi-
pies, for it will destroy industrial sta
bility and produce a reaction in public
sentiment in favor of protection. Free
trade has more than once crushed
agriculture and sapped the foundation
content cannot be permanently ap-
peased by multiplying the causes
which are sure to bring about more
discomfort. 1t is much cheaper to
appease disordered minds by promis-
ing a temporary relief than it is to
correct erroneous opinions and to
combat prejudices by rational argu-
ments.
The protective system has been the
most potent influence for maintaining
and nourishing industries that has yet
been devised. 1t was founded by our
ancestors, and no political power has
since arisen which could accomplish
its extinction. Following every at
tempt at its overthrow it has revived
and spread to new fields and gained
more permanent strength. 1t is so in
terwoven with individual prosperity
and well-being that to assail it is to
attack the homes and firesides of the
people. Is an institution which has
withstood the political shocks of a cen.
tury, and is now more universally ac.
cepted than at any time in the worlds
history, to be abandoned by that peo.
pie who have reached an eminence
under its beneflcent influences which
surpasses all other industrial achieve.
ments known among men?
1t is the cause of the people; it Is
the bulwark of their industrial indie
pendence and the very basis of their
progress and prosperity. 1t cannot be
permanently destroyed. The strongest
and most deeply rooted convictions of
the people cannot be eradicated The
ambitions of the most enterprising and
industrious peopel on earth cannot be
stifled. The political controversies of
generations cannot be forgotten. The
lion will not lie down with the lamb
nor the serpent nestle with the dove.
The people will not long be dominated
by the hallucination that we can have
high wages and low prices at the
same time; that we can import goods
from abroad and at the same time
make them at home. The passion
for change has been appealed to and
melted to a fervid heat with little
warning of the perils of such innova-
tion. Has there been discovered a sim
gle example in the industrial history
of nations to justify the abandonment
Of those economic principles which
form the basis of our national growth
and prosperity? No, not one, for none
exists.
From 1894 to 1897 the country was
filled with unemployed capital on the
one hand, holdinf aloof from invest
ment, and millions Of idle labor on the
other hand seeking in vain for work.
The very object of capital to find op-
portunities for profitable investment
and the efforts of labor to obtain
work were defeated. Our whole in
dustrial structure was thrown out OF
balance The country was filled with
money, but it was not in circulation;
1t was filled with labor which was
idle. III WaQ rich In rasOurcas hut