Free Trade, the Tariff and Reciprocity
- ISBN-10
- 1230355723
- ISBN-13
- 9781230355726
- Pages
- 72
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2013-09
- Publisher
- Theclassics.Us
- Author
- Frank William Taussig
Description
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ... FREE TRADE, THE TARIFF AND RECIPROCITY THE PRESENT POSITION OF THE DOCTRINE OF FREE TRADE1 Foety years ago, the doctrine of free trade seemed to be triumphant, alike in the judgments of thinkers and in the policy of the leading countries. The school of Adam Smith and Ricardo had swept the board in Great Britain, and its conclusions, as set forth in John Stuart Mill's " Principles," were thought to represent the definitive outcome of economic inquiry. Among these conclusions, the one least open to doubt seemed to be that, between nations as between individuals, free exchange brought about the best adjustment of the forces of production; and international free trade was regarded as the one most potent means of increasing the efficiency of labor. In legislation, the triumph seemed to be no less assured. England, after a series of moves in the direction of lower duties, had at last taken the sudden plunge to free trade in the dramatic repeal of the corn laws in 1846. Not long after, France, by the commercial treaty of 1860 with England, had replaced the old regime of rigid protection and prohibition by a system of duties so moderate that the free trader might feel that his ideal, if not quite attained, yet could not be long delayed in complete realization. The treaty between France and England was soon followed by others of similar import between the various countries of Europe, spreading over all the Continent a network of reciprocal arrangements that greatly lowered the tariff barriers in the civilized world. In the United States a long period, from 1846 to 1861, had witnessed a marked relaxation of the protective system; and if the Civil War had brought a return to high duties, this might be ascribed to the financial exigencies of that...
