The Life of William McKinley (Volume 1)

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1916. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII THE PROTECTIONIST ROM the time of his first speech in Congress JL until the end of his life, McKinley sought to elaborate, clarify, and systematize the true American policy of Protection. He laid down the principle, as its basis, that self-preservation is the first law of nature, as it is and should be of nations. He insisted upon the paramount importance of the general welfare, and that the country must be made independent in a broad and comprehensive sense, strong, self-supporting, and self-sustaining. This was the teaching of Hamilton and Washington. He further laid down the cardinal principle of the Protectionist school in the words: It is our duty and we ought to protect as sacredly and assuredly the labor and industry of the United States as we would protect her honor from taint or her territory from invasion. So long as conditions are widely varied in different parts of the world, he maintained, it is clear that some compensation for the inequalities must be devised. If the cheapness of foreign labor gives an undue advantage to the foreigner against our own manufacturers, to the hindrance of our own development, the law of self-preservation calls for protection against the inequality. Free Trade throughout the world might be ideal if conditions were equal and we had any guaranty that they would remain so. But all the nations of the world, except Great Britain and two of her dependencies, New South Wales and New Zealand, believe in the Tariff as a means of protecting their own interests. Great Britain also believed in it during the early years of her history, until having built up vast industries, a great accumulation of capital, and a well-established trade, she dared defy competition and undertook to supply the markets of the world. Many Englishmen dou...