American tariffs from Plymouth Rock to McKinley. A complete and impartial history of our tariff systems, 1620-1891. By D.G. Harriman ....

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I - , ■;< I ' : . i" i\ , 1. ^ ''i^ Beginning on page 84 will be found a verbatim copy of Lord Salisbury's famous Tariff speecli of May 20, 1 892. American Tariffs I^RONl '^^/Xf PLYMOUTH ROCK TO McKINLEY. A Complete M Impartial History of our Tarif Systems. 1620-1891. 1. Period Under Colonies, 1620—1783, 2. Period Under the Confederacy, 1783—1789. 3. Period Under the Constitution, 1789—1891. COPYRIGHT. BT D. G. HARRIMAN, A..M.. NBW TOBK CITY. FDBLISBXD BT THE AMERICAN PROTECTIVE TARIFF LEAGUE NEW YORK. 1892. DEDICATION. To the jroung men of the United States upon whom the responsibility of ruling and defending this great Nation must soon rest ; by whom its marvellous progress and prosperity under Protection must be maintained and in- creased ; and to place before whom— clearly and concisely, the actual workings of Protection and Free Trade in the United States, the historical facts set forth in the following pages have been collated and stated ; — ^this little treatise is Eespectf uUy dedicated By the Author. ■■»« i PREFACE. It APPEAiu to be a settled fact that the great issue in the approach- ing campaign will be that of the tariff. A full and reliable knowledge of the actual workings of the different tariff systems that have prevailed in this country since 1783, should and will enable us to decide this issue intelligently. To aid in so desirable a result, this history has been written. This it has not been difficult to do, so far as materials are concerned, for they have been rich and abundant ; but it has required much careful scrutiny and labor to select and arrange these materials. Many books, countless documents, and numerous official reports, all of the highest character, both of our own and of foreign nations, have been examined, and some of their richest treasures appropriated. The facts set forth in the following pages are accessible to all who will take the time and pains to search through the great mass of books and documents in which they are recorded. Only a few of these facts are introduced here : for to present fully all the facts pertinent to a complete American Tariff History would require several large volumes ; but the facts I have stated can be relied upon as authentic. The author earnestly begs one favor of every reader, viz : Please read the statements and facts given in this little book carefully and without prejudice. Disprove them, answer them, if you can do so honestly and logically ; not by theorizing, but by other solid facts ; but if you cannot thus refute and overthrow them, then believe them and work and vote as an honest man should. D. Q. HARRIMAN, New York City. New Yoek, February 15, 1893. Patriotic Work, All students of Economic questions, all persons interested in the discussion of the Tariff which so vitally affects the commercial interests of our country should read what the foremost writers of the world say upon these subjects, in the documents published by the American Protective Tariff League. These, docu- ments are short, terse and to the point. They are interesting and instructive, and embrace discussions of all phases of the Tariff question. The League pub- lishes over fifty different documents, comprising nearly 700 pages of plainly printed, carefully edited and reliable information. Among the authors of these documents are : Hon. James G. Blaine. Wm. McKinley, Jr., Governor of Ohio Senator S. M. CuUom, of Illinois. Senator Joseph i<7. Dolph, of Oregon. Senator A. S. Paddock, of Nebraska. Senator Frye, of Maine. Senator Casey, of North Dakota. Senator Justin S. Moirill, of Vermont. Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, of Rhode Island Hon. Thomas H. Dudley, of New Jersey. Hon. Robert P, Porter, of Washington. Prof. J. R. Dod^e, of the Agricultural De- partment at Washington. Commodore W. H. T. Hughes. Hon. B. A. Hartshorn, of New York Congressman DoUiver, of Iowa. Hon. B. F. Jones. David Hall Rice, of Boston. Ex-Congressman Perkins, of Kansas. Dr. E. P. Miller, of New York. Hon. Geo. Draper, of Massachusetts. Hon. C. L. Edwards, of Texas. Judge Wm. Lawrence, of Ohio. Hon. D. G. Harriman, cf New York. Hon. Geo. S. Boulwell, of Massachusetts. Hon. E. H. Amidown, of New York. Enoch Knsley, of Tennessee. This complete set of documents will be sent to any address, post paid, for Fifty (50) Cents. Address, Wilbur F. Wakeman, General Secretary, No. 135 West 23d Street, New York. INTRODUCTION. In order that there may be no misunderstanding between the reader and the writer of the following pages, relative to the meaning of certain terms and phrases, it may be well to define them here. A TAitlFF is a system of duties imposed by the goyemment of p. country upon goods imported or exported.* There are but two kinds of tariff in the United States : 1. A Free Trade Tariff. 