A tariff1 may be truly spoken of as a swamp, a rut, a steep hill; in a word, an obstacle, whose effect is to augment3 the difference between the price of consumption and that of production. It is equally incontestable that a swamp, a bog4, &c., are veritable protective tariffs5.
There are people (few in number, it is true, but such there are) who begin to understand that obstacles are not the less obstacles because they are artificially created, and that our well-being6 is more advanced by freedom of trade than by protection; precisely7 as a canal is more desirable than a sandy, hilly, and difficult road.
But they still say, this liberty ought to be reciprocal. If we take off our taxes in favor of Canada, while Canada does not do the same towards us, it is evident that we are duped. Let us, then, make treaties of commerce upon the basis of a just reciprocity; let us yield [87] where we are yielded to; let us make the sacrifice of buying that we may obtain the advantage of selling.
Persons who reason thus, are (I am sorry to say), whether they know it or not, governed by the protectionist principle. They are only a little more inconsistent than the pure protectionists, as these are more inconsistent than the absolute prohibitionists.
There were, it matters not where, two towns, N*w Y*rk and M*ntr**l, which, at great expense, had a road built, which connected them with each other. Some time after this was done, the inhabitants of N*w Y*rk became uneasy, and said: "M*ntr**l is overwhelming us with its productions; this must be attended to." They established, therefore, a corps10 of Obstructors, so called, because their business was to place obstacles in the way of the convoys11 which arrived from M*ntr**l. Soon after, M*ntr**l also established a corps of Obstructors.
After some years, people having become more enlightened, the inhabitants of M*ntr**l began to discover that these reciprocal obstacles might possibly be reciprocal injuries. They sent, therefore, an ambassador to N*w Y*rk, who (passing over the official phraseology) spoke2 much to this effect: "We have built a road, and now we put obstacles in the way of this road. This is absurd. It would have been far better to have left things in their original position, for then we would not have been put to the expense of building our road, and afterwards of creating difficulties. In the name of M*ntr**l I come to propose to you not to renounce12 at once our system of mutual13 obstacles, [88] for this would be acting14 according to a principle, and we despise principles as much as you do; but to somewhat lighten these obstacles, weighing at the same time carefully our respective sacrifices." The ambassador having thus spoken, the town of N*w Y*rk asked time to reflect; manufacturers, office-seekers, congressmen, and custom-house officers, were consulted; and at last, after some years' deliberation, it was declared that the negotiations15 were broken off.
At this news, the inhabitants of M*ntr**l held a council. An old man (who it has always been supposed had been secretly bribed16 by N*w Y*rk) rose and said: "The obstacles raised by N*w Y*rk are injurious to our sales; this is a misfortune. Those which we ourselves create, injure our purchases; this is a second misfortune. We have no power over the first, but the second is entirely17 dependent upon ourselves. Let us then at least get rid of one, since we cannot be delivered from both. Let us suppress our corps of Obstructors, without waiting for N*w Y*rk to do the same. Some day or other she will learn to better calculate her own interests."
A second counsellor, a man of practice and of facts, uncontrolled by principles and wise in ancestral experience, replied: "We must not listen to this dreamer, this theorist, this innovator18, this Utopian, this political economist19, this friend to N*w Y*rk. We would be entirely ruined if the embarrassments20 of the road were not carefully weighed and exactly equalized between N*w Y*rk and M*ntr**l. There would be more difficulty in going than in coming; in exportation than in importation. We would be with regard to N*w Y*rk, [89] in the inferior condition in which Havre, Nantes, Bordeaux, Lisbon, London, Hamburg, and New Orleans, are, in relation to cities placed higher up the rivers Seine, Loire, Garonne, Tagus, Thames, Elbe, and Mississippi; for the difficulties of ascending21 must always be greater than those of descending22 rivers."
"(A voice exclaims: 'But the cities near the mouths of rivers have always prospered23 more than those higher up the stream.')
"This is not possible."
"(The same voice: 'But it is a fact.')
"Well, they have then prospered contrary to rule."
Such conclusive24 reasoning staggered the assembly. The orator25 went on to convince them thoroughly26 and conclusively27 by speaking of national independence, national honor, national dignity, national labor28, overwhelming importation, tributes, ruinous competition. In short, he succeeded in determining the assembly to continue their system of obstacles, and I can now point out a certain country where you may see road-workers and Obstructors working with the best possible understanding, by the decree of the same legislative29 assembly, paid by the same citizens; the first to improve the road, the last to embarrass it.
点击收听单词发音
1 tariff | |
n.关税,税率;(旅馆、饭店等)价目表,收费表 | |
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2 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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3 augment | |
vt.(使)增大,增加,增长,扩张 | |
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4 bog | |
n.沼泽;室...陷入泥淖 | |
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5 tariffs | |
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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6 well-being | |
n.安康,安乐,幸福 | |
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7 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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8 illustrate | |
v.举例说明,阐明;图解,加插图 | |
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9 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
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10 corps | |
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
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11 convoys | |
n.(有护航的)船队( convoy的名词复数 );车队;护航(队);护送队 | |
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12 renounce | |
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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13 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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14 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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15 negotiations | |
协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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16 bribed | |
v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 );向(某人)行贿,贿赂 | |
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17 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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18 innovator | |
n.改革者;创新者 | |
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19 economist | |
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
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20 embarrassments | |
n.尴尬( embarrassment的名词复数 );难堪;局促不安;令人难堪或耻辱的事 | |
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21 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
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22 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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23 prospered | |
成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24 conclusive | |
adj.最后的,结论的;确凿的,消除怀疑的 | |
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25 orator | |
n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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26 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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27 conclusively | |
adv.令人信服地,确凿地 | |
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28 labor | |
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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29 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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