By the editorial staff of the Toledo Tribune.
Economic policy is not a game of abstract principles but a matter of national survival. When a country allows its industries to be hollowed out in the name of cheap imports, it does not merely risk economic decline; it risks political and social instability. A prosperous nation is built not on the lowest possible prices but on the highest possible standard of living for its people.
The debate over tariffs has persisted for generations, often framed as a contest between protectionism and free trade. But this is a false choice. The question is not whether trade should be free or restricted but whether it should be fair and sustainable. “A tariff is not primarily a tax. It is primarily a method of protecting the standard of civilization of the American wage-worker.” It is an instrument of economic security, ensuring that domestic labor is not sacrificed at the altar of international competition.
Opponents argue that tariffs raise consumer prices, and indeed, they sometimes do. But the cost of inaction is far greater: lost industries, stagnant wages, and communities left behind. “We stand for a living wage. We stand for protection. We stand for the right of every man and woman who works to earn enough to live in reasonable comfort.” These are not sentimental ideals but the foundation of a stable and functioning economy.
A nation that surrenders its productive capacity for the sake of cheaper goods imports not just foreign products but foreign dependency. A well-balanced economy is not one in which labor is discarded in favor of efficiency but one in which production and consumption are mutually reinforcing. “The true friend of property, the true conservative, is he who insists that property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; who insists that the creature of man’s making shall be the servant and not the ruler of the man who made it.” The purpose of an economy is not merely to generate wealth but to distribute it in a manner that sustains prosperity.
These are not new ideas. They were championed by a leader who understood that economic strength is national strength. A leader who broke monopolies, reined in corporate excess, and ensured that industry served the public interest rather than private greed. A leader who preserved the natural wealth of his nation for future generations, knowing that a country’s riches are not found only in its financial markets but in its people and its land.
That leader was Theodore Roosevelt. And he believed in tariffs. Not as an end in themselves, but as a necessary tool in the construction of a just and prosperous society. The debate continues, as it always will. But the principle remains: A nation that does not safeguard its own economic stability cannot expect to remain strong.
Economic policy is not a matter of ideology, but of outcomes. The test is not whether a policy conforms to an abstract theory, but whether it ensures the well-being of the people. And history has shown that when a nation protects its workers, it protects itself.
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