The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-03-07
PROTECTION Ann WAGES.
Humbug Assertions that Tariff Protection
faf IftHI ell Bensflta Labor. note. -..

Humbug Assertions that Tariff Protection
%. i'iH Bensfita Labor ..--r. -..-.
The old Cincinnati Commercial was a
low tariff paper, and the old Cincinnati
Gazette was a stiff high tariff sheet.
The lew Commercial Gazette wabbles
on the division line between the two,
leaning to the one side to-day andit to the
other to morrow. On one of its protec-
ton days recently the Commercial
Gazette reprinted dtheallegatiOn of Com
missioner Porter that the average @
wages Of skilled and unskilled men In
a Scotch shlpyard was $6.25 per week,
and asked In affected horrors: t"What
would, the skilled mechanics Of this
country think Of working for 1925 per
week, or double thatp"
The skilled and unskilled mechanics
In the protected industries ought to
know what to think of 1t by this time,
for they have tried itlOng enough. The
average per capita OF wages In the
manufacturing establishments of the
United States is $346.08, or 1857 per
week. These are not the figures Of a
tariff commissioner, estimated to suit a
purpose; they are the figures OF the
tenth census. We do not need to tell
any reader that 1925 per week In Eng
land will go vast deal further than
$6.67 in this country. 1t goes nearly
twice as far. But the curious act about
this comparison OF wages Is that the
lowest wages prevail In the. American
industries which are most highly ''pTO-
tected." The average Of $346 per year
for the whole manufacturing interest Of
the country would be great deal lower
II 1t did not include a number OF indus
tries which are not protected, and which
hfC9i N . Frokn = ~
protected Industries of iron, wool, cot
ton and silk. They employ all told 474, :
46S- operatives. These operatives get
the extremely gratifying sum of $276 ~
for years work in the average, or
$5.31 per week. The average wages Of
those employed In mining and blasting
iron Is 1907 per year; the average in the
wool industry. is S293.05; in the silk in
dustry &264.45; in the cotton industry
$240,17. Yet iron is protected by 45
per cent. duty; wool by duty ranging
from 48 to 40 per cent; cotton by a duty
OF 45 per cent; ti1k by q duty Of 50iper
cent. thigh protection makes high
wages, how is 1t that the operatiVesjih
these representativ protected industries
get an average of weekly wages lower
than the average in the Scotch ship
As a matter Of fact, sO-called protec-
tion has nothing to do with wages.
BrtcklRyers and carpenters get better
pay than weaVers and miners. We all
know that. Yet the former are not
mentioned in any tariff scheme, and the
others are alleged to get all the benefits
OF protection. We pay our printers
higher wages than a like number of
operators in the Harmony Mills, of Co
hoes, ever got. Yet type setting Is not
undar the ahadOvU of nrOtaptiOn' - Nhf n aaa
wall aud spinning Is. The simple truth
is that labor is hired for what il is able
to rate itself at the world oYer-nOt for
what employers are iableDtO pay. Wages
vary much more between Boston and st.
Louis than they do between Boston and
Birmingham, and the tariff has no more
to do with the latter difference than
with the former. ..- l. 'H9Il@
1t is certain that a great deal Of
money is made out of our war tarif
1t is certain, too, that 1t is made out OF
the American public. Toe money that
we collect at our custom houses Is not
levied from the foreigner Every dollar
Of 1t comes from the American pocket.
For every dollar that goes to the Gus
toms receipts, 81 goes to support the
sindu5trieS"l OF JOurut beloved country
Judging by the census statistics, some
goes to the American wOrkingmen to
protect him from the pauperg labor of
ENrOpe, The remaining $3.50 Is absorb
ed by theicoterie OF protected employers.
Perhaps they have q right to itIsa But If
they have 1t should be given them in a
straight forward fashion, as their ID ue,
and not on the I ils6 and |, SIe king pre-
tense that itsis to enable them to pay
Ihigh wi q es. n. Albany Journal tRepI ~