ly a little
more inconsistent than the pure protectionists, as these are more
inconsistent than the absolute prohibitionists.

I will illustrate this by a fable.

STULTA AND PUERA (FOOL-TOWN AND BOY-TOWN).

There were, it matters not where, two towns, _Stulta_ and _Puera_, which
at great expense had a road built which connected them with each other.
Some time after this was done, the inhabitants of _Stulta_ became
uneasy, and said: _Puera_ is overwhelming us with its productions; this
must be attended to. They established therefore a corps of
_Obstructors_, so called because their business was to place obstacles
in the way of the wagon trains which arrived from _Puera_. Soon after,
_Puera_ also established a corps of Obstructors.

After some centuries, people having become more enlightened, the
inhabitants of _Puera_ began to discover that these reciprocal obstacles
might possibly be reciprocal injuries. They sent therefore an ambassador
to _Stulta_, who (passing over the official phraseology) spoke much to
this effect: "We have built a road, and now we put obstacles in the way
of this road. This is absurd. It would have been far better to have left
things in their original position, for then we would not have been put
to the expense of building our road, and afterwards of creating
difficulties. In the name of _Puera_, I come to propose to you, not to
renounce at once our system of mutual obstacles, for this would be
acting according to a theory, and we despise theories as much as you do;
but to lighten somewhat these obstacles, weighing at the same time
carefully our respective _sacrifices_." The ambassador having thus
spoken, the town of _Stulta_ asked time to reflect; manufacturers,
agriculturists were consulted; and at last, after some years'
deliberation, it was declared that the negotiations were broken off.

At this news, the inhabitants of _Puera_ held a council. An old man (who
it has always been supposed had been secretly bribed by _Stulta_) rose
and said: "The obstacles raised by _Stulta_ are injurious to our sales;
this is a misfortune. Those which we ourselves create, injure our
purchases; this is a second misfortune. We have no power over the first,
but the second is entirely dependent upon ourselves. Let us then at
least get rid of one, since we cannot be delivered from both. Let us
suppress our corps of _Obstructors_, without waiting for _Stulta_ to do
the same. Some day or other she will learn to u