And State Papers 301 



would mean disaster to all the wage-workers con 

 nected with either the large or the small corpora 

 tions. From the standpoint of those interested in 

 the solution of the trust problem such a change 

 would therefore merely mean that the trust was 

 relieved of the competition of its weaker American 

 competitors, and thrown only into competition with 

 foreign competitors ; and that the first effort to meet 

 this new competition would be made by cutting 

 down wages, and would therefore be primarily at 

 the cost of labor. In the case of some of our greatest 

 trusts such a change might confer upon them a posi 

 tive benefit. Speaking broadly, it is evident that 

 the changes in the tariff will affect the trusts for 

 weal or for woe simply as they affect the whole 

 country. The tariff affects trusts only as it affects 

 all other interests. It makes all these interests, 

 large or small, profitable; and its benefits can be 

 taken from the large only under penalty of taking 

 them from the small also. 



To sum up, then, we must as a people approach 

 a matter of such prime economic importance as the 

 tariff from the standpoint of our business needs. 

 We can not afford to become fossilized or to fail 

 to recognize the fact that as the needs of the coun 

 try change it may be necessary to meet these new 

 needs by changing certain features of our tariff 

 laws.. Still less can we afford to fail to recognize 

 the further fact that these changes must not be 

 made until the need for them outweighs the dis- 