2. A Protective Tariff. A FEEE TRADE TARIFF f is simply a tariff for revenue only ; and revenue derived therefrom is intended for governmental expenses exclusively. It is the system which is in operation in England. Since it is designed for revenue only, its duties are nearly all levied upon articles (except luxuries) that are in great and certain demand. It so happens, ihat the articles thus levied upon (except luxuries) are constantly required by the common people in their household economy, and that they can not be raised or produced profitably at home, such as tea, coffee, etc., etc.; and therefore, cannot come into competition with home productions. A PROTECTIVE TARIFF not only provides revenue for the ex- penses of the Government ; but, also, so discriminates its duties that they are levied principally upon imported articles that come in direct competi- tion with home industries, and so adjusts the rates that such competing foreign productions cannot be placed upon the home markets at prices less than the fair and reasonable home-market price. By this means the high wages of our home laborers are maintained, and need not be reduced to the low level of cheap foreign labor ; and under this tariff, articles of necessity .for the common people in their household economy, and which cannot be raised or produced profitably at home, are admitted free of duty, such as tea, coffee, sugar, etc., etc. * In the United States there is no duty on exports. f Nowhere on earth does actual and literal free trade exist between two civilized nations, by virtue of which all custom houses, revenues and revenue officials, have been wholly abolished ; nor has it ever existed in that form between two such nations. 8 An able writer on Protection says : ** All the prosperity enjoyed by the American people — absolutely all the prosperity, without any reserra- tion whatever — from the foundation of the United States Gk)yemmenty down to the present time, has been under the reign of protective principles ; and all the hard times suffered by the American people, in the same period, have been preceded, either by a heavy reduction of duties on im- ports, or by insufficient protectior ; thus refuting all free trade theories on I the subject. "—D. H. Mason. I will not here state whether or not I agree with this statement ; but it is my purpose in this treatise to give inquiring readers an opportunity for judging for themselves whether or not the foregoing statement is true ; and I shall do this by no labored argument of mine, but by an HISTOBICAL STATEMENT OF FACTS in our Colonial and National experience, which, in themselves, may constitute an argument at once convincing and irresistible. The proposition which I have quoted above is an exceedingly imx>ort- ant one ; for, if it be true, then we have discovered the correct principle of economic action, for our nation at least; and the one which should be made plain and clear to aff our people to the end that protective principles may become the settled and permanent rule in our economic policy. And if it be false, the sooner its falsity is proven, the better ; for then we can take our reckonings anew, and start afresh in search of the truth. Let us carefully examine the facts, and let them determine which is true. THE AUTHOR AMERICAN TARIFFS: FROM PLYMOUTH ROCK TO • McKINLEY. CHAPTEB L FZB8T VRXS TRADE PBBIOD, 1620-1789—1. UNBEB THE COLONIAL OOVEBN- MENT— 2. UNDER THE GONFEDEBAGY. Since 1620, and through our Colonial history, but especially since the Treaty of 1783, by which the Revolutionary War was closed, and our Independence established, we have tried and thoroughly tested all the different phases of this economic question, from extreme free trade, under the Confederacy (1783 to 1789), to the high protective tariff, under the rule of the Republican Party, since 1861. FREE TRADE UNDER THE CONFEDERACY.— It is an historical fact, though comparatively few of our people seem to be aware of it, that during the Confederacy, the period preceding the adoption of our Consti- tution, we made for the first and only time in our history a full and fair trial of free trade, of practically unrestricted imports. England boasts of being the great free trade nation of the world, but she has never had a free trade system that approaches the one we " enjoyed " from 1783 to 1789. How much we enjoyed it appears here- after. CONGRESS UNDER THE CONFEDERACY.— Under the Confeder- acy, the States were held together by a rope of sand. The powers of Congress were exceedingly limited, especially on this question. It had no authority to enact a general tariff on imports without the consent of every one of the thirteen States, and such consent was never given. The States thought that they were, individually, competent to manage those matters for themselves, and that they could protect their separate rights better than Congress could do it for them. Each State had the right to regulate its own trade, and each imposed upon foreign products, and upon the products of the other States, such duties as it deemed best. Each strove to secure trade for itself, without regard to the interests of any other State. JEALOUSY OP THE STATES.— Jealousy of each other seems to bftvo been the underlying motive of their unldrtunate actions. Pennsyl* 10 Tania established a duty of two and on6•hal£^per cent, /bnt even this was an ineffectual remedy ; for New Jersey opened a free port at Burlington, where the Pennsylvania laerchants entered their goods, and took them clandes- tinely across the rivcB to Pennsylvania, without paying any duty. New Jersey voted to allow Congress to impose a general tariff, while New York, on account of her situation relative to Connecticut and New Jersey, and the advantages this situation gave her in the matter of im- portations, refused to do so. New Jersey, thereupon, withdrew her con- sent, and, in order to annoy New York, established a free port at Paulas Hook, opposite New York City, and New York merchants repeated the tactics of Philadelphia, and got their goods free of duty. Hamilton urged upon the States the necessity of stopping this suicidal policy and of vesting Congress with full power to regulate trade, and he contrasted the ** prospect of a number of petty States, jarring, jealous and perverse, fluctuating and unhappy at home, and weak by their dissen- sions in the eyes of other nations," with a ** noble and magnificent per- spective of a Great Republic ;" but it was years before he and others could persuade the States to do this. As just stated, Congress had no power in itself to lay duties or to regulate trade, and as the States would not agree upon a uniform rate of duty, each sought its own advantage at the expense of its neighbors, and, as a necessary consequence, the country at large fell an easy prey to foreign nations, which lost no time in passing such laws as they judged most likely to destroy our commerce and extend their own. eBEAT BRITAIN'S BABBABOUS POLICY.