Why I Am A Protectionist

I mi a protectionist for the following rea-sons: First.- The policy oí protoction enaibles our country to öeVBlop Industries of which other countries, if it iviere not for protectíon, would en]oy a practical monopoly. Although not proíitable in th" United States unless proíected, tht-se industries are. importnnt to our national development and independence, and should not be allowed to become extinct. Second. - A protective tarifl unquestlonably increasfs thc rewards Ot laboT (a) by cre.'itinfr a demand for Bkl'led liibor, (b) by diversifyiug the kinds oí labor in a country and thus li.fprontiatina: bo+li demand anrl supply, and (c) by making tor produeors of ovcry kind a lióme market This increaee oí the laborer'e reward ii nol con'inod 1o the protected industries, but elevatea wagee in every sphere, (a) by tbe sympatheticeffccí of high wagee generally. and (b) by withdrawInsc froni ttoe Don-protected industries and íro:m agricultnre a surplus OÍ ivaaf-oariiprs whO womld divide and reduce wageè if they competed against pncli other, Third.- Altho-.iRli a profective larri1 morcases prlcea immedintely after lts adoptloa, the resulting activity and the abundant liome pro-luetion under pro'tcciion tend conslnntly to twlüc" the priccs of manufactured artiel"s aa ladTistr.v becomes better orpnnizpd. As a result the 'country becomea wiealthler botli absolutely and rolativoly - absolutely, because the aggreKat" or home produccd eommodltïes is vaisfly Increaaed; and relatiyely, hPóa,use waés are kept'above the Europoan leyel by a Msh-tari'f barrlër to forriern comptition. Under free trad", or a tariff for 'revpnuc only, wê "WOuId have to eend our Kold out o' the country to payfor imported goods and to compete ■n'ith the entire world In disposing of our own producta at home, thus lowering our wages to the level of those :paid to the cheap of Europj. Fourth. - The United States is a 'continental natioii and should ado])t a continental policy. Free-trade is adapted only to insular nations, and no continental iiation has adopted a. free-trade policy. We are the most contin'cntal o: all the continental peopies and ha ve the most diversiiied products. A naturally spectalized natioai llke Great Britaln, can always ürive tis out of i the markct in that natlooi'B speciadity in the long run, because it MUST do so to maintain its oavn existence. On the one hand, we eliould not i)lunge our people into so desperate a competition with a speclallzed competitor, for this could end only in driving our people from the field; and, on the other hand, we slioiild not permit our country to be ilelf speeialized by being limit-ed to thosc productione only in which it lias a natural superiority under Lstmg conditions. The only way out tuf tbie dilemma is t protect those industries wluch it is necessary to foster in order to secure diversiied and harmoinious national development. Fii'th.- The deepest root oí my adherence to a pi-otective policy is, liowevcr, a moral ome. I believe that we, ae a ïiation, have great material advantagee tor tihe building up of a free, intelligent and happy poople such as the world has iiot yet seen. I believe that the.se advantages are surrounded if too widely shared. We are divinely set as a natio-n to work out the political problem of mankind. As a patriot, I claim that, having a manifest national destiny to be worked out by a historie prooess, we shoiüd not part with our birthright. As w'll might a fathei1 of a family, just started in a ;prosperous business wlth a small capital, distribute his Httle property equally among the poor of his neighborhood, depriving hiins lf oí the means of providing for and cducating his children, as for this natiom to share wlth the Old World every increment oí power and superioirity to be fomid In the new, aesuming its burdeos oí mendicaney and d?bt, and reoeiving tlie peasant as tbe l)eer oii the American citizen. ïhe greatest amomaly in our history i.s ttoe Iree reception ac-corded to those who havo come to our shores to claim rights which they were unütted to. exercljse. Pree-trstle secures to every Other country all the advantages that belong to this, ae soon as it is adopted, by putting Amerioan labor in open competltion with the labor of Europe añil Asia. Free immiaration at least obligue the participant in American prosperity, to come to America, freetrade would send him the fruit of Aniciiean inihistry without, the trouble of croesing the ocean. Whether it be againet ioreign goods, ideas oc nuil, I woudd raise a protecting banier that would secure this Godgivon continent to the preservation and development of the institutions ai our fatbere. The article in our poli tica 1 creed that most needs emphaels is "Ainorie.a for Americana."