Labour's Political Economy: The Tariff Question (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from Labour's Political Economy: The Tariff Question

And here it may be well to speak more directly of 1the,dis, crepaney between Theory' and Practice which is so often affirmed in eennection with our general There are many whol think the them y of Free Trade the correct, or at any rate the more plausible one, but who yet maintain, be cause they, know by expe1 1enee that it fails practically of se suring the good it promises. Hence they rush to the conclu sion that a policy may be faultless in theory yet pernicious in practice, than which no idea can be more an oneous and per nieious. A good theory never y,et failed to vindicate itself in practical operation - never can fail to do se. A theory can only fail because it is defectivegunsound - lacks some of the elements which should have entered into its composition. In other words, the, practical working is bad only because the theory is no better.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Labour's Political Economy: The Tariff Question

No party is now committed to or earnestly proposes any other mode; and the plausible suggestion that Direct Taxation, because it bears more palpably on the community, would secure greater economy in the Public Expenditures, is confuted by the fact that the revenues of our great cities, and especially of this city, though mainly raised by Direct Taxation, are expended quite as foolishly and wastefully as those of the Federal Government ever have been.

2. The Question Stated.

And now the question arises - On what principle shall Duties on Imports be assessed? Since nobody now proposes, or has ever seriously urged, a uniform assessment of so much percent, on the value of all articles imported - since even the present Tariff, framed by the avowed adversaries of Protection, levies one hundred percent, on certain articles, and thence down to thirty, twenty-five, twenty, fifteen, five, to nothing at all on others, what rule shall govern the discriminations made? What end shall they look to? What shall determine whether Tea, for example, shall be placed in the class of Free articles, or subjected to a duty of ten, twenty, or thirty per cent.?

We who stand for Protection meet this question frankly and clearly. We all agree in saying, 'Impose higher rates of duty on those Foreign Products which come in competition in our markets with the products of our Home Industry, with lower Duties (or none at all, according to the varying wants of the Treasury,) on those which do not thus compete with the products of our own Labor.' Thus Tea and Coffee, now free, have been subjected to duties for Revenue purely, in which case the proper rate is the lowest that will afford the needed income. But to a different class of Imports, we would apply a different criterion. If it were demonstrated, for example, that a reduction of the duty on Shirts, Pantaloons, &c., to five percent, would increase the aggregate of Revenue therefrom by transferring to Europe almost the entire manufacture of garments for American wear, we should strenuously oppose such reduction, on the ground of its inevitable effect in depriving our own Tailors, Seamstresses, &c., of Employment and Bread.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.