The Republican journal., 1921-11-24
THE BRITISH TARIFF LAWS

There is widespread belief that Great
Britain is and always has been free
trade nation. This is a mistake. For
nearly 500 years prior to 1916 Great
Britain had tariff laws protecting her in
terests and her trade. For few years
after that date she flirted with free trade
and after the filtration had been carried
on for several years she espoused it. She
has now divorced free trade and has
Safeguarding Industries" as a house,
keeper. She found that Japan, Germa-
ny. Austria, and several other countries,
under their conditions of labor and living
were not only sweeping British COMPETE
tion out of the markets of the world but
were doing an extensive business in Eng
land right under the nose of the British
Lion. She promptly put a protective
tariff on foreign manufactures which
competed with her own and said she was
"safeguarding her industries" which
was plain statement of fact. The pas
sage of the Safeguarding of Industries
Act few weeks ago marked Britain's
return to the protective policy and placed
tariff duty of 'one- third the value of
the goods" on more than 5000 articles of
British manufacture. The valuation
duty is higher than any ever placed on
similar articles of the United States
The British act went even further than
that and established commission which
was given unlimited power to safeguard
industries, not mentioned in the Act, by
placing them on the dutiable list. The
Act further provides that mo duty shall
be charged on goods which are shown to
the satisfaction of the commissioners to
have been consigned from and grown,
produced or manufactured in the British
Empile" In other words, Canada, Aus
ala, the Union of Sou<h Africa and
other members of the Empire are to have
free trade with England. In return for
this concession the above members of the
United Kingdom are to have what are
known as ''preferential tariff laws"
which admit products of the British En-
pire at rate far below that collected
from other nations of the earth. Great
Britain has thus "safeguarded her indus
tries by the erectit of a solid protective
tariff wall stronger and higher than the
powered commission to strengthen and
build it higher.
Increases in tariff duties have recently
been made in many other foreign coun-
tries and some of these duties are so
Ugh as to be prohibitive. The United
States can have no reasonable objections
But what are we going to do for our
selves2 A tariff bill has been before
Congress for some time and few hard
boiled free traders have been obstructing
its passage by every means in their pow
er. Their vision is fixed on the next
presidential campaign. We have tariff
CO mmission which has been as useless as
a dream ever since it was created.
This is not a time when our young men
should see visions and our old men dream
dreams. There was period during the
war and Immediately after when pro-
tective tariff was not imperatively need
ed here or anywhere else. That period
has gone into history. We are living in
the present and should act for the future.
The welfare of American business and of
American workmen is in jeopardy, Poll
tics should give way to patriotism and
members of Congress should unite in an
endeavor TO enact a protective tariff law
which will not allow this country to be-
come the dumping ground of the rest or
the world