SMOOT-HAWLEY AND THE BIG LIE

As the Camelot fantasy of One Worldism mocks the Constitution en route to its pre~ordained self destruction, free traders are already blaming it on impending "protectionism," by invoking the " big lie ploy," to say that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act caused the Great Depression, even thougn it was not enacted until eight months after the crash of 1929, which was the indisputable result of terribly irresponsible laissez faire behavior among financial manipulators just as is going on at this very moment.

They ballooned money supplies far beyond the ability of the U.S. treasury to honor its commitment to convert our currency to gold on demand, forcing us to declare the dollar bankrupt and depart from the gold standard.

Before Smoot·Hawley tariffs went into effect in July, 1930, two~thirds of the drop in import volune between 1929 and 1933 had already taken place, contrary to all natural tendencies to buy imports in advance of potential increased tariffs.

The new tariffs were applicable to only about one~ third of all imports.

The records also show that, following enactment of Smoot·Hawley, the volume of dutiable imports declined by a smaller percentage than duty·free goods. The Bedell report, entered into the Congressional Record by Sen. John Heinz on September 17, 1985, states: ''No basis exists for any claim thaI Smoot· Hawley had any effect on imports beyond and separate from the impact of the economic collapse of 1929," which was precipitated by a financial scam that ultimately brought down its own paper house.

The truth is that the potential collapse of our economy, and that of the world, which has also been built on a paper foundation of unsustainable global debt, will not be the result of a call for moral trade policies ("protectionism" if you wish), but of a free trade hoax founded on immoral double standards.

It has been masquerading in the mythical garment of "free trade" majesty, in flagrant mockery of our Constitution. It is an ironic coincidence that the many crises confronting us finally allow us to see that the illustrious free trade emperor has no clothes in the same year that we celebrate the 200th anniversary (1987-Ed.) of the precious instrument on which our nation was founded.