Evening star., 1934-04-24

made in any tariff duty. But 1t Is
not necessary to go into the subject
on this basis tonight. We shall have
clearer understanding Of the prob
| lem, 1, think, if we start with simple
statement of what the tariff is and
why we are protectioniSt country.
AS an aid to that understanding, let
us remember that tariff or customs
duty is nothing but tax on foreign
goods. The free-trader will tell you
that this tax, which has q tendency
| to restrict the flow of these foreign
goods into the United States, IS i'm
posed in the interest of rich manu-
/ facturers in this country, who, enjoy
ing this protection against foreign
competition, line their pockets with
the excess profits they are thereby
enabled to take from the American
consumers. The manufacturers them
selves will tell you that without this
protection their industries could not
exist. The truth lies somewhere be-
tween these two statements.
The facts are that few industries
at present are making much money,
due to the intensity of domestic COM
petition; that some industries would
| go out of business if they were not
protected against foreign competition;
that a very large group Of small in
dustrieS would be killed or seriously
| crippled If the protection they now
| enjoy were withdrawn; and that
third group do not need any tariff
protection on their products for the
simple reason that Americans prefer
their American-made products to the
foreign-make goods offered by their
foreign competitors. The automobile
industry is a fair example of one
i which turns out so superior a product
at so low a cost-due, of course, to
the enormous number Of cars used
in the United States as compared with
other countries-that it needs little
| if any protection. But this industry
is an exception to the rule. The great
body of American workers and of
American industries could not last
year, under modern competitive con-
| ditions, without some measure of pro-
lection against foreign competition.
Other Countries Cited.
| Now just why is this true? The
answer is perfectly plain to any one
| who has seen or read or stopped to
| think about the conditions under
! which men, women and children work
in other countries. Remember, that
in most foreign countries there are
no minimum wage laws, no f1ve-day
week, no six or seven or eight hour
day. Remember, that in Italy, where
the people were working IA hours
a day at pitifully low wage, Premier
Mussolini has just lowered wages
again and speeded up Italy's industrial
production for the purpose, as he ex-
planned, of placing Italy in better
| position to compete with other coun-
| tries in the worlds markets" Re
member, that in Germany, the women
formerly employed in industry have
been ordered back to their homes, and
the men put under semi military
discipline requiring them to work long
hours at low wages. Even in England,
where wages and working conditions
are very much better than on the
| Continent of Europe, people do not
begin to live as well as they do in the
United States. It Is worth nothing
here also that much Of England'S
present prosperity-and she is much
| farther along the road to recovery
than we are-s due to the abandon
ment of her free-trade policy in favor
of protection, plus the empire-pref-
erence agreement by which her goods
are accorded preferential treatment
in the British dominions.
And when we stop to think of con-
ditlons in Japan and China, and
examine the soaring figures of jap
anese importations into the United
! States-of socks and table scarfs and
children's clothing and kitchenware
selling in the and 10 cent stores
we must realize that every article Of
this sort which comes into the United
States displaces a similar article
which otherwise would have been
made by American workmen, and
displaces just so much American
labor; and that the reason 1t comes