THE FARMER AND THE TARIFF. oO\) 



The opponents of protection insist: — 



1. That every industry established by protection displaces 

 some other that could exist without protection, and which it 

 would therefore be most profitable for us to pursue. 



2. That therefore no more people are employed under 

 protection than would find employment without it. 



3. That, in despite of the low prices which must be expected, 

 there is always more net profit in producing those commodities 

 for whose production our natural advantages are greatest, and 

 purchasing those which others can produce cheaper than we, 



4. That, while it is true that protection makes a home 

 market for commodities which we should otherwise export, the 

 extra profit in their sale is more than absorbed by the higher 

 prices which we pay for the protected articles. 



5. That the argument of the necessity of maintaining 

 diversified industries as a resource in time of war, is of little 

 or no force as applied to the United States, as under any 

 circumstances we should be able to supply ourselves with 

 whatever is essential. 



6. That the saving in transportation and profits in the case 

 of industries requiring protection is less than the extra prices 

 paid for the protected commodities, because if it were not so 

 they would be produced without protection. 



7. That, while wages will be nominally higher under i)ro- 

 tection, their purchasing power is less than tiiat of the wages 

 wiiicli would prevail under free trade. 



8. That a protective tariff involves continued intrigue in 

 legislation, with the result that the strongest industries always 

 receive undue protection. 



9. That protection leads to oppressive monopolies, because 

 the strong industries, protected by law from foreign compe- 

 tition, will combine in trusts to extinguish competition among 

 themselves, and that this combination will be against labor 



after it is well on its feet. The urgument given is for tlie permiinont niuintc- 

 nance of the protective principle. Most modern economists admit that it may 

 frequently be wise to give a new industry a start by protection, while calling 

 attention to the fact that no such industry ever lets go of protection, no matter 

 how prosperous. 



