=The Argument for Free Trade.=—Although the foregoing arguments for protection have carried great weight in the United States during the past fifty years there are many Americans who believe that trade with foreign countries ought to be free from all tariff duties, or, at any rate, free from all duties except such as may be needed to provide a revenue. [Sidenote: 1. It creates artificial economic conditions.] Those who believe in “free trade”, or in a “tariff for revenue only” make the point that every country ought to devote itself to those industries which it can carry on most advantageously and should not try to produce for itself the things which can more cheaply be imported from other countries. Protection, they claim, merely diverts capital and labor into industries for which a country is not naturally adapted, and thus makes production expensive. [Sidenote: 2. It keeps prices up.] It keeps wages up by keeping prices up, and thus deprives the workman of the advantage which high wages are supposed to bring. [Sidenote: 3. It fosters industrial monopolies.] The policy of protection is also criticised on the ground that it fosters the creation of great industrial combinations, leads to the establishment of monopolies, and encourages corruption in politics by giving particular industries a financial interest in governmental action. The free traders believe that there is no more reason for protective duties upon trade between different nations than there is for similar duties upon trade among the several states of the Union. [Sidenote: Why foreign trade is important.] =The Encouragement of Foreign Commerce.=—The work of the national government is not confined to the regulation and restriction of commerce; it is concerned with the encouragement and promotion of trade as well. This promotion of foreign trade is an important branch of the government’s work because the prosperity of the United States depends to a considerable extent upon its commerce with other countries. America produces a large surplus of grain, meat, cotton, and other merchandise which must be marketed abroad. On the other hand there are many commodities, such as sugar, tea, coffee, rubber, and silk which cannot be produced in sufficient quantities here and hence must be imported. The aim of the government is to help our exporters find the best foreign markets for their goods and to facilitate the acquisition of such foreign products as the country requires. This help is rendered in various ways, by making commercial treaties with foreign countries, by maintaining a consular service, by giving encouragement to American shipping, and by the creation of a Department of Commerce in the national administration.[166]