the duty is
levied the greatest possible revenue for the government may be obtained.

What, then, is the theory of protection? It is based upon the idea that
foreign produce imported into this country will enter into competition
with domestic products and undersell them in the home market, thus
crippling if not destroying domestic production. To prevent this, the
price of the foreign goods in the home market is increased so as to keep
them out of the country altogether, or to place the foreigner, in the
cost of production, upon the same footing as the American producer. This
is proposed to be done by levying a duty upon the foreign importation.
If it be so high that the importer cannot pay it and sell the goods at
a profit, the facilities of production between this and other countries
are said to be equalized, and the American producer is said to be
protected. It will be seen, therefore, that protection means the
increase of price. Without it the fabric has no foundation on which to
rest. If the foreign goods are still imported, the importer adds the
duty paid to the selling price. If he cannot import with profit, the
American producer raises his price to a point always below that at which
the foreign goods could be profitably brought into the country, and
controls the market. In either event, there is an increase of price of
the products sought to be protected. The bald proposition therefore is
that American industries can and ought to be protected by increasing the
prices of the products of such industries.

There are three popular opinions, industriously cultivated and
strengthened by adroit advocates, upon which the whole system rests,
and to which appeals are ever confidently made. These opinions are
erroneous, and lead to false conclusions, and should be first considered
in every discussion of this question.

The first is, that the balance of trade is in our favor when our
exportations exceed our importations. Upon this theory it is argued that
it cannot be unwise to put restrictions upon importations, for they say
that at one and the same time you give protection to our industries and
keep the balance of trade in our favor. But the slightest investigation
will show that this proposition cannot be maintained. A single
illustration, often repeated, but never old in this discussion, will
demonstrate it. Let a ship set sail from Portland, Maine, with a cargo
of staves registered at the port of departure as worth $