"Resolved, That while providing revenue for the support of the General Government by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imposts as to encourage the development of the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national exchanges which secures to the workingmen liberal wages, to agriculture remunerative13 prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate reward for their skill, labor14 and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence."—Chicago Convention Platform, 1860.
It is true that this resolution did not commit anybody to the doctrine15 that the industrial interests of the whole country are promoted by taxes levied16 upon imported property, however "adjusted," but it was understood, by the Pennsylvanians at least, to be a promise that if the Republican party were successful in the coming election, the doctrine of protection, which had been overthrown18 in 1846, and had been in an extremely languishing19 state ever since, should be put upon its legs again. I am far from asserting that this overture20 was needed to secure the vote of Pennsylvania for Mr. Lincoln in 1860, or that that State was governed by less worthy21 motives22 in her political action than other States. I only remark that her delegates in the convention thought such a resolution would be extremely useful, and such was the anxiety to secure her vote in the election that a much stronger resolution might have been conceded if it had been required. I affirm, however, that there was no agitation23 on the tariff question in any other quarter. New England had united in passing the tariff of 1857, which lowered the duties imposed by the act of 1846 about fifty per cent., i.e., one-half of the previously24 existing scale. The Western States had not petitioned Congress or the convention to disturb the tariff; nor had New York done so, although Mr. Greeley, then as now, was invoking25, more or less frequently, the shade of Henry Clay to help re-establish what is deftly26 styled the "American System."
The protective policy was restored, after its fifteen years' sleep, under the auspices27 of Mr. Morrill, a Representative (now a Senator) from Vermont. Latterly I have noticed in the speeches and votes of this gentleman (who is, I think, one of the most conscientious28, as he is one of the most amiable29, men in public life), a reluctance30 to follow to their logical conclusion the principles embodied31 in the "Morrill tariff" of 1861. His remarks upon the copper32 bill, during the recent session of Congress, indicate that, in his opinion, those branches of American industry which are engaged in producing articles sent abroad in exchange for the products of foreign nations, are entitled to some consideration. This is an important admission, but not so important as another, which he made in his speech on the national finances, January 24, 1867, in which, referring to the bank note circulation existing in the year 1860, he said: "And that was a year of as large production and as much general prosperity as any, perhaps, in our history."[2] If the year immediately preceding the enactment33 of the Morrill tariff was a year of as large production and as much general prosperity as any in our history, of what use has the Morrill tariff been? We have seen that it was not demanded by any public agitation. We now see that it has been of no public utility.
In combating, by arguments and illustrations adapted to the comprehension of the mass of mankind, the errors and sophisms with which protectionists deceive themselves and others, M. Bastiat is the most lucid34 and pointed35 of all writers on economical science with whose works I have any acquaintance. It is not necessary to accord to him a place among the architects of the science of political economy, although some of his admirers rank him among the highest.[3] It is enough to count him among the greatest of its expounders and demonstrators. His death, which occurred at Pisa, Italy, on the 24th December, 1850, at the age of 49, was a serious loss to France and to the world. His works, though for the most part fragmentary, and given to the public from time to time through the columns of the Journal des Economistes, the Journal des Debats, and the Libre Echange, remain a monument of a noble intellect guided by a noble soul. They have been collected and published (including the Harmonies Economiques, which the author left in manuscript) by Guillaumin & Co., the proprietors36 of the Journal des Economistes, in two editions of six volumes each, 8vo. and 12mo. When we reflect that these six volumes were produced between April, 1844, and December, 1850, by a young man of feeble constitution, who commenced life as a clerk in a mercantile establishment, and who spent much of his time during these six years in delivering public lectures, and laboring37 in the National Assembly, to which he was chosen in 1848, our admiration38 for such industry is only modified by the thought that if he had been more saving of his strength, he might have rendered even greater services to his country and to mankind.
