Protection Is Commercial Barbarism

Every naticm must pass through commercial barbarism to commercial civilization, from piotection to free trade. The desire to get rich at the expense oí others is well nigh universal. It is easy to persuade most people that to ' 'protect" their own artisans from the competition of "foreign pauper labor" is an act of patriotism. This admitted, it is easily narrowed down to our own state, our own country, our own city, our own village or even our own street. In the last century the farmers of Middlesex, the county in which London is sifcuated, petitioned parliament against improving the abominable roads of England. They frankly claimed that so long as the roads were bad they had a monopoly of the London markets f or the sale of their vegetables, fruit and grain; that if the roads were improved the farmers of other counties would be able to bring their produce to the Londou markets, which would be very disastrous to the ' 'industry" of Middlesex. This looks very fooiish on the face of it, and yet in principie it is the doctrine of Amerioan