The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-09-14


the days when he is idle.
My fellow citizens, this result upon
the wages of labor of protection Is what
any student of the subject might have
anticipated.
In all manufacturing two things are
required material and labor. sup
pose have 100000, and 1 find that the
material to carry on the business IN
which desire to engage will cost tnat
sum, / will not commence it, because j
have nothing with which to pay labor.
| IL nv material cost $4,000, will have
| $4,000 for labor; if $60,0O0 will have
| $4,000 for labor. The cheaper my ma
| terlal the more will lave for those who
work for me, and the more satisfactory
will be their arrangements with me.
From this fact derive the proposition
that whatever increases the price OF
material tends to diminish the wages OF
labor. 1t is the avowed object of pro-
| tective tariff to increase the price OF
material; it follows, therefore, that the
effect of a protective tariff is to dlmln-
ish the wages of labor.
PROTECTION DRIVES CAPITAL AWAY.
| But protection acts directly in injury
to American labor by driving out of the
country productive capital. Suppose
that the manufacturer in America has
reached the point when he has entirely
supplied the domestic demand. He
must stop manufacturing or find for
eign market. BY what l have already
| shown, it will appear that it will be inn
| possible for him to manufacture to sell
| abroad. IL he intends to compete with
England in the markets OF the world ne
must manufacture where he can get
material as cheaply as the Engllshman
can. He is, therefore, compelled TO go
abroad to manufacture, and give en-
| -, lah
several striking instances OF this. The
| sewing machine manufactures of New
England had supplied nearly every
house in this country with their ma
chimes, and had grown rich in the buSl-
ness. They could not compete with
England in the markets of the world as
long as they manufactured here. Ihey
therefore went to Edinburgh, where
they leased forty acres of land just out
side of the city upon which they have
placed large buildings, where they are
giving work to thousands of foreign Ia
| bOreTs, paid with American money. |
have been told that the BethOvian Com
pany, of Meriden, Conn.,, is employing
many men in Canada, who are engaged
in making ware for the foreign trade.
A Detroit company for manufacturing
cars has large establishment at Lon
don, Canada, where American capital Is
engaged in paying foreign labOreTs, be-
cause material is cheaper there than
here. In this way the present tariff
drives out of the country millions of its
productive capital every year.
PROTECTION KEEPS OUT FOREIGN CAPITAL
Protection keeps out foreign capital
which might be engaged here in the
employment of labor. This is a new
country. 1t is in the old world where
the large accumulatious of capital may
be found. That capital is rarely spent
here except as it is invested in bonds of
privOte corporations or public securi-
ties. 1t is not meant to be engaged per-
manently in manufacturing enterprises,
and this because, if the individual
wishes to engage in that business, he
goes where he can do it more cheaply.
The injury thus done to the labOreTs and
to our manufacturing interests is meal
culable. One instance has lately been
called to my attention. In Switzerland
the business of making condensed milk
has recently grown to be a large and
profitable one. The managers thought
that they could more prOfitably manu-
facture here. They sent committee to
this country to investigate. After in
Quiring they found that milk was
cheaper here, and on that account 1T
would be cheaper to come here; but 1t
was found that the duty on sugar Qarge
. |
process of cOndensatiOn) was so high
that what they gained in the cheapness
of the milk, they lost, and more, in the
dearness of the sugar; and they advised
against the coming to America. In this
| way q large interest, using millions of
dollars and employing thousands of
men, was kept out of this country.
What is possible for the labOTeTs of
the country will never be known until
| toI nf hn world hnFn n
seek Investment in active business, and
that capital will never come 20 long as
our system of protection prevails.
WAGES NOT SATISFACTORY.
My fellow citizens, if anything was
| required to show that the wages are not
satisfactory in this country. it would be
| found in the great strikes which have
recently occurred from Maine to Mis-
sissippi. They have originated in the
very industries which have received the
most prOtection-in the wOOlen and
cotton mills of New England, and in
the iron and steel establishments of
Pennsylvania. 1t is estimated that
10000 men have been concerned in the
strikes since January 1, 1881. They
have said to their employers, we do not
receive wages sufficient to keep our
selves and families supplied with the
/ necessaries of life, and we ask for
| enough to do at least that. When this
was refused, the strikes commenced to
compel from the manufacturers the JUS
tice which in the ordinary course of
business they denied to their men. Un-
fortunately, these strikes have not been
successful. In nearly every instance
thus far the labOrers have returned to
work at the old wages rather than star We
outright. Have these men lied when
they said they could not maintain them
selves upon the wages they have been
receiving? Are the managers of the
great labor organizations deceiving the
people when they proclaim to the cOun-
try the deplOrable condition OF the en-
pIOyes in these great industries?
Would one hundred and fifty thousand
| engage in a long and VexatiOus strike
without some good and substantial rea-
son? If these men are to be believed
then the prOtectiOnists are liars who say
that the wages in this country are made
higher by the policy of protection. And
here, by the testimony of the labOrers
themselves, denounee as falsehOod the
statement that protection increases
wages, and that the labOring classes are
benefited by the protection system. Go
ask the families in Pittsburg, an ac-