— Especially was this true of Great Britain, then as now, the most selfish and grasping commer- cial power on the earth. And her conduct during this period of the Confederacy was in conformity with the policy she has always main- tained. HOW GBEAT BBITAIN TBEATED THE COLONIES.— In 1699 Parliament decreed that ** after the 1st day of December, 1699, no wool, yarn, cloth or woollen manufactures of the English Plantations in America shall be shipped from any of said Plantations, or otherwise laden, in order to be transported thence to any place whatsoever, under a penalty of forfeiting both ship and cargo, and £500 ($2,500) for each offense. " In 1732 Parliament prohibited the exportation of bats from province to province, and limited the number of apprentices to be taken by hatters. In 1750, the erection of any mill or engine for splitting or rolling iron was prohibited under a penalty of $1,000 for each offense ; but pig-iron could be exported to England, duty free, in order that it might be manufactured there and returned to the Colonies. Later, Lord Chatham declared that he would not permit the Colonists to make even a hob-nail or a horse-shoo for themselves, and his views were subsequently carried into effect by the absolute prohibition in 1765 of the export of artisans ; in 1781, of woollen machinery ; in 1782, of cotton machinery and artificers in cotton ; in 179^ (when the States most needed them), of iron and steel-making ma- 11 chiiiery» and workmen in those departments of trade ; and in 1799, by the prohibition of the export of colliers, lest other countries should ac- quire the art of mining coal. England^s object was to keep the Colonists all farmers, so as to supply her home people, engaged mostly in manufac- turing, with food and raw materials, and to compel the Colonists to take from her in return her manufactured products ; also to pay profit both ways ; in other words, to compel them to sell to England all they had to sell — their agricultural surplus — and to buy from her all they were obliged to purchase — all manufactured articles of any importance. This process was pleasing and remunerative to British manufacturisrs and capitalists ; but it kept the Colonists poor, and almost ruined them. For, as has been shown, they were forbidden to manufacture anything themselves, and they were never able to raise an agricultural surplus sufficient to pay for what they had to import. "With no tariff on imports at home, but subject to such burdens on our exports abroad as was pleasing to those to whom [we were obliged to sell, the imports of the Colonists in 1771 exceeded their exports by $13,- 750,000 — an enormous sum in those days. Is it any wonder that our forefathers rebelled ? And not satisfied with these measures to prevent and repress all manufacturing enterprises in the States, she also attempted to destroy all our commerce by enforcing most barbarously their iniquitous laws with respect to navigation. By the Navigation Act Great Britain decreed that ** No goods or com- modities whatever, of the growth, production or manufacture of Europe, Africa or America, shall be imported into EnglaM or Ireland, or into any of the Plantations (American Colonies) except in ships belonging to En- glish subjects, of which the master and the greater number of the crew shall also be English." Our trade with her West Indian Colonies was prohibited ; and, by the enforcement of these navigation acts, our commerce was nearly destroyed. As we had no tariff, foreign vessels and goods were freely admitted into our States ; while our vessels and goods were burdened with heavy rates and duties in foreign ports. It thus happened that the prices of goods imported and the prices of our exports were subject to the will of foreign- ers. They demanc^d their own prices for their imports, and we had to pay them ; and they offered us their own prices for our goods, and we had to take them ; for, being without a national tariff, we were absolutely at their mercy. Before this Navigation Act was passed, the Colonists had sent their trading ships to all the known ports of the world, and their commerce had become considerable and valuable to them, but by that Act it was annihi- lated at a blow. Even Burke declared in Parliament that " by it the com- merce of the Colonies was not only tied, but strangled." Is it not true that England was and is the most selfish of nations ? Her object will be stated in a subsequent paragraph. HOW THE STATES WERE AFFECTED.— In the comparative con- dition of the United States and Great Britain, after the dose of the 12 Eleyolntionary War, not a hatter, a boot or shoemaker, a saddler, or » brass-founder here could carry on his business, except in the coarsest an<? most ordinary production, under the pressure of this foreign dictation- Thus was presented the extraordinary and calamitous spectacle of a sue cessful Revolution wholly failing of its ultimate object. The people ol America had gone to war not for names, but for things ; to redress theit own grievances, to improve their own condition, and to throw off the bur- den which the Colonial system had laid on their industry. To attain these objects they had endured incredible hardships, and borne and suf- fered almost beyond the measure of humanity. And when their independence was attained, they found that, by the ungenerous, uncivilized and unchristian legislation aifd action of Great Britain, it was merely a piece of parchment. The