The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-04-27
THE TARIFF QUESTION


nufacturer-HellO! what are you
| doing now?
Workingman-Sinc left the shop
| am figuring to build me a house. How
| is business?
M-TOlerably good, but not much
money in business on account of high
rates of material and high wages.
W-YOu chaps (the manufactuTers) do
not pay wages up to the times. How Is
| it?
M-Well, there is a good reason for
| that You see that 1000 tons of pig iron
| lying there; well, there is tariff of IS
| a ton on that which adds to the cost of
| the material used in all the machines
made from it. Aside from that, there is
from $50 to 800 ton on all steel, and
from $40 to $25 on all wrought iron used
in the construction of all machines made
by the company.
W-Well, somebody gets 1t; of course,
it is the wOTkingmen.
M-NO they do not. The workingmen
and middle manufacturers have pulled
the chestnuts out of the fire long enough.
For instance: The tariff on iron follows
right back to the mOnOpOlists, who own
the ore beds, situated principally in the
Lake Superior regions. Hence, the
wOrkingmen get nothing for it. Besides,
this cOmpanyF and others in Canton
and nearly Onehalf the cost is the
tariff on the copper used in it's manu-
facture. While the copper is produced
in this country at from four to six cents
pound tariff of eight cents pound
is added to keep out foreign copper and
to allow the mOnOpOlists of the Lake
Superior regions to pirate on the manu-
facturers. They sell copper in this cOun-
| try at about sixteen or twenty cents
| a pound while III Europe they sell for
| what they can get, about ten or thirteen
cents a pound. This enables the Eu-
| rOpeans to buy our copper and make it
| into goods and sell them in Cuba, Mexico,
| Canada and South America, and keep
| out our manufacturers.
W-Well, | am not in favor of cOmpet-
| ing with foreign pauper labor by letting
in the goods. How is this to be regu-
| lated?
My a uniform tariff for revenue
| only. The Bessemer steel mills are pro-
| tected by patents, pools, and cOmbina-
| tiOns, and lObbies hired. and Congress-
| men bought, and a tariff of 1923 a ton.
| This adds from twenty-five per cent. to
fifty per cent. to the capital stock of all
American railways; consequently, all
the rates of freight bringing goods to
the farmers are from twenty-five to fifty
per cent. higher. And as American
| wheat in Liverpool is greatly regulated
| by the price of freight from the great
| West to the sea ports in competition with
| foreign wheat growers, we are shut out
| from shipping grain abroad whenever
it gets above the ruling price in Liver
pool. This you see will figure against
us in the balance of trade, besides dis
eliminating against the farmer, me-
chanic and manufacturer. The BessemeT
| steel men paid in 1881 about $10, 100000
| in wages and divided amongst a few
| stockholders about $40,0O0,0OO as profit.
| If we could procure our raw material
| cheaper we could manufacture cheaper
and better compete abroad. TO show
you the absurdity of the labor scare by
| the anti tariff agitation everything that
| is principally labor in manufacturing
we do now drive the Europeans when
| ever we meet them. For instance, AmeTi-
can made sewing machines will sell in
| America at about $35, but we can ship
| them to Europe and sell them for 500 or
| $25. American clocks sell at SO in
America and at So in Japan; as well as
hundreds of other articles. So you see
| we are taxed for mOnOpOlies, and in
| stead of beneftting ourselves the for
eigners really are benefited.
/ W-Well, how is the wOrkingman
going to live cheaper by tariff being
lower?
M-Well, your hat is taxed by tariff,
your clothes cost you twenty per cent.
too much. The nails you are using in
your house are fairfield about one cent
per pound. The lumber is fairfield heavi-
ly, the paint is taTiffed, the carpets are
tariffed. Your dishes, and everything
you use, except small amount of food,
and that too is indirectly taxed by the
excessive high freight bringing beef
to you. Values are disturbed by the
tariff. We are like a lot of Cannibals
eating each other up in high prices, all
for the benefit of the mOnOpOlists. We
have, no outlet for our manufactures on
account of high prices, hence we over
produce them. These sOulless protected
Bessemer steel mills shut down at tie
first sign of depression and the men have
to seek other pursuits as best they can
Work two years for big wages and pay
big prices for everything, and tnen work
for low wages and finally almost beg fol
a living. You see here the tariff distuTbs
, values, and during these depressiOns
wOrkingmen suffer as you see. The
WOrkingmen and the middle manufac-
turers are like the two lawyers and the
client The Bessemer steel men and
their like, as mOnOpOlists on one side
the railroads on the other; with the Con.
gress as a packed jury; we to decide the
middle men are those who are clipped.
W-Well, l have not time now to talk
] longer, but some of these days | would
like to have another chat with you on
this subject.
Here the conversation ended for the
time.