The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-12-06
Is War Unpreparedness to Be Followed
by Unpreparedness for Peace?


consumption; besides being antagon-
istic TO wage-class welfare.
| Fortunately the United States is pre-
eminently home market country. 1t
has the highest wage standard, the
greatest per capita consumption and
the largest aggregate market for the
most diversified products of any coun-
try in the world.
| AS IAN economic asset, our home
market is worth more to the prosper
ity and social welfare of this country
than all the foreign markets on the
earth. Therefore, the problem of our
highest, national concern is, and ever
should be. the protection and develop
ment of our home market.
Protection of War.
At present the war is furnishing us
protection which has STAYED off
severe industrial depression. In it's
first year of office the present admin
istration gave us non protective
tariff. 1t is based on the idea of
not according any protection to Ameri-
can Industries. Where it did not
abolish the duty altogether, it reduced
it below the protecting point The
blood letting effect of this pairing
away the protective element in the
tariff Immediately showed itself in the
rise of imports and the decline of
domestic industry.
Within six months after the passage
of the Underwood tariff law, a nation
wide industrial depression was alarm
ingly under way.
Nothing but the war with it's colos-
sal demand for manufactured products
at fabulous prices, and the prevention
of imports by the British navy, saved
us from a second Cleveland calamity
With the close of the war, all this
will be changed. The military pro-
lection to the American market will
disappear, and world economic condi-
tons will undergo a radical readjust-
ment.
Indeed this is already being antici-
pated and prepared for by all manu-
featuring countries, except the United
States. Japan and all the warning
gently preparing for an energetic in
dustral campaign after the war The
bane of every new talk of peace
terms" by Germany is the guarding
l,ar Ia ncp ha
war The allies have had their Paris
conference" to formulate their after
thew trade policy.
All the more progressive nations
have already appointed commissions to
study world trade conditions.
1t will be observed that all these
commissions make America the Mecca
of their pilgrimage. AS expert mar
ket hunters they don't go to Serbia
Bulgaria, Turkey, Egypt or Mexico
but they come straight to the United
States. They know this is the best
market in the world, and they are
making a supreme effort to capture it..
Must Compete With European Nations.
Everybody knows that when peace
comes, which may be within a year,
from ten to twenty millions of men
in Europe will be transferred from
military to industrial occupations,
Many millions of Jobs vacated by
these men are now efficiently filled
by women, who will not, and cannot
be expected to voluntarily vacate
them They are getting higher wages
and better conditions than ever be-
fore 1t is against both economic in
stinct and human nature willingly to
lretrograde from a better to a worse
economic condition.
These MILLIONS of men will have to
be cared for either by employment or
| by charity. OF course, all the interests
of society will be organized to alb
sorb them in productive employments
Here the question of the market be-
comes the giant problem to solve
Their home buying power being great
~ weakened by the war, and its after
| COSlS III llttISSl anu pCiioioiio, WV
will necessarily make the maximum
effort to sell abroad.
Here again looms high the attraction
of America as the prize customer OF
the world.
Under these conditions, with non
protective tariff, what shall stem the
tide of both men and merchandise
from flooding the American market
Yet with all the world astir pre-
pairing for the coming industrial dis
turbance, we alone remain economic
pacifsts, we alone are still living II
the dreamland of economic indifference
. to the obvious coming dangers.
We are still indulging the delusior
of being too proud to fight and o
having economic peace without vic
tory
Unfortunately the disciples of econ
omic unpreparedness are in the saddle
in all the branches of our government
, They are the same men who took tn
, protection out of the tariff in 1918
And in their blind devotion to part.
doctrine they still believe that our re
, cent prosperity is due to the Under
wood tariff and not to the war.
, Such minds can be relied on to OPP
!. pose any policy of effective protec