industry which had been burdened in the Colonies had been crushed in the Free States, and the mechanics and manufacturers of the country found themselves, in the bitterness of their hearts, independent and ruined. DANIEL WEBSTER in a speech on the 8th of July, 1833, affirmed the truth of the foregoing statements when he said : *' From the close of the War of the Revolution, there came a period of depression and distress, on the Atlantic coast, such as the people had hardly felt during the sharpest crisis of the war itself. Ship-owners, ship-builders, mechanics, artisans, aU were destitute of employment, and some of them destitute of bread. British ships came freely, and British ships came plentifully ; while to American ships and American products, there was neither pro- tection on the one side, nor the equivalent of reciprocal free trade on the other. The cheaper labor of England supplied the inhabitants of the Atlantic shores with everything. Ready-made clothes, among the rest, from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, were for sale in every city. All these things came free from any general system of imposts. Some of the States attempted to establish their own partial systems, but they failed." GEORGE BANCROFT on page 432, VoL I. Hist. Const., paints the picture of this period (1785) even a darker shade when he says : *' It is certain that the English have the trade of these States almost wholly in their hands ; whereby their influence must increase ; and a constantly increasing scarcity of money begins to be felt, since no ship sails hence to England without large sums of money on board, especially the English packet-boats, which monthly take with them between forty and fifty thousand pounds sterling." Again on page 439 we find this : "The scarcity of money makes the produce of the country cheap, to the disappointment of the farmers, and the disQOuragement of husbandry. Thus, the two classes, merchants and farmers, that divide nearly all America, are discontented and distressed." GREEDY SELFISHNESS OF GREAT BRITAIN.— It may be re- marked in passing that it has always been the leading object of Great Britain to manufacture for the world, to monopolize the bulk of reproduc- tive power, and, if possible, to keep all other countries in a state of indiui* 13 trial vassalage, by means of bar great eapital, ber cbeap labor, ber skill and ber mercantile marine. Her policy has been, and is, to- force all otber countries to compete in ber home markets for tbe sale of tbeir raw materials. Wby ? To enable ber to fix tbe price of wbat sbe buys. It bas also been, and is, ber policy to force all otber nations to compete in ber bome markets for tbe purchase of ber finished products. Wby ? To enable ber to fix tbe price of wbat sbe sells. Of course, that is business ; and if England can enforce such policies, she will, indeed, become tbe mistress of tbe world. This policy sbe enforced upon us under tbe Oon-? federacy. In proof that this selfish policy bas prevailed in England, many of her ablest public men might be quoted; but two or three will suffice at this time. Years ago, Lord (Jodericb publicly declared in the English Parlia- ment : ** Other nations know that what we English mean by freci trade is nothing more or less than by means of tbe great advantages we enjoy, to get the monopoly of all the markets of other nations for our manufact- ures ; and to prevent them (the foreign nations) one and all from ever becoming manufacturing nations." David Syme, another prominent English free trader and Member of Parliament openly said : " In any quarter of the globe, where competition show itself as likely to interfere with English monopoly, immediately the capital of ber manu- facturers is massed in that particular quarter ; and goods are exported there in large quantities, and sold at such prices that outside competition is effectually counted out. English manufacturers have been known to export goods to a distant market and sell them under cost for years, with a view of getting tbe market into tbeir own bands again, and keep that foreign market, and step in for the whole when prices revive." No comment is called for at this time ; but as the reader follows this history, be will find the accuracy of the foregoing statement of the self- ishness of Great Britain established beyond all questions ; and the reader is especially asked to read with great care what is said of ber conduct toward this country after the close of the War of the Revolution ; and also, after tbe close of the second war witb Great Britain. BESULTS OP SUCH A POLICY.— And so the years from 1783 to 1789 were lovely, halcyon days for the merchants and statesmen of Great Britain. In about three years' time, nearly all the money of the country bad passed into tbe pockets of British merchants and manufacturers, and we were left "poor indeed; "for not only did they take from us our money, but they took, also, our good name for integrity, independence and common-sense, which we bad won in tbe Revolutionary War. As there was no tariff to prevent, foreign nations literally poured in upon us their products of every kind and description, in such quantities, and at such prices that our people could not compete with them. Out domestic industries were suspended. The weaver, the shoe- maker, tbe batter, tbe saddler, the rope-maker, and many others, w^e re- 14 duced to bankruptcy ; our markets were glutted with foreign products ; prices fell ; our manufacturers, generally, were ruined ; our laborers beg- gared ; our artisans without employment ; our merchants insolvent, and our farmers necessarily followed all these classes into the vortex of general financial destruction. * ' Depreciation seized upon every species of property. Legal pressure to enforce payment of debts