Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull.

"Among the multitude of things I can't get straight," said John, "is this tariff proposition. Just about the time I read something that convinces me we ought to have high protective tariffs, then I come across a powerful argument from the other side which makes me start wondering all over again which is right and which is wrong.

"It's probably silly for a country boy like me to bother about such things, but after a lifetime of leaving it up to other people to figure 'em out, I can't see where the experts have done such a hot job. And it's a cinch that whatever they do about it will have some effect on my bank account sooner or later.

"On one side, it looks perfectly simple that if we let foreigners ship their products into this country to compete with ours, it's not going to do us producers here any good. But, when you go to listening to the other side, you wonder if it's that simple. The opposition argues that free trade and open competition has made the United States a better country, and then they go on to argue that free trade will, by the same token, make the whole world a better place.

"It looks to me like we've got ourselves in a considerable mess by financing development of industries in foreign countries which can compete with U.S. manufacturers. The only way we can hope to get our money back, or even see where our money has done the foreigners any good at all, is for the foreigners to succeed with their industries, including the ones we've financed for them. At the same time, we've got a good chance one of these days to have over-production here among our own industries. The foreign manufacturers and producers want to sell us their goods on account of they can't sell all their production at home. Because of our high standard of living, we use more of everything than anybody else, but we can also produce plenty of most things for our own needs. We have to export a lot of goods, but the only way we can sell 'em abroad is to buy other products abroad so foreign countries will have money to buy our products.

"Now, if that isn't a tough problem, I never saw one. When one domestic industry benefits by selling its goods to foreign countries, another industry howls to high heaven because the foreign buyer ships some of his goods to this country.

"The problem is hard to solve, it seems, because of the difference in the standard of living here and abroad. It seems that free trade might boost the standard of living of people elsewhere on earth, but it might play the dickens with our own. On the other hand, if we don't import anything for fear of lowering our profits and standard of living, we don't get to export anything, and the first thing you know you have a lot of unemployment in this country. Which means if we're not careful we're liable to have a lower standard of living in any case.

"However, I guess country boys like me are better off than the majority of people, regardless of which way the international trade winds blow. We've lived on sow belly, beans and biscuits before and ought to be able to do it again with just a little practice. That's the main advantage of herding sheep or punching cattle, I guess. A bedroll, a side of bacon and a few pounds of frijoles have always been available in exchange for perspiration. It's the man with clogged-up sweat glands who will suffer most in case the economists misfigure this deal." — (S.F. 04/02/53)