rs and, perhaps, to extreme suffering in case
of foreign war.
For abundant examples in support of these various propositions, appeal is
made to the history of the world by comparing countries developed under a
restrictive tariff with less developed ones free from such restrictions.
The history of our own country, under the ups and downs of tariff
legislation, is also appealed to. Even the extra cost of certain articles
to the whole people, which is the sole basis of advantage to the fostered
interest, is thought to be more than compensated by the direct advantage
of increasing competition at home, where it will have the most wholesome
effect upon the market price. Proof of this, too, is sought in the rapid
development of iron and steel manufacture, where protective tariffs have
been most persistent.
_Reasons against protective tariff._--Against a system of protective
tariffs many strong arguments are not wanting. It is contended that a
tariff on iron goods, for instance, is just so much an added burden upon
all consumers of iron, and, since the bulk of consumption enters into the
cost of articles of universal use, the greater part of the burden is borne
by the poorer classes of people, who consume as much as the more wealthy.
If the restrictive tariff actually limits the introduction of foreign
goods, as must be the case if it acts as a stimulant in production, the
revenues received are far from being in due proportion with the cost to
the people, since essentially the same tariff is paid by the consumer
whether the article is imported or manufactured at home. Although it is
not true that in every instance the tariff is a tax, in so far as it
benefits the home manufacturer by advanced prices it must be. In so far as
it operates for protection of favored industries, it certainly fails to
serve the purposes of revenue. The diversity of employment evidently
fostered by tariff is said to be unnatural and likely to continue
expensive, and any advantages of market at home are sure to be
overestimated, especially with reference to staple products of the farm,
since the surplus necessarily forming a basis for prices must be sold in
foreign countries without the advantage of direct exchange for articles of
their own production. That is, if our tariff restrictions limit the market
of a foreign people, they also limit the ability of that people to
purchase the products which we are obliged to sell them. It is contended
further
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