caused alarming sacrifices of both personal and real-state ; spread distress far and wide among the masses of the people ; aroused in the hearts of the sufferers the bitterest feelings against lawyers, the courts and the whole creditor class ; led to a popular clamor for stay- laws and various other radical measures of supposed relief, and finally filled the whole land with excitement, apprehension and sense of weakness and a tendency to despair of the Republic. Inability to pay even neces- sary taxes became general, and often these could be collected only by levy and sale of the homestead." — Mason. Such were the ruinous results that necessarily followed the adoption of a free trade policy under the Confederacy. A writer of that period says: **We are poor, with a profusion of material wealth in our possession. That we are poor, needs no other proo*^ than our prisons, bankruptcies, judgments, executions, auctions, mort- gages, etc., and the shameless quantity of business in our courts of law-'^ HILBRETH'S HISTORY at page 465—68, Vol. Ill, speaking of thie period, has this true but terrible indictment: "The large importation of foreign goods, subject to little or no duty, and sold at peace prices, was proving ruinous to all those domestic manufactures and mechanical employments which the non-consumption agreements and the war ha(i created and fostered. Immediately after the peace, the country had bee| flooded with imported goods, and debts had been unwarily contracted, foi which there was no means to pay." Our imports from Great Britain alone were $30,000,000 in 1784-85, while our exports to her were only $9,000,000 — a frightful balance on th^ wrong side. They drained us of our last dollar and left us, for a circulat- ing medium, only orders on State tax-collectors and depreciated certifi- cates of State and Federal debt, themselves worthless. OTHER CALAMITOUS RESFLTS.—The distress became universal and calamitous. In the District of Maine, a Oonvention was held for the purpose of revolting from the State of Massachusetts. In New Hampshire, the people surrounded the building where the Legislature was in session and declared that it should not adjourn till it had passed measures to abolish debt, or to relieve the people in some other way. In Massachusetts, fully one-third of the population joi^ied in Shay's Rebellion on account of the abject poverty and distress of th^ people, and nothing less than military force was able to repress all these lawless ' I demonstrations and revolts. I Among the causes that led to Shay's Rebellion Hildreth mentions: " the want of a certain and remunerative market for the produce of the 15 farmer, and the depression of domestic manufactures by oompetitioQ from abroad.'' The French minister at that period after relating the foregoing dis- turbances, adds : " It must be agreed that these insurrections are, in a great part, due to the scarcity of specie." In Connecticut, more than five hundred farms were offered for sale for arrears of taxes, which the owners were too poor to pay ; and in Pennsylyania, North Carolina and South Carolina, matters were scarcely any better. There was no market for real-estate, and debtors, who were compelled to sell their lands, were mined, without paying one-fourth of the demands against them. Men universally distrusted each other. The bonds of men whose competency should have been unquestioned could not be negotiated, except at a discount of thirty, forty, or even fifty per cent. FREE TRADE THE REAL CAUSE OF THESE EVILS. — It was generally understood and agreed, by the writers and statesmen of that distressful period, that the widespread and almost universal ruin which then involved the States in general disorder, revolt and rebellion, were in great part, if not wholly, due to the scarcity of specie, or good money. In his " History of the Insurrection," Minot regards as one of the leading causes that led to those troubles : '^ The loss of many markets to which Americans had formerly resorted with their produce. Thus was the usual means of remittance by articles of the growth of the country almost annihilated, and little else than specie remained to answer the demands incurred by importations. The money, of course, was drawn off, and this being inadequate to the purpose of discharging the whole amount of foreign contracts, the rest was chiefly sunk by the bankruptcies of the importers. The scarcity of specie, arising principally from this cause, was attended with evident consequences ; it checked commercial inter- course through the community, and furnished reluctant debtors with an apology for withholding their dues both from individuals and the public." But the scarcity of specie, or money, was due, as has already been shown, to the free trade policy of that period, which allowed and encouraged such enormous excess of imports over exports, and thus necessitated the withdrawal of the gold and silver from the country to pay such excess. ** Had there been no free trade, there would have been no inundation of foreign goods ; had there been no inundation of foreign goods, there would have been no drain of specie ; had there been no drain of specie, there would have been no lack of a circulating medium ; had there been no such distress, there would have been no impulse toward insubordination to the State." (Mason). Consequently, it follows legitimately, that free trade was the princi- pal source or cause of the widespread discontent, distress, and the de- moralization of that period. A SUMMARY OP THESE EVIL RESULTS.