Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1883-02-15
High Tariff Means Low Wages.

IN plAln WORDS WnaJ the majority II
Congress has been saying ever sine
the session opened may be summet
up in brief but famous phrase, 9Th,
public be id"
In the face of surplus revenue o
over one hundred millions, whicl
Means {" elve dollars per annum wrun,
unnecessarily from the head of ever,
family in the land, Congress has re-.
fused to reduce the taxes; and not on
ly t'a', hut tho protectionists hav,
used the most pertinacious efforts t,
make the ouruen heavier The tw,
tariff bills now under discussion pre-
tend to reduce taxation, bat they d.,
not; they only reduce revenue, an
that very lnadequately, while il many
ways they seek to increase the bur
dens which bad and ill-adjusted law,
lay upon industry and upon the work
ing people.
By cunning devices, the work of I'M
scrupulous monopolist experts, ami
with difficulty lntelllgible to the aver
age student of revenue laws, the Hous,
AMI Senate tariff bills are framed to
increase instead OF diminishing the OF
presslve features of the present tariff
In numerous instances Il mass of small
and peculiarly American industries ar,
attacked in these bills to favor one o,
two giant monopolist enterprises, anr
SO far as the comfort and welfare OF
the mass Of the American people ar
concerned both bills say on almost ev-
cry page. THE public be id
Yet 1t is all done in the name of the
American workingman, who is elo
quently appealed to help cut his own
throat We wish to say few words
to the American working-man also.
whom the monopolizing capitalists an
their friends, the extreme protection
lists in Congress, are talking to a
though they believe him to be fool.
The tariff question, anu indeed the
whole tax question. interests him ex-
tremely, for on its proper adjustment
depends the comfort of his wife and
children Let him consider what fol-
lows, which is simple enough for him
to comprehend oven if he were as big
fool as his monopolist employers pre-
tend he is.
/. American manufactures have
now, through the extraordinary stimu-
lus of a high protective tariff, reached
such stage of development that in ali
the great branches we manufacture
more than our own people can poss
bly, consume.
2. This is SC we'll understood that
our manufacturer are striving to Sc.
cure foreign market for part of
thei, products. Ii they 90 not succeed
in this they know that they cannot go
on, but must work hale time or stop,
because the home market will be
quickly glutted with their products.
8. But in order to secure a foreign
market for part--and a considerable
and increasing part--of their products.
they must be able to undersell their
foreign competitors.
4. To do this they must lessen the
cost of manufacturing. But they can
accomplish that only in two ways
they must either have cheaper raw ma
terials or they must pay lower wages
to their workmen. There is no other
way, except py the use of better ma
chinery. and it is notorious that our
highly protected manufacturers have
cared little for that. 1t is not two
years since American woe en- manu-
facturers were buying in England ma
chinery which there was obsolete and
cast out of the mills to make way for
more economical machines.
S. Now, o moderately low tariff on
the raw materials of industry would
enable our manufacturers to pay fair
living wages to their workmen and
workwomen and yet enable them to
produce at @ cost which would let
them sell their surplus products in for
eign markets.
c. But the capitalist who have S,
long profted by the high war tariff re-
sist the lowering of duties They de.
mand higher duties. The customs
taxes on many raw materials of Ameri.
can industries are increased in the two
tariff bills now before Congress, and
even a slight reduction has been re-
sisted at every step in the debates.
The best that is now looked for in
Washington is that no tariff bill shall
pass--which means, of course, that the
present ruinous war tariff shall con-
tinue.
z. But in that case, as we con.
fessedly manufacture more than the
home market can consume, one Of
two things is anevitable either there
will be overproduction in many
branches, glutted markets, stoppage of
mills, and distress of worklngmen's
families; or the monopolist employers.
to reduce the cost of production, in or
der to secure foreign market, must