The Sophismes Economiques, which fill the larger portion of this volume, were not expected by their author to outlast39 the fallacies which they sought to overthrow17. But these fallacies have lived longer and have spread over more of the earth's surface than any one a priori could have believed possible. It is sometimes useful, in opposing doctrines40 which people have been taught to believe are peculiar41 to their own country and time, to show that the same doctrines have been maintained in other countries and times, and have been exploded in other languages. By what misuse42 of words the doctrine of Protection came to be denominated the "American System," I could never understand. It prevailed in England nearly two hundred years before our separation from the mother country. Adam Smith directed the first formidable attack against it in the very year that our independence was declared. It held its ground in England until it had starved and ruined almost every branch of industry—agriculture, manufactures, and commerce alike.[4] It was not wholly overthrown until 1846, the same year that witnessed its discomfiture43 in the United States, as already shown. It still exists in a subdued44 and declining way in France, despite the powerful and brilliant attacks of Say, Bastiat, and Chevalier, but its end cannot be far distant in that country. The Cobden-Chevalier treaty with England has been attended by consequences so totally at variance45 with the theories and prophecies of the protectionists that it must soon succumb46.
As these pages are going through the press, a telegram announces that the French Government has abolished the discriminating47 duties levied upon goods imported in foreign bottoms, and has asked our government to abolish the like discrimination which our laws have created. Commercial freedom is making rapid progress in Prussia, Austria, Italy, and even in Spain. The United States alone, among civilized48 nations, hold to the opposite principle. Our anomalous49 position in this respect is due, as I think, to our anomalous condition during the past eight or nine years, already adverted50 to—a condition in which the protected classes have been restrained by no public opinion—public opinion being too intensely preoccupied51 with the means of preserving the national existence to notice what was doing with the tariff. But evidences of a reawakening are not wanting.
There is scarcely an argument current among the protectionists of the United States that was not current in France at the time Bastiat wrote the Sophismes Economiques. Nor was there one current in his time that is not performing its bad office among us. Hence his demonstrations52 of their absurdity53 and falsity are equally applicable to our time and country as to his. They may have even greater force among us if they thoroughly54 dispel55 the notion that Protection is an "American system." Surely they cannot do less than this.
There are one or two arguments current among the protectionists of the United States that were not rife3 in France when Bastiat wrote his Sophismes. It is said, for instance, that protection has failed to achieve all the good results expected from it, because the policy of the government has been variable. If we could have a steady course of protection for a sufficient period of time (nobody being bold enough to say what time would be sufficient), and could be assured of having it, we should see wonderful progress. But, inasmuch as the policy of the government is uncertain, protection has never yet had a fair trial. This is like saying, "if the stone which I threw in the air had staid there, my head would not have been broken by its fall." It would not stay there. The law of gravitation is committed against its staying there. Its only resting-place is on the earth. They begin by violating natural laws and natural rights—the right to exchange services for services—and then complain because these natural laws war against them and finally overcome them. But it is not true that protection has not had a fair trial in the United States. The protection has been greater at some times than at others, that is all. Prior to the late war, all our revenue was raised from customs; and while the tariffs56 of 1846 and 1857 were designated "free trade tariffs," to distinguish them from those existing before and since, they were necessarily protective to a certain extent.
Again, it is said that there is need of diversifying57 our industry—- as though industry would not diversify58 itself sufficiently59 through the diverse tastes and predilections60 of individuals—as though it were necessary to supplement the work of the Creator in this behalf, by human enactments61 founded upon reciprocal rapine. The only rational object of diversifying industry is to make people better and happier. Do men and women become better and happier by being huddled62 together in mills and factories, in a stifling63 atmosphere, on scanty64 wages, ten hours each day and 313 days each year, than when cultivating our free and fertile lands? Do they have equal opportunities for mental and moral improvement? The trades-unions tell us, No. Whatever may be the experience of other countries where the land is either owned by absentee lords, who take all the product except what is necessary to give the tenant65 a bare subsistence, or where it is cut up in parcels not larger than an American garden patch, it is an undeniable fact that no other class of American workingmen are so independent, so intelligent, so well provided with comforts and leisure, or so rapidly advancing in prosperity, as our agriculturists; and this notwithstanding they are enormously overtaxed to maintain other branches of industry, which, according to the protective theory, cannot support themselves. The natural tendency of our people to flock to the cities, where their eyes and ears are gratified at the expense of their other senses, physical and moral, is sufficiently marked not to need the influence of legislation to stimulate66 it.
