The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-12-03

but because their 1arln views re-
fected fundamentally irreconcilable
views of the very function OF govern
ment. These thoughtless thinkers
have not read history; they nave not
studied economies, they aro not even
familiar with the campaign contrcv-
trsles of the present generation; they
are blissfully ignorant OF wha.. n Pro-
tcctive Tariff means and chat rroe-
Trade means, and in very frank,
childish wty they Argue that the d,
crcnccs between FreeNTraders and
Groiectionists are imaginary, and
that all we need is "a sane" "im-
partial reasonable" business
like" Tarin-which means everything
to everybody at this stage Of the pro
ccedinss, and would mean absolutely
nothing to anybody in determining
the basis of Tariff revision.
The tariff commission idea comes
from Germany. AS an administrative
method il IL admirable. But Ger
many's Tariff commission is Pro
tective Tariff commission. Other
wise IL could never have moved a peg
No statesman in Germany is ignoran
enough to claim that such commits
sion could construct Tariff based a,
once upon the theory OF buy where
you can buy the cheapest and thai
OF buy where you can do so to the
best advantage of your own indus
tries. The party in power in the
United States was elected upon a
platform which declared Protective
Tariff to be immoral and unce nstitu-
ional. Can that doctrine be dispos-
ed OF by an algebraic equation or .
hemical analysis?
There is growing suspicion that
he real purpose of much of this
'waddlc about taking the economic
tucstions out OF politics and running
the next campaign on the ping-pong
rules for 1917 Is TO defeat the posi-
Nility of n Protective revision of the
Tariff by creating commission which
would from the beginning be dead
locked on the question OF whether
Protection should be extended TO
American Industries or whether 1t
should not. or course, during the
continuance OF such a deadlock the
present Tariff would remain in force.
Secretary McAdoo is a strong parti-
san of the present Tariff, and he in
dorses the idea Of Withdrawing the
question from future decisions OF the
people. II the people could be fool
ed into thinking that the mere crea-
ton of the Tariff commission would
solve" the Tariff question they
might be prevented from rendering
verdict in 1916 in favor of Pro-
lection as the basis of future Tarifl
revision, with an immediate Pro.ec-
tive revision of the Tariff, and the
creation of a tariff commission after
the German model to search out the
facts that recommend future changes.
But so long as we retain a repub-
lican form of government In the
United States the determination Of
the economic policies of the National
Goyernme, will remain a subject Of
popular determination. Under an
autocracy these policies are determin-
ed by the few. Here they are de-
termined by the many. Efficiency
may be promoted by the denial of
democracy, but not calculated to
make the people of this country feel
disposed to trade liberty for an eff
ficiency which subordinates the citi-
zen even to the point of sacrificing
him to the ambitions of the exagger-
o.eH state The fact stands out that,
despite all this bunk" about our
laundering economic method, we in
creased the national wealth of the
American people between 1900 and
1910 by larger amount than the
total wealth accumulated either by
Germany or the United Kingdom
throughout all the centuries OF their
development This was under the
Protective policy, and it is waste of
wind and ink to undertake to de-
feat the purpose OF the American
people to make it the permanent fis-
cal policy OF the nation by a decision
at the ballot box, where all great
governmental policies are determined
in republic. To attempt to distort
the wholesome, intelligent idea of
Tariff commission to determine the
basis upon which Protective revis-
ions OF the Tariff may be made into
a straddle on the issue involved as
between Protection and policies In
consistent with Protection is to in
lure the movement for the only kind
of Tariff commission that has any
basis in common sense or the slight