A protective duty calculated upon such a basis does
nothing more than secure free competition; free competition can only
exist where there is an equality in the facilities of production. In a
horse-race the load which each horse carries is weighed and all
advantages equalized; otherwise there could be no competition. In
commerce, if one producer can undersell all others, he ceases to be a
competitor and becomes a monopolist. Suppress the protection which
represents the difference of price according to each, and foreign
produce must immediately inundate and obtain the monopoly of our
market. Every one ought to wish, for his own sake and for that of the
community, that the productions of the country should be protected
against foreign competition, _whenever the latter may be able to
undersell the former_."
This argument is constantly recurring in all writings of the
protectionist school. It is my intention to make a careful
investigation of its merits, and I must begin by soliciting the
attention and the patience of the reader. I will first examine into
the inequalities which depend upon natural causes, and afterwards into
those which are caused by diversity of taxes.
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