New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-07-15
4 FREE TRADER TURNED PRorEcTOyIST.
Tie nG,,rnnhoe Sentinel SAYS, cditorially:

In "a
cheap labor was strictly analogous TO aborsayins ma
binrv in lis effect upon the welfare Of society in general
and of workingmen in particular Inc sSt VI INC "is
mont az put by The World is as follows;
- Mr. Sampson Of North Adams had invented or I'M
rn,tcd machine so ekfully contriyed that leluet
d,ud be flung into ii, like corn IN the hopper OF SIss
mill and come out ia the form OF bOOlr, ~ tOI ~ si
mn meal the interest excited by such H'chHe Will
he 'cpomU3ratively slight why should the %ornbg
classes make an indignant protest ass' lam the
more than against tne steameneine cue III
seWing nacAne or the new asLleul.utaa , nd n
subsists on less than any one man OF tle uo@oh'
And now comes The CAieagO Tribune, tho western
champion Of free trade, and declares thatths re ons
is plausible but faacious. ihe Tribune admits tDa' 70
the capitalist cheap human labor a. advantageous as
machine labor but insists that while the at'ei Is adv
tageous the former is disadvantages 70 'n0
man, because
The machine. while it may be temporary neon
venience 90 him. is eventually benefit, becaNe ~ i
h1 S Hi ntaU eith perhaps onealf the labor no
formerly bestowed upon the procurement OF tltih III us
own use thus saving the other halt i9f tne ,n
pOspg majority of them 70 be thrown OUT VI cnIpi
ment By the invention OF boot machine ttheIe gotn
st be some OF them needed TO work tue nnac .'
would turn their attention TO olLef tes 49, and
ton would be ncOnycnient, put WouN 20 - "a ~
i'm the end they would be gamers Not so H. ihS aa "a
boot machine, we have cheapea nl ~ TACT flt II is
cbeaDer implies that il plentiful, ana he Iact
Is human implies that IL Is as capapie OF DiIS
in The other trades to which the displaced boolInaAes
are driven as in that Of bOot-making
II would be easy TO show, If that were our nam pur
nose that The Tribune in all this, adroy aVoids INC
pout made by The World, which was that the nuoouc-
on of class Of cheap laborers in single dePdTtneh~
Industry must have the same effect the introduction OF
n labor-saying machine in the same department. The
Tribune ignoring this point falls TO taking ABOUT
general reduction Of WdgeS, and does not even uScusa
that subject very ably If Chinese laborers should DO
substituted for white abOrers in all the bootandshos
factories the effect would be the would follow
laho
cost OF production to the extent The price OF fac
tory boots and shoes would fan, and white workngmen
would get the benefit of the reduced price The fact THAI
q particular class OF labor is cheap does not i'm
ply that 1t is plentiful, and we very wei know
that the Cooe labor of which we hear SO mueh
is not plentiful. We also have reason to believe
from what We know of the conditions of the CHI
nese emigration that viii not be plentiful for long
time to come if ever, if only that il is voluntary
and not forced People who come here for compare
lively brief sojourn at most who do not raise families
here and who constrained by superstition TO provide
for the shipment OF their bodies TO China in case they
should die here not likely TO by the million.
nor TO penetrate far into tile interior except along the
principal lines Of communication II we make adequate
provision against involuntary emigration" as II Is
politely called, and against the contract system
which is little better than system OF slavery we need
not fear Eruption Of Johns IN sufficient numbers TO
affect wages in general If they engage in all kinds Of
euce will be so difused be inapprecable. II they
conne themselves chiefly to few branches Of industry,
their influence upon the general welfare including that
Of the workngmen, will be precisely tho that Of
a laborsaving machine
But our intention at the outset TO discuss the
cooe question is practically presented 10 nor
yet consider the effect OF the general introduction OF
cheap laboran event have present reason TO APP
prehend. What intended to do to call attention
to the following remarkable as
coming uncompromisng advocate Of free trade:
II is the fact that Chinese labor do anything hat
American labor do that constitutes the objection To
the unlimited importation OF such labori for society Is
bound TO exercise reasonable that those Of B Deg6ers
rhO already oirzed are not debdScd and dectr-ed
BY A COMPETITION RESULTING IN ABSOLUTE PERJURY.
Here are two propositions. The FIRST is that Chinese
labor do anything that American labor can do The
second that society is bound to take that Its civil
lized members not debased and decyilized by
petition with uncviized half civilized laborers. Now
will The Tribune explain why society is bound to pro-
tect its members against the competition OF the cheap
laborers who come to this country, and at the sams
time bound protect them against the competition
OF the same cheap laborers who remain at homei
Why should we say to Johu Chinaman, eve will buy
your cheap labor and that at the very lowest notch pro-
vded you perform that labor in China; but we Will noi
buy IL you perform il in this country" The Tribune
tells us must admit the products of foreign cheap
labor to free competition with the products OF dear
labor, and threatens TO bolt every Republican nomj-
mated for Congress who viii not vote for that sort OF
competition and yet when it to the tabor ITSELF
The Tribune solemny declares that it is the duty
ciey to protect its dear labor against the cheap Of
other countries. The Tribune should enlghten its read
ers by explaining the difference between paying at a
country store for the cheap labor expended in China in
the production of pound Of tea, and paying at the
store for the same labor expended in Massachusetts, in
the production Of pair Of shoes The purchaser ava
himself of the Chinamans cheap labor in either case aud
If his American competitor should be protected in thu
one case, why not in the otheri The Tti5uaes argu
ment for protection against Coole labor may not be-
sound Perhaps it is not. But II it is it must be An
equally sound argument for protective tariff and that
the thing which, above all Others The Tribune abLors