Every one ought to wish, for his own sake and for that of the community, that the productions of the country should be protected against foreign competition, _whenever the latter may be able to undersell the former_." This argument is constantly recurring in all writings of the protectionist school.

It is my intention to make a careful investigation of its merits, and I must begin by soliciting the attention and the patience of the reader.

I will first examine into the inequalities which depend upon natural causes, and afterwards into those which are caused by diversity of taxes.
Here, as elsewhere, we find the theorists who favor protection taking part with the producer.

Let us consider the case of the unfortunate consumer, who seems to have entirely escaped their attention.

They compare the field of protection to the _turf_.