John P. Young
John Phillip Young (1841-1921) was born in Philadelphia on August 8, 1849. An adventurous life preceded Young’s later literary pursuits. At the age of sixteen, Young ran away from home and enlisted in the United States Navy, but would be later picked up by his parents. He instead took on a job in a Philadelphia mercantile house. Soon after, Young moved to Arizona, where he appears to have worked in some capacity with native American tribes. Young would then move to San Diego where he worked as a business manager for the San Diego Union. This was a fortuitous event in Young’s life, as Young never intended to pursue a career in journalism. He was instead thrusted into an editorial position due to the editor suffering a recurring illness. In 1873, Young would then move to Washington D.C., to take a job at the Washington Daily Chronicle, where he would remain for four years. It was in this capacity that Young began to publish his first Protectionist articles. Fortunately, Young was also in charge of writing on the United States Senate, and through this, he became acquainted with some of the leading protectionist statesmen, including the likes of James G. Blaine and Samuel J. Randall, figures who would greatly influence Young’s economic thought.
After this stint in Washington, Young would return to the West Coast in 1877, and would now reside in California. It was here that Young became the managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, a position which he would occupy for forty-four years. Young consistently maintained the San Francisco Chronicle’s protectionist position with some even crediting him with turning California into a dependable Republican state. Although Young produced many popular protectionist articles as a journalist, his most important work would come in 1900 with the publication of his treatise, Protection and Progress. The central theme of this work is that protection, as opposed to free trade, eliminates economic waste by allowing nations to utilize the full scope of their economic resources. This is made possible through industrial diversification, since only diversification can allow for the most productive employment of highly varied and heterogeneous resources and mental faculties.
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During his life, Young also produced several other monographs on economic issues, including The Development of the Manufacturing Industries of Japan in 1896, and The Growth of the Modern Trust System in 1902. Young’s literary interests also extended outside economics, with him producing other notable works, including San Francisco, a History of the Pacific Coast Metropolis, and Journalism in San Francisco. At age seventy-one, Young’s life would come to an end on April 13, 1921, due to a stroke. This was three months after the American Protective Tariff League bestowed Young with an honorary membership for his efforts for the cause of protection.