— Free trade was the ptarting point. It was quickly followed by imports largely in excess oC 16 exports ; then by a glut of foreign productions ; then by suspension of our own manufactures of all kinds ; then by a gradual, but complete, loss of all our specie ; then by the necessary stoppage of most of our business ; then by the enforced idleness of our laborers and artisans ; then by uni- versal debt ; then by a crushing depreciation of real-estate ; then by a positive inability on the part of nearly everybody to pay their debts ; then by general distress and financial ruin ; and- finally, by insurrections and rebellions which threatened destruction to the life and liberties of the na- tion. " As this was the closest approach to absolute free trade ever tried by this country, so there was the largest harvest of dangers and calamities ever experienced by the American People." (Mason). For this reason I have dwelt more at length upon the period of the Confederacy, and for the further reason that the causes of the terribde sufferings and disasters of our forefathers, under the free trade policy of that period, are so little understood and appreciated. THE INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH TEACHINGS.— Lured on by these false doctrines of political economy, our people had been drawing closer and closer to the brink of individual and national bankruptcy, and conse- quent political annihilation ; and at last they stood where another step in that direction was impossible without plunging into that bottomless abyss. If they would survive as a nation, there was but one thing for them to do, or that they could do — and that was to turn away from free trade and lay hold on protection. ~ Our forefathers were not fools, though they acted very foolishly. They had been educated, as just stated, in the false doctrines of political economy as taught in England — the most swinishly selfish system ever formulated by man ; and these doctrines had been so firmly established in their minds that nothing less than the bitter school of adversity, I have just outlined, could correct and eradicate them. But standing there upon that brink of sure destruction, they had the good sense to see the truth, and to declare that, while they were willing to give up everything, even to life itself, to maintain liberty and national in- dependence, they could not see any good reason why they should sacrifice themselves to maintain a doctrine (free trade) that had brought to them only distress, misery and financial ruin. DEMAND FOR A NATIONAL CONSTITUTION.— And now having discovered their impending danger,* and the cause of it ; having been con- vinced of the false and ruinous commercii^l policy of England toward them — ^the policy of practical free trade — ^aoid having comprehended the fact that a home market and home protection affords the only real safety for the American people, they took immediate steps to convene a Consti- tutional Convention, to draft a Constitution which should secure these great blessings, with others, to them and their posterity forever. They had learned that a strong central power was neoessary, and that many rights, then reserved to the States, must be delegated to this central power. 17 THE LEADING QUESTION.— There were other great questions to be discussed and settled, but the leading question was : ^'How shall we se- cure protection to home industries ?^' " The people of this country demanded a Union stronger than the Con- federation, for the very purpose of shielding home industries from the prostrating assaults of foreign competition, through the regulation of com- merce with other nations, so as to check or to prohibit the importation of commodities that interfered with the growth and prosperity of domestic manufactures ; and so as to give native productions an impetus which would develop all the resources inherent within the boundaries of the na- tion, essential for the supply and consumption of the population at all times. No fact is more securely established than is this.'' (Mason). In the debate on the first tariff bill in 1789, Fisher Ames, one of the ablest men in that Congress, said : '^ I conceive, sir, that the present Constitution was dictated by com- mercial necessity more than by any other cause. The want of an efficient government to secure the manufacturing interest, and to advance our commerce, was long seen by men of judgment and pointed out by patriots solicitous to promote our general welfare." The historian, Bancroft, says : ** The necessity for regulating com- merce (i.e., for providing a proper tariff) gave the immediate impulse to a more perfect Constitution." — (Vol. I., page 146.) Daniel Webster, historically known, as **the Great Expounder of the Constitution," in a speech at Buffalo, June, 1833, declared : ** The protec- tion of American labor against the injurious competition of foreign labor, so far at least as respects general handicraft productions, is known historically to have been one end designed to be obtained by establishing the Constitution." Years later he repeated this idea, but much clearer and stronger in a speech at Albany, in August, 1844, when he said : ^' In Colonial times, and during the time of the Convention, the idea was held up, that domestic industry could not prosper, manufactures and the mechanic arts could not advance, the condition of the common country could not be carried up to any considerable elevation, unless there should be one government to lay one rate of duty upon imports throughout the Union ; regard to be had, in laying this duty, to the protection of Ameri- can labor and industry. '^ I defy the man in any degree conversant with the history, in any degree acquainted with the annals of this country from 1787 to 1789, when the Constitution was adopted, to say that protection of American labor and industry, was not a leading, I might almost say, the leading motive. South as well as North, for the formation of the new government. Without that provision in the Constitution, it never could have been adopted." Another