The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1916-10-20

Europe will come to our shores and
can and will undersell goods "Made
in America. At the termination of
the war, the necessity for an adequate
protective tariff law will be greater
than ever before in our history.
1t is the theory of the present adj
ministration that we should encourage
the importation of foreign made
goods, and that any industry which
cannot exist in this country and com
pete, successfully, in an open market
with foreign goods, should be wiped
out and the people engaged in that
industry should turn their attention
to other lines of trade.
This process of wiping out indus
tries in America that cannot survive
without protection would be mighty
serious proposition. Permit the free
trade theories to remain in control,
and, soon after the war ends, men in
this country will be far more plentiful
than employment.
Under the policy Of protection, new
industries are established and employ
ment is diversified, leaving the labor
ing man free to choose his own Occu-
patton. There is nothing that will 10
more toward making labor independ-
ent than to increase the number OF
occupations in which it can engage !;
there is nothing that will do more to-
ward making labor dependent than to
limit the kinds of trade which it can
follow. Seek out the country in
which employment is not diversified
and you will find low wages and low
standards Of living. | wish to empha-
size the statement that the most dam
aging attack on labor is a free trade
argument, for free trade degrades
labor, and ultimately brings it to the
level of cheaper labor in other cOun-
tries. How can it do otherwise?
We want industries Of every des-
cription to be established and TO thrive
on American soil. We have the area,
natural resources and climatic condi-
tions to be industrially Independent,
to produce at home our food supplies,
our clothing and all the necessaries Of
life. From the manufacturer stand
point, we have everything in America
he could desire except cheap labor,
and cheap labor is the one thing we
do not want. With protective tariff
laws, cheap labor is thing we will
not need and will not have.
Nothing set forth in the Underwood
Tariff Law has given encouragement
to any industry in the United States.
There is nothing in that law to bene-
fit industry or labor. 1t is free
trade measure, conceived upon free
trade principles.
The history of the world has vindi-
Gated the policy of protection time and
time again. One hundred years ago
England had high tariff laws, and Eng
land was the foremost nation in the
point of wealth and the accumula-
ton of gold. In regard to England IS
greatness this is what Henry Clay said
in a speech in 1924:
"Great Britain protects most her
industries, and the wealth of Great
Britain is consequently the greatest
France is next in the degree of pro-
lection, and France is next in the or
der Of wealth. Spain most neglects
The duty of protecting the industry of
her subjects, and Spain is one of the
poorest of European nations"
England abandoned the policy of
protection in 1S45, and since then has
failed to keep pace with other nations
With protective laws, in the accumula-
ion of wealth.
Germany experimental with free
rade from 1865 to 1879 and it proved
o be a costly failure. During that
'Ourteen years poverty and depression
,lighted that nation. In May, 1879,
he great Bismark, in an address to |
he German Parliament, urged the ad-
'ption of protection and the abandon
nent of free trade. In part, this is
What he said:
81 see that the countries which pro-
ect themselves prosper, that the
Countries which are open are declin-
ne, and that great and powerful Eng
and, that strong combatant who, after
strengthening her muscles, entered in
o the markets and said: who will |
ontest with me9' is gradually going
Jack to protective duties, and will, in
few years, adopt them so far as is
Necessary to preserving at least the
English market. -
What has been history's verdict
elative to protection and free trade
n the United Statesq Did this ma
ion prosper and advance when the
GODS of Europe were brought to our
or did We advance when our
'orts were closed to imports7 Let us
urn to Napoleon time century
go. All Europe was then engaged in
var and Europe's products were kept
rom the American markets. 1t re-
aAA0 II -. A