It is not the purpose of this preface to anticipate the admirable arguments of M. Bastiat; but there is another theory in vogue67 which deserves a moment's consideration. Mr. H.C. Carey tells us, that a country which exports its food, in reality exports its soil, the foreign consumers not giving back to the land the fertilizing68 elements abstracted from it. Mr. Mill has answered this argument, upon philosophical69 principles, at some length, showing that whenever it ceases to be advantageous70 to America to export breadstuffs, she will cease to do so; also, that when it becomes necessary to manure71 her lands, she will either import manure or make it at home.[5] A shorter answer is, that the lands are no better manured by having the bread consumed in Lowell, or Pittsburgh, or even in Chicago, than in Birmingham or Lyons. But it seems to me that Mr. Carey does not take into account the fact that the total amount of breadstuffs exported from any country must be an exceedingly small fraction of the whole amount taken from the soil, and scarcely appreciable72 as a source of manure, even if it were practically utilized73 in that way. Thus, our exportation of flour and meal, wheat and Indian corn, for the year 1860, as compared with the total crop produced, was as follows:
TOTAL CROP.[6]
Flour and Meal, bbls. Wheat, bu. Corn, bu.
55,217,800 173,104,924 838,792,740
Exportation.
Flour and Meal, bbls. Wheat, bu. Corn, bu.
2,845,305 4,155,153 1,314,155
Percentage of Exportation to Total Crop.
5.15 2.40 .39
This was the result for the year preceding the enactment of the Morrill tariff. It is true that our exports of wheat and Indian corn rose in the three years following the enactment of the Morrill tariff, from an average of eight million bushels to an average of forty-six million bushels, but this is contrary to the theory that high tariffs tend to keep breadstuffs at home, and low ones to send them abroad. There is need of great caution in making generalizations74 as to the influence of tariffs on the movement of breadstuffs. Good or bad harvests in various countries exercise an uncontrollable influence upon their movement, far beyond the reach of any legislation short of prohibition75. The market for breadstuffs in the world is as the number of consumers; that is, of population. It is sometimes said in the way of reproach, (and it is a curious travesty76 of Mr. Carey's manure argument,) that foreign nations will not take our breadstuffs. It is not true; but if it were, that would not be a good reason for our passing laws to prevent them from doing so; that is, to deprive them of the means to pay for them. Every country must pay for its imports with its exports. It must pay for the services which it receives with the services which it renders. If foreign nations are not allowed to render services to us, how shall we render them the service of bread?
The first series of Bastiat's Sophismes were published in 1845, and the second series in 1848. The first series were translated in 1848, by Mrs. D.J. McCord, and published the same year by G.P. Putnam, New York. Mrs. McCord's excellent translation has been followed (by permission of her publisher, who holds the copyright,) in this volume, having been first compared with the original, in the Paris edition of 1863. A very few verbal alterations77 have been made, which, however, have no bearing on the accuracy and faithfulness of her work. The translation of the essay on "Capital and Interest" is from a duodecimo volume published in London a year or two ago, the name of the translator being unknown to me. The second series of the Sophismes, and the essay entitled "Spoliation and Law," are, I believe, presented in English for the first time in these pages.
H.W.
Chicago, August 1, 1869.
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1
compilation
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| n.编译，编辑 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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7
enfranchisement
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| 选举权 | |
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concisely
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| adv.简明地 | |
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tariff
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| n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表 | |
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10
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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remunerative
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| adj.有报酬的 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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15
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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16
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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19
languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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enactment
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| n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过 | |
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lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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38
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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39
outlast
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| v.较…耐久 | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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41
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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42
misuse
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| n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用 | |
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discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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45
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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46
succumb
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| v.屈服，屈从；死 | |
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47
discriminating
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| a.有辨别能力的 | |
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48
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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49
anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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50
adverted
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| 引起注意（advert的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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52
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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53
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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54
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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55
dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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56
tariffs
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| 关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准 | |
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57
diversifying
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| v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的现在分词 )；进入新的商业领域 | |
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58
diversify
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| v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化 | |
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59
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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60
predilections
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| n.偏爱，偏好，嗜好( predilection的名词复数 ) | |
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61
enactments
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| n.演出( enactment的名词复数 )；展现；规定；通过 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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63
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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64
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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65
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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66
stimulate
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| vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋 | |
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67
Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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68
fertilizing
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| v.施肥( fertilize的现在分词 ) | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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70
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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71
manure
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| n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥 | |
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72
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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73
utilized
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| v.利用，使用( utilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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generalizations
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| 一般化( generalization的名词复数 )； 普通化； 归纳； 概论 | |
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75
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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76
travesty
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| n.歪曲，嘲弄，滑稽化 | |
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alterations
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| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
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