remarkable man who made a careful study of this matter (Rufus Choate), declared: ** A whole people, a whole generation of our Others, had in yiew, as one srand end and purpose of their new goveni' 18 ment, the acquisition of the means of restraining, by governmental action, the importation of foreign manufactures, for the encouragement of manu- factures and of labor at home ; and desired and meant to do this by cloth- ing the new government with this specific power of regulating commerce, rhis whole country, with one voice, demanded to have inserted in the Constitution the power to enact protective legislation, a power which they held as another declaration of independence — a power by which we are able to protect all our children of labor. This power must not be sur- rendered, must not sleep, until the Union flag shall be hauled down from the last mast-head—a slight which, I trust, neither we nor our children to the thousandth generation are doomed to see.'' If there were room, this position could be fortified with other quota- tions from Fisher Ames, Edward Everett, J^imes Madison and many others, but they must be omitted at this time. The Convention was held ; the Constitution was drafted, accepted, and adopted. The First Congress was elected under its provisions, and by this Congress, the splendid machinery of the Constitution was set in motion. CHAPTER IL FIBST PEOTECnON PEBIOD — 1789 TO 1816. 1789.— THE TARIFF THE FIRST QUESTION.— The tariff question was the very first subject discussed by the First Congress ; and for more than one hundred years has been the one subject that has never been finally settled. Nullification, Secession, Banks, Slavery, and Reconstruction, have had their times of fierce discussion, and have all been forever settled, but the tariff was never a more vital question than it is to-day. The first Act of the First Congress regulated the form of the oath to be taken by officials, and was merely formal, but the first Act of that Congress affecting the country was the Act establishing a Protective Tariff, passed and signed by George Washington, July 4th, 1789. The discussion was long and earnest. It was participated in by such men as James Madison, R. H. Lee, Charles Carroll, Rufus King, Oliver Ellsworth, Fisher Ames, Roger Sherman, J. Trumbull, and others ; and a Congress composed of such men passed a Tariff Act in i he interest of protection and not for *^ revenue only," for in the Preamble to the Act, occur these words : " Whereas, it is necessary for the support of the government, for the discharge of the debt of the United States, and for the encouragement and protection of manufactures, that duties be laid on imported goods, etc., therefore be it enacted," etc. It may be remarked in passing that a large majority of that First Congress were farmers ; but they saw the necessity of encouraging and protecting manufactures, in order that they might be free from servile and 19 dangerous dependence upon foreign nations for the arms, the implements of farming and other machinery needed for their own safety, protection and independence. It is thus seen that the doctrine of protection to home manufacture? — to home products, was coeval with our national organization. It had its enemies even then ; and th^n, as now, the most conspicuous were either Englishmen or men imbued with English ideas ; but all of the leading men ; the men whose actions and legislation made the Revolution a suc- cess ; the men who formulated our glorious Constitution, and secured its adoption by the several States — ^all voted for the P«x>tective Tariff Bill, and rejoiced greatly when it became a law. OPINIONS OF PRESIDENTS — Five of these leading men became Presidents while the law of 1789 remained on our Statue Book ; and it may not bo uninteresting nor unprofitable to learn right here what tbK>e great men thought of Protection to home manufactures. GEORGE WASHINGTON, in his first annual message, speaking of on!* nation as *' a free people,'^ said : *^ Their safety and interest require that they promote such manC' f actures as tend to render them independent of others for essentials, particularly military supplies.'' In his seventh annual message he shows that ** our agriculture, com- merce and manufactures prosi)er beyond example (under the tariff of 1789). Every part of the Union displays indications of rapid and various improve- ment, and with burdens so light as scarcely to be perceived. Is it too much to say that our country exhibits a spectacle of national happiness never surpassed, if ever before equalled ?" In his eighth and last annual message Washington said : *^ Congress has repeatedly and not without success, directed their attention to the encouragement of manufactures. The object is of too much consequence not to insure a continuance of their efforts in every way which shall appear eligible." JOHN ABAMS9 our second President, in his last annual message referred to our economical system, and congratulated the country upoi the great prosperity then existing, and added : ^'I observe, with mucK satisfaction, that the product of the revenue during the present year ha« been more considerable than during any former period. *' This result affords conclusive evidence of the great resources of the country, and of the wisdom and efficiency of the measures which have been adopted by Congress, for the protection of commerce and preserva« tion of the public credit." THOMAS JEFFERSON, our third President, often referred to as tK Founder of the Democratic Party, in his second annual message, in enu> merating the land-marks by which we are to guide ourselves in all ou.