Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-04-28
Prepare for End Of the War.

feverish period of productive activity
When the smoke Of battle clears away
the smoke Of the factory clouds tbs
sky. Whether it is to be the smoke OF
American factories or Of foreign fac
tories which will cloud the sky. after
the battles Of this great war are stilled
adopted by our government.
Millions Of men released from mill
tary service will enlist again in the in
dustrial armies Of Europe. Wages Ct
fifty cents day will seem wonderfully
attractive to men who, for few cents
a day, have borne the hardships of a
cruel campaign and faced death on a
thousand battle fields. The whirr Of
the loom and the song Of the forge will
be soothing music to ears that have
heard for months the singing whiz Of
the rifle bullet and the murderous
boom Of the bursting bomb.
During this war America has not
heard the roar Of foreign cannon, but
at the close Of the war we shall hear
the ominious roar Of the foreign mill.
While the war lasts we will be cut off
from some Of our customary foreign
markets. When the war ends we shall
have to fight as never before for our
customary share Of our own market.
During the Revolutionary war for.
eign competition in the American mar
ket was reduced to minimum and
domestic manufacturing was stimu-
lated to a marked degree. The war
tariff was revised downward" i'm
ports multiplied; the era Of prosperity
ended and manufacturing in this
country was as completely Frustrated
as though a hostile army had ravaged
the land.
During the early fifties, when Europe
was recovering from the devastation
VI VOL, d iOW tdi Ill was III CiASSI Ia
this Countrywide Walker tariff act OF
1886. Foreign competition, that had
been restrained by the wars in Europe.
burst upon our country in full force.
AS Professor Francis Bowen, of Har-
ward, said in his Principles of Political
Economy: 1.-The sale Of British manu-
features In this country, to the great
depression of our domestic industry,
rapidly increased Our imports Of
wool. cotton and iron, for the year
ending in June, 1851. had become 43
per cent, and for that ending in June,
1863. 125 per cent. greater than they
were the year before the alteration of
the tariff. To pay for these extrava-
CANT importations we were obliged to
sell our agricultural products at the
reduced price, and to export an i'm
mense amount Of California gold be-
sides. Within three years after this
reduction of the tariff, the price of the
imported iron began to rise rapidly
and in 1852 and in 1853 it was even
higher than it had been before the
ruin Of the home manufacture"
That ruin of the home manufac-
ture'' would have occurred much
sooner il the troubles in Europe had
not prevented the foreign manufactur-
ers from competing in our market, as
the low duties Of the Walker act in
vited them to do. But when their
troubles ended. they flooded this mar
ket with their goods and the ruin Of
the home manufacture" was complete.
In a similar way, war in Europe has
once more rescued this country from
the crushing effects Of a low tariff
law. But for nearly a year we had
evidence Of what the effects Of that
law would be. Total imports of
merchandise increasing by a hundred
millions, our exports decreasing to an
even more alarming amount. millions
OF men and women out Of work, bread
lines in all of the large cities, barges,
wharves and empty buildings used to
house the unemployed, failures multi
plying and mills and factories shutting
down-such was the record Of a year
OF the Underwood Simmons tariff, and
only the European war saved the
country from more frightful disaster.
But the war will end some day AMI
then the story Of the fifties will be. re-
peated: imports on an enormous scale
will be resumed and 1.-The ruin of home
manufacture" again contaminated.
Nothing will save the country but
the re-ehactment Of protective tariff.
Twice before the gains which had been
made while war lasted were lost
through the operation OF low tariff,
when peace came. Twice at the end
OF a war-the Civil War and the
Spanish war-a period Of unbounded
posperity was enjoyed by this country
because the upbuilding Of our indus
tries was safeguarded by protective