FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION 253

export bounty, the conclusion stated above in reference to
that case is supported by this closer inquiry.
It is to be noted, that the same kind of argument as has
been applied to establish the fact of division of the burden
of duties on import or export, and to indicate what influences
the proportion in which the division of burden between
producer and consumer takes place, will apply to the
question of the division of the burden of other impediments
to international exchange, chief of which is cost of carriage
of goods from country to country. The reduction of this
cost operates like the removal of a tax, its increase like an
addition to a tax, on import or export. The technical
advances, which have reduced freights so greatly during
the past generation, have been equivalent to a general
reduction of duties in all countries. Goods which could not
have been profitably transported between distant places
half a century ago make up a considerable part of the
international commerce of the world to-day. Those who
welcome the cheapness of transport generally, can, nevertheless,
 be found advocating a system of taxation which
aims at reimposing the obstacles to commerce which these
technical improvements have removed. In the general
discussion of the chief arguments for and against a protective
system, it will be convenient to hold more directly in view
the method of protection by means of import duties. It is
the method most generally practised, and the other methods
will hardly need a special consideration if the general nature
of the argument is made clear by reference to these
conditions.
First, as to the contention that prices are not raised by
import duties, the preceding examination of the case may be
referred to as showing that the usual effect of such duties
must be some elevation of price, above the level it would
otherwise attain, and by a small or a large fraction of the
duty imposed according to circumstances. If the existence
of duties prevented the adoption of important economies in
producing on a large scale, at some centre of production
especially well situated, the price might be higher, by an
amount greater than the duty, than it would otherwise be,