242 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



the profit to the producer diminished, while the con- 

 sumer in England finds the difference of price between 

 American and English meat less than it otherwise 

 would be, by which the American producer still further 

 suffers. I fear that the able reasoning of the Times in 

 the article to which I refer will not have the effect on 

 American political economists which, rightly appre- 

 hended, it should have. Many in America will find in 

 the fact that ships carry full cargoes to this country, 

 and return empty or loaded simply in ballast, clear 

 evidence that the balance of trade is in favour of 

 America. I had occasion during two visits to America 

 to enter frequently into conversation with Americans 

 interested in the question of Protection, and almost 

 constantly I found their reasoning running in this faulty 

 groove. * On the one hand,' they argued, ' we protect 

 our manufacturers, which is so much clear gain to us 

 and loss to Europe (especially to the old country) ; 

 and, on the other, our agriculturists lose nothing, for 

 the trade in cereals, cattle, &c., from the West has not 

 diminished, but, on the contrary, has steadily grown.' 

 The obvious answer to this reasoning seemed almost 

 constantly to have been overlooked. European trade 

 with the United States has unquestionably suffered by 

 the American protective tariff, and probably (though 

 this is by no means so certain) American manufacturers 

 have profited even in the long run. But unquestion- 

 ably agricultural interests in America have suffered, 

 and as certainly the whole nation has suffered. The 

 amount of produce from the Western States reaching 



