PROTECTION v. FREE TRADE.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 23 September 1881, Page 2

PROTECTION v. FREE TRADE.

' A cleverly written letter has been addressed to Mr Bright by A. T. Freed, Philadelphia. The writer, says:— Sir — I have read with great deal of plea* sure the speeches made by yourself, Mr Potter and others, at Rochdale, England, in December last, on the occasion of Mr Potter's return to England from America. In one respect, however, I was surprised and disappointed, Tor notwithstanding your Trade record, it »vasa surprise and disappointment to read that you had told your hearers that the American tariff must be held to be very barbarous. Since we adopted a Protective traiff we hav9 built sixty thousand miles of railway, has settled whole empires of waste land, have doubled the popu* lation of our large cities, haye built up enormous industrial enterprises, have made magnificent progress in the mechanic arts, nnd have suffered only in one industry — our ocean commerce — which we failed to protect by appropriate legislation. Within fif-

teen years we hove paid off a thousand millions of our national debt and probably ss much more of State and municipal debts; have improved our credit so that our 4 percent bonds arc* at a premium of 8£ per pent ; and no legitimate enterprise encounters any difficulty in borrowing all the money it needs. Our exports never were so large as at the present time, nor was the balance of trade ever so favor* able.