^ proceedings, mentions the following as one of the most prominent : '* To protect the manufactures adapted to our circumstances." Our protective system, under the Tariff Act of 1789, had produced results far greater and more satisfactory than had been anticipated ; a.u6 20 in 1806 Mr. Jefferson found that there was likely to be a considerable sur- plus after paying all the public debt called for by our contracts ; and in his sixth annual message he thus presents his views to the country as to the best method of disposing of that surplus : ** Shall we," he asks, " sup- press the imposts (duties) and give that advantage to foreign over our domestic manufactures ? On a few articles of more general and necessary use, the suppression in due season, will doubtless be right ; but the great mass of the articles on which imposts are laid, are foreign luxuries, purchasedl by those only who are rich enough to afford themselves the use of them."" Again he wrote : ** The general inquiry now is, shall we make our own comforts, or go without them at the will of a foreign nation ? He, there- fore, who is now against domestic manufactures, must be for reducing us either to a dependence upon that nation, or to be clothed in skins and live like beasts in caves and dens. I am proud to say I am not one of these. Experience has taught me that manufactures are now as necessary to our independence as to our comforts." "The prohibiting duties we lay on all articles of foreign manufacture, which prudence requires us to establish at home, with the patriotic deter- mination of every good citizen to use no foreign article which can be made within ourselves, without regard to difference of price, secures us against a relapse into foreign dependency." In his letter to Humphrey, 1809, he wrote : ** My own idea is that we should encourage home manufactures to the extent of our own consump- tion of everything of which we raise the raw materials." In 1817, after the close of tiie second war with ^Great Britain, in accepting an election to membership in a ** Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Manufactures," Jefferson wrote: **The history of the last twenty years, has been a significant lesson for us all to depend for neces- saries on ourselves alone ; and I hope twenty years more will place the American hemisphere under a system of its own, essentially peaceable and industrious and not needing to extract its comforts out of the eternal fires raging in the old world." JAMES MADISON, our fourth President, recognized as "the Father of the Constitution," in a special message to Congress, May 23, 1809, said: ** It will be worthy of the just and provident care of Congress to make such further alterations in the laws as will more especially protect and foster the several branches of manufacture which have been recently instituted or extended by the laudible exertions of our citizens." Again, in a special message, Feb. 20, 1815, Mr. Madison said : " But there is no subject that can enter with greater force and merit into the deliberations of Congress than a consideration of the means to preserve and promote the manufactures which have sprung into existence and ob- tained an unparalleled maturity throughout the United States during the period of the European wars. This source of national independence and wealth I anxiously recommend, therefore, to the prompt and constant goardianship of Congress." J AXES MONROE, our fi€t& President, in his inaugural said : ^^ Our 21 manufactures will likewise require the systematic and fostering care of the government. Possessing, as we do, all the raw materials, the fruit of our own soil and industry, we ought not to depend, m^he degree we have done, on supplies from other countries. Equallyja^rtant is it to provide xt home a market for our raw materials, as ^^jT^ctending the competition it will enhance the price -and protect the ci^vator against the casualities incident to foreign markets." In his seventh annual message he says : ^^ Having formerly communi- cated my views to Congress respecting the encouragement which ought to be given to our manufactures, and the principle on which it should be founded, I have only to add that those views remain unchanged. I recom- mend a review of the tariff for the purpose of affording such additional protection to those articles which we are prepared to manufacture, or which are more immediately connected with the defense and independence of the country." Here, then, are the views in brief of our first five Presidents, and the foremost men of the years in which the Tariff Act of 1789 was a law. We find no hint of dissatisfaction with protection ; no suggestion of a re- peal of the law, and no intimation of a modification of the tariff laws, except to give them ** a prompt and constant guardianship " and ** addi- tional protection to those articles we are prepared to manufacture," etc. Let us now return to our ** Historical Statement," and learn, if we may, what were some of the resulting benefits from the new Tariff Law. BENEFITS OF THE TARIFF OF 1789. — Agriculture became more extensive and prosperous ; commerce increased with wonderful rapidity ; old industries were revived, and many new ones were estab- lished in all parts of the country ; our merchant-navy was revived and multiplied ; all branches of domestic trade were prosperous ; our revenue soon became sufficient to pay the expenses of the government, and give relief to its creditors ; the people again became contented and industrious; and the whole country seemed to be, and was, on the high road to great national wealth and prosperity. No material changes in the law ( f 1789 were enacted till 1812, and the general prosperity above indicated continued through that period. 1S08.— EMBARGO ACT.— This Act has no relation whatever to the' Tariff Act ; neither was it a Tariff Act ; but, as in tracing the history of the Tariff from 1789, free traders often refer to this Act as " Tariff