The Right Time

The Right Time
Patriotism, Protection And Prosperity

"Buy from us, or go naked!" Such was the taunt the Tories delivered to the colonies in 1768.

Enraged by a trade policy of advancing the interests of the Crown at the expense of the colony, the seeds of rebellion were thus fertilized with the frustration of the Founding Fathers.

"The war of the American Revolution chiefly grew out of efforts of Great Britain to cripple and destroy our Colonial industries to the benefit of the British trader," wrote Sen. John Logan in his 1886 book The Great Conspiracy. "And... the independence conquered was an Industrial as well as Political Independence."

After handing the Red Coats a one-way ticket across the pond, the Founders capitalized on their industrial independence by creating an economic system predicated on the commonsense principles of protection and preservation of domestic industry, especially manufacturing. Such was the key to unshackling America from the constraints of global dependency.

For two centuries, Americans embraced an America First policy - one that placed the interests of Americans before foreigners and country before commerce - and the harvest was plentiful.

From 1869-1913, a pivotal era of economic growth, protectionist America displaced free trade Britain on the global stage. Beginning the era with half of Britain's production, America, thanks to high tariffs, ended the era with more than double that of Britain. The verdict was in and free trade was headed for the guillotine.

Thus, it is no surprise during the era of protection, which lasted until the close of WWII, free trade was a third rail of American politics. It was during this period that politicians treated free trade as a plague, and when Grover Cleveland got tagged a free trader during the 1888 election, he did everything he could to dodge the dogma.

"It is a condition which confronts us, not a theory," Mr. Cleveland quipped. William McKinley and John Sherman, an Ohio congressman and senator respectively, would not relent and, under their direction, the Republican Party became an America First party, and that ended, as Mr. McKinley put it, the "great free-trade shadow dance."

"Protection which guards and develops our industries is a cardinal policy of the Republican Party," read the 1904 GOP platform on which the Rough Rider rode back into the White House.

So deep were the roots of protection in the Republican Party, Mr. Sherman believed Democrats were the greatest threat to his America First policy, causing him to warn if the Democrats had their way, "It is the protective industrial policy built by the Republican Party they would break down."

How was the GOP rewarded for connecting protection to prosperity? From the Civil War to the day Woodrow Wilson took the oath of office, there were only eight years a Republican was not sitting in the Oval Office.

More than a century later after his warning, Mr. Sherman would be surprised to see a number of free trade foxes had set up shop in the GOP hen house.

"I am an unabashed supporter of free trade agreements," thundered presumptive Republican nominee John McCain last week as he called for a free trade agreement with the European Union. Juxtapose such a comment with Teddy Roosevelt's proclamation "Thank God I am not a free trader," and one wonders if he is in the same party.

How was Mr. McCain's departure from traditional orthodoxy met by the defenders of the faith? With open arms.

"In an increasingly protectionist and demagogic atmosphere, it is encouraging to hear a voice of sanity on this issue," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. Tell that to TR, Bill McKinley, Abe Lincoln and Alex Hamilton.

How is a policy that has exported American jobs sane? How is it encouraging hearing the man leading the party that once protected American industry to swear allegiance to a policy that has devastated Ohio, Michigan and countless other states and has placed discount sneakers over national security?

Free trade promotes peace and cheap goods, argues the free trader. The only problem, China is no more peaceful today than it was prior to joining the WTO, the reduction of the tariff paved the way for the income tax, and, as Mr. McKinley stated, "Cheap is not a word of hope... it is the badge of poverty; it is the signal of distress."

In delivering his "Report on Manufactures," Alexander Hamilton handed the nation an economic blueprint that is just as relevant today as it was over two centuries ago.

"The wealth ... independence and security of a country, appear to be materially connected with the prosperity of manufactures," stated Mr. Hamilton. "Every nation ... ought to endeavor to possess within itself all the essentials of national supply. These compromise means of substance, habitation, clothing and defense."

Today, soybeans, corn, wheat, rice, cigarettes, meat, hides, waste paper, fertilizers and cotton are among America's top exports. Industry, on the other hand, has been gutted, mines have closed, factories have been boarded shut, and America's labor force has declined over 20 percent since 1950.

Twenty-five percent of our steel is foreign made, as is a third of our cars, two-thirds of our clothes, and practically all of our basic electronics.

Two hundred years later and, in terms of trade, America is right back where she started. So are the spoiled fruits of free trade.

By Joe Murray
The Bulletin, Philadelphia’s Family Newspaper
April 5, 2008

http://americaneconomicalert.org/news_item.asp?NID=3139040

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Posted April 5, 2008 10:47 AM
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