Frank Taussig on the McKinley Tariff
In the final edition of his remarkable Tariff History of the United States, the Harvard economist Frank Taussig (1859-1940) ended his chapter on the McKinley tariff of 1890 with this line (page 241):
The act of 1890 boldly proposed something more: a radical extension of the protective system. The question of principle never was so squarely presented.
He opens the next chapter (on the tariff of 1894) with this observation (page 243):
THE QUESTION of principle which was presented to the American people by the tariff act of 1890 was answered with remarkable promptness, and, to all appearances, in unmistakable terms. Immediately after the passage of the act, the party which had thus espoused the extreme protective policy suffered a crushing defeat; and, after two years of discussion and deliberation, the verdict at the polls was again overwhelmingly against it. The McKinley tariff had become law in October of 1890. In November, the Congressional elections were held, and the Republicans were defeated as they had never been defeated before.
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