Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1904 — British Tribute To Protection [ARTICLE]

British Tribute To Protection

The London Daily Telegraph recently emitted a wail of anguish which was a great tribute to the astuteness of the American pjople in adopting the protective tariiff sys. tern The Telegraph’s complaint was heard clear across the ocean and here it is: “Across the Atlantic oapital is aooumulating with incomparably grater radidity than It has recently done here. There oan be no doubt that oapital in the United States po. ssesses a much greater accumulative and progressive power than it does in England. Mr. Carnegie who ought to know has always maintained that the main strength of Amerioan badness depends upon the almost absolute command of its home market secured by the tariff. Every pioteoted manufacturer makes for two markets, his own and curs. The governing law of oheap production. The larger the output the lower the cost 1 The American producer who seeks two markets, the one from whioh he exoludes England by tariff* and the cne to which England admits him by free import, possesses an immense advantage over the British manufacturer who only makes for one market and is never sure of tlat, “In spite of the alarming prediotions of the free traders of England, the United States adopted the MoKinlay tariff. They knew exaotly what they wanted; they believed that the more completely they seoured their home market for home enterprise the higher would be tbe development of their internal induit y and the greater therefore their success in foreign trade. That theory wss brilliantly verified against all the calculations of the profits of free imports. “Americans adopted the tariff to secure oertain results, They believe the results have been secured through the tariff and could not have been secured without the tariff. German manufacturers and the greater part of the German people are convinced, as are Americans, that the development of home pro duoiion secured by tariff is tire true basis of suooessful attack upon the forsign markets, In France the old free trade party is beoom. ing extinct and no widespread section of publio opinion thinks f»r a moment of reversing the economic policy of protection.” There is testimony from our great oommeraial rival. It is well known of course that England to-day after more than fifty years of free trade in whioh she has seen her commercial prestige s'.eadily lessen, is withit the throes of a campaign for a protective tariff. Can it be possible that the people of the United States are willing to try the experiment again whioh has always resulted disastrously to ns and whioh every nation of the globs *s now abandoning or trying to abandon-the discarded polioy of the free trade?