Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-09
VOL. .,XXXIY.., = e s. sss.GT s..s T..


y
commenting upon the prevailing strikes
mere and in several countries OF Western.
Europe, must not mislead readers into sup
posing that the distress of the American
working classes is mot the direct conse-l
Quence of the action of our Government.
How can that be-" it may be'asked,' 'swilenI
we witness precisely the same kind of
movements, at precisely the same time, I'm
countries. 'fetn0te' from our urAown?" It Isl
htrHe, that they have not had our Republican,
party in aEuTepe;a but they have had
scOurges equally ,greak and the condemna-i
tion of that party here lies In the fact that,
in the, short space of six years, it has 5e-
duced our laboring population to the same
extremity of distress which, is the frnitZ of
as many centuries Of fiisgov eminent IN the
The z condition Of the laboring classes of
Europe Is indeed deplorable. Theyare the
| perpetual victims of rulers whose policy of
plumber is. favored BY their geographical
? fsitntatibn. Europe is a coflgeries ofjealous
7 rival states, each of which Keeps up a bur-
defs0me military establishment to ward off
the aggressioAs of the others. It is thee ek-I
fpehse of great armies and gFeatiHavies, aud
the burden ofseolOssal public debts sincur-i
! red 1inslpast wars, that egrind the laborihgi
people int0,dust, and leave them so scantyl
ba pittance of the wealt which their skilfull
hands and brawDygarms create. We who.
have no powerful aggressive neighbors to
watch; we who hays qg2sesssEy s for great itss
led against us in secret; we who hayenol
ancient pyramid ofdebt, bSilt up by the
wars of past generations, resting on our
shoulders aand crushing. us beneath its
weight; we who have millions of squarel
miles of the most fertile land in the world
on which the industrious poor may freely
settle without money and without price;
I'VE who. till the Republican opartyiocame
into power. were thus, exempt and thus ia
vored, have, in spite 7ofaal our advantages,
been, in six short years, reduced to the
same melancholy condition as. the over
taxed and debt-riddeh nations of the de-
Lcrepit old world, From these shores to
which the industrious poor Of Europe have
been wont to emigrate and find immediate
competence, from these favored shores
| there 20 up cries of complaint and distress
as loud, .as real, as persistent as from the
| ldowii-trodden nations whose lot, was till
lately, such contrast to our own. "a
There is much throughout Christendom
| to make rejecting workingmen repine.
PThe astonishing results of apply ing science
! TO Industry, by which the productiveness
bof labor has been increased fOur-fold, have
lneither abridged the hours of toll nor essen
TALLY improved the condition of the work
men. Instead of having four-foldo their
former comforts they still toll as formerly.
| in all the countries of Europe, for a. mere
] Subsistence; and in the United States they
have reached the same hard lot and are
compelled to struggle upwards against the
same disadvantages. Why is it that when
1 so much more wea tn is created, its creators
1 are so little advantaged? 1t is mainly be-
cause better food is taken out of their
mouths, better apparel off from their
4 backs, and more respectable dwellings
t1froin over their heads, by the exactions
and extortions of Governments. The same
4 ]ingenuitv which hasinvented so much ma
-hehinery and so many new processes Ia the
\ peaceful arts, has likewise been applied
4 with marvellous success to the implements
and engines of destruction. and has proved
almost equally prolific. The consequence
j is, that the old war -ships and firearms be-
come worthless, and have; to be replaced by
Others which are as much superior In eX-
i pense as they are in efficiency. Wnen one
! nationvgets anew kindof arms, every other
feels compelled either to adopt or excel it,
I and the knowledge that such Things are
1 of constant invention, creates a vague
i fear which enlarges the size of ar
mics to make up in numbers for
possible Disadvantages in arms. Ar
1Inies are accordingly larger ia this age than
1theyshave ever been before, as well as pro-
ldigioasly more expensive in proportion to
their size. The taxes to support these en-
1Ormouss establishments, which modern
! science renders SO costly, the taxes to pay
the interest on heavy public debts, the
taxes to bestow pensionsUn hosts of gov
lernment dependents, the taxes to maintain
! the luxury and splendor of royalty, the
taxes for these and many other purpo' es
come, mainly from the laboring classes.
The trading classes have some power of
self-protection; the laboring classes have
none. When tax Is laid on a commodity,
the merchant charges not only the tax but
a handsome profit on it to his customers.
/ Every intermediate dealer in succession
| hoo L aaf- nj a a nrOflt
| it, but the profits of all his predecessors
aud his profit on their profits. BIT on
whom shall the consumer shift the burden?
He comes last and pays the whole accumu-
LIstiou. It may be said that the dealers are
also consumers and pay taxes in proper
tion to their consumption. But is in their
| power to put their profits high enough to
evade the tax, dealer making enough on
the thousand bales, or yards, or pounds,
which he sells to practically abolish the tax
on the one yard or one pound which he
uses himself. But the laboring classes, be-
/ ing only consumers and not dealers, have
10 means of shifking any tax This eX-
plains why, in heavily taxed countries, so
much wealth coeXists, side by side, with SO
'kmach poverty. The rich get back from
others q great deal more than they pay ouG
i in taxes; the poor get back nothing. orr, nj
1t is the reproach ofthe Republican party
that it has Inflicted upon us the curse and
mischief of the European system. Thelcry
of the 1aborer goes up in every part of the
country against results which that party
has introduced, and will presently go up
against. the party itself: The old stereo-
typed phrase of the protectionists, . the
pauper' labor of Europe" has come equally
to express the truth when converted into
- the pauper labor of the United States?
A day of reckoning is at hand, when the
lIaboring population of this country will be
eagerito settle with the party which, i'll Sc
short a time, has brought them down tc
|; the level of the European paupers.j 9H'ss
h Senator Wade ON state Rfghts.t
I. In 1855, Senator WADE thus delivered
himself on the subject of State Rights: