THK l<'AKMKJt AND Til JO TARIFF. o03 



The rate of tax which the ditrereiit articles can properly bear, 

 considered merely as objects of taxation, and the rates which 

 will produce the most revenue from each, are matters of expert 

 knowledge, as to which the public is seldom in a position to 

 judge. All interests likely to be taxed are alert and watchful 

 to induce Congress to impose the highest or the lowest tax 

 possible, as the interests of the opposing parties may lie, and 

 it is seldom possible to separate, in the [)ublic mind, the 

 revenue question involved from that of protection. This has 

 made the way easy to misrepresentations on all sides which 

 the public is unable to detect, and added greatly to the com- 

 plexity of the questions and the confusion of thought attending 

 their discussion. 



Nearly all modern economists are free traders. By "econ- 

 omists" is understood professional men, usually connected with 

 universities, who devote their lives to a search for economic 

 truth, and usually to teaching it as they understand it. These 

 gentlemen usually have no personal pecuniary interest to serve 

 by the advocacy of either side. What they have to sell is 

 economic science, which is not an object of taxation, and can 

 neither be helped nor hindered by "protection" or the lack of 

 it. Their great learning, their absence of bias, and their high 

 character give great weight to their opinions among thoughtful 

 men, and they are entitled to the highest respect. The opinion 

 of this class of economic students is so nearly unanimous and 

 so emphatic on this subject that it may as well be conceded 

 — for it is a fact — that economic science as taught in univer- 

 sities pronounces against the doctrine of protection. Nothing 

 is gained by belittling these men, after the manner of the pro- 

 tective press and political orators. Ridicule and abuse are 

 signs of intellectual defeat. They are the weapons taken up 

 when argument fails. Advocates of protection will stand on 

 stronger ground by conceding that the economists who oppose 

 them are able and candid men. 



Economists of this class reason that in the long run pro- 

 duction will be most abundant and economical, and com- 

 merce most profitable, if products are permitted to move 

 entirely unhampered by tariff walls. They claim this to be 



