18i»4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



611 



has chased the specter off the boards; some 

 still believe in tariff protection, though politi- 

 cal science lias routed it too. 



I take the position tliat the principle of ex- 

 tending special " protection " to a few citizens 

 by the state (I care not whether these few citi- 

 zens be manufacturers, bee-keepers, or what 

 not), at the expense of the masses of the people, 

 unjustly discriminating against them, is eco- 

 nomically false and morally wrong, which no 

 sopliistry or specious and special pleading can 

 make right. 



One of my inalienable and natural rights as 

 a citizen is the right to sell whatever useful 

 thing I produce as the fruit of my labor, where- 

 ever and whenever I please, without let or 

 hindrance, and to buy what I need wherever 

 and of whomsoever I like, without let or hin- 

 drance — always paying my fair share of taxes 

 to government to enable it to see that I, with 

 every other citizen, am protected in the exer- 

 cise of this and every other civil right. No 

 government on earth has the right to lay hands 

 on more of that product of mine than speciiied 

 for the above purposes, either to put into its 

 own coffers or into the coffers of its protege, the 

 specially favored citizen in the shape of a "pro- 

 tected'" manufacturer, a" bloated monopolist," 

 or any other man. If the above right to sell 

 my products and buy my necessaries is not my 

 right, and every citizen's right, will some pro- 

 tectionist kindly tell us why not, and give his 

 reasons ? And if any government has the right 

 to lay its hands on more of my goods than above 

 indicated (and that is what is certainly done 

 by tariff' protection), will the same wiseacre 

 tell us why — will some moral philosopher give 

 us the wherefores '? 



Years ago this question was asked me; viz., 

 " How is it that you are advocating a principle 

 against your own interests as a honey-pro- 

 ducer? for if the duty is taken off' United 

 States honey coming into Canada, they will 

 flood our market and you can not then get as 

 much for your product as you do now." The 

 anssver was then, and is now, just this: "If 

 any foreign producer of the United States or 

 any other country can bring his honey here, 

 100 or KXK) miles, paying freight, insurance, etc., 

 and can afford to sell my neighbors and cus- 

 tomers pure honey, as good in quality as mine, 

 at a price lower than I am charging them, then 

 I say, Well done; welcome, stranger! you are 

 the people's friend if not mine — you are either 

 an abler man than I am, or more honest, or per- 

 haps both.'" And I immediately begin to sus- 

 pect that I myself am either " a round peg in a 

 square hole "or I am charging my customers 

 more for my product than I ought to charge 

 them. No matter which way it is, the consum- 

 er ought not to be imposed upon and called 

 upon to suffer on account either of my incom- 

 petency or dishonesty. If he ought, will some 

 rextrictionist again tell us why? If I can not 



sell at a living price at liome as low as the 

 aforesaid competitor, loaded, as he is, with dis- 

 advantages from which I am free, then I ought 

 to get right out of the business and get into 

 somet'hing else I am better fitted for. 



There are 100 honey-consumi^rs at least, to 

 one honey -producer, with the same or a greater 

 ratio elsewhere; and, I ask, should the hundred 

 citizens be compelled to pay tribute to the o«e 

 citizen, as they are compelled to do under the 

 system of protection? And if they should, give 

 us your reasons for that, by all means— good or 

 bad, wise or otherwise, as the case may be. The 

 logic will have a limp and the ethics a squint ; 

 but let us have it, or own up like men that you 

 are wrong. 



Mr. El wood concludes his remarks about 

 Canadian honey and the tariff' as follows: "It 

 may seem hard to our Canadian brethren to 

 have a duty imposed upon their products ; but 

 so long as they consent to have their foreign 

 volley (war) dictated by rulers over the sea, se- 

 cret enemies of our institutions, they can hard- 

 ly expect us to use our resources in such a way 

 as to develop their strength." (Italics not mine.) 

 This is hardly fair or fact. In the first place, it 

 is a mistake to say or suppose that either the 

 people of England or Canada are either "se- 

 cret "or oper) enemies of the United States or 

 her institutions. England, as a commercial 

 nation, is certainly friendly to the United States 

 — more so than to Canada; to hear which may 

 surprise Mr. Elwood. Her capitalists have 

 millions of money invested there. A portion of 

 the aristOv.'racy of England may be unfriendly 

 to the United States; but I must remind Mr. 

 Elwood that they are not England any more 

 than the doctor's few bee-keepers. The people 

 —not the aristocracy, nor even the throne— are 

 the power in England to-day. The House of 

 Commons is in fact, if not in form, supreme, and 

 they represent the people. Goldwin Smith, him- 

 self a patriotic and loyal Englishman, says, in 

 the last nuraberof the North American Review, 

 "The monarchy" (English) "has practically 

 ceased to exist as a political force, and dwin- 

 dled to a social apex." That is the true state 

 of the case. The English people are England, 

 and they are not enemies of the United States. 

 Republicanism is coming in England surely, 

 and not very slowly. 



Nor are the Canadian people enemies of the 

 United States or her institutions. A few rabid 

 partisan politicians and newspai»ers may be un- 

 friendly (with more bark than bite, however); 

 but I must again remind our American friends 

 that these parties are neither Canada nor the 

 Canadian people. It looks hardly likely that 

 the country is your enemy which has a million 

 of her good citizens among you — not anarch- 

 ists, fomenting disturbance, like your European 

 foreign element, but law-abiding, trustworthy, 

 capable, and industrious. No, we are not your 

 enemies, but your friends, in the great brother- 



