That policy is the best which will most
promote this good. Nor is there any serious difference of opinion
as to the nature of the good to be had in view; it is in a word
the increase of the national wealth and prosperity. The question
on which opinions fundamentally differ is that of the effects of a
higher or lower rate of duty upon the interests of the public. If
it were possible to foresee, with an approach to certainty, what
effect a given tariff would have upon the producers and consumers
of an article taxed, and, indirectly, upon each member of the
community in any way interested in the article, we should then
have an exact datum which we do not now possess for reaching a
conclusion. If some superhuman authority, speaking with the voice
of infallibility, could give us this information, it is evident
that a great national want would be supplied. No question in
practical life is more important than this: How can this desirable
knowledge of the economic effects of a tariff be obtained?
The answer to this question is clear and simple. The subject must
be studied in the same spirit, and, to a certain extent, by the
same methods which have been so successful in advancing our
knowledge of nature.
Pages:
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417