Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-03-28 | Page 6 | Tariff Agitation

TARIFF AGITATION. The British protectionists have been ! showing considerable activity ever since the first trade conference of the entente allies in Paris, but it is probable prob-able nothing will be accomplished until after the war. Some of the most powerful pow-erful statesmen in England adhere to the Cobden theory of free trade and no change can be made without an appeal to the country on the issue. It may be said, however, that the adoption of a protective tariff policy by Great Britain Brit-ain is by no means improbable. Tho same question will be uppermost in the politics of the United States, for the government expenses are so far in excess ex-cess of the revenues that some means must be found to supply the deficiency. Direct taxation cannot be pursued to the point of confiscation without en-. dangering the stability of the business of the country and putting an end to all our dreams of continued prosperity. We should not be surprised, therefore, if the present administration should ad- ; vocate the placing of increased duties upon certain classes of imports during the time the war lasts and until the i country recovers from the disarrange- j ment incident to the struggle. High tariff rates were necessary during the j civil war and the burden was generally ! distributed among the people of the j country, as it should be at the present time. It is not true that "the foreign- j er pays the tax," as the cheaper sort1 of politicians claim. The people of the United States pay it, and it is right : and proper that they should. There has been too much lying about : the tariff on both sides of the political . fence in the United States, and, as the matter will undoubtedly come before congress at the special session, we hope the special pleadings on the one side and the demagogio utterances on the other will be omitted during the discussion discus-sion and sane and sensible arguments be presented. The country is protectionist protec-tionist and its greatest advances have been made with that principle in force. There have been some abuses, without doubt, but such things can be remedied without tearing up the system by the roots. Under normal conditions the newly appointed tariff commission might be able to do some good, but as we are about to take part in a worldwide world-wide war we shall need vast sums of money, and the most convenient way to raise it is by increasing the tariff rates as a war measure.