sional debates, John Randolph remarked,
"I too, am versed in title pages." In any
case, a rising school of American econ-
omists entered the fray on both sides of
the issue. Ablest and most original on the
protectionists' side was Daniel Raymond
of Baltimore. In his book, Thoughts on
Political Economy, the first systematic
text on economics to be published in this
country, he violently opposed the free
trade teachings of Adam Smith. The ex-
cerpt from Raymond's book which ap-
pears in this volume well illustrates the
attitude of the so-called Nationalist school
of American economists. Typical of free
trade thought is the reading included
from Lectures on the Restrictive System
by Thomas Roderick Dew, a professor at
William and Mary.

The volume is concluded by two selec-
tions from authors writing toward the end
of the nineteenth century who survey the
early tariff controversy from opposite
viewpoints. The first, written by D. G.
Harriman, at one time a Congressman
from New York, presents the typical pro-
tectionist interpretation of our tariff his-
tory. The second provides an analysis by
F. W. Taussig, late professor of economics
at Harvard University and a specialist in
international trade.

The emphasis in this volume has been
deliberately placed on the economic as-
pects of the controversy. It would not
be possible within the limits of this book
of readings to include an adequate con-
sideration of the political and constitu-
tional aspects of the problem. Moreover,
though politics, alas, is ever a real factor
in molding tariff acts, it is essentially the
question of the economic merits of pro-
tection which remains unresolved in pop-
ular thinking and which presents the stu-
dent with a difficult puzzle. This volume
presents him with the problem: How
would or should he have voted on the
Tariff Bill of 1824? And in the light of
history and present-day facts, what posi-
tion should he now take on the still con-
troversial issues of the role of the govern-
ment in regulating foreign trade?

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