The Labor enquirer., 1884-10-25

1ates = being the only salvation. An
evil may originate and develep under
the rule Of grand old party, but no mat.
ter. the party is perfection nevertheless.
II is through ignorance, Or fear Of pub.
lie censure that eminent editors refuse to
propose remedies. The latter reason will
no doubt apply in the case ofthe Chicago
Daily News. It is no doubt anxious to
call attention to the evil effects of false
systems, hoping their agitation may
bring out cure by some drawer editor.
This intent is especially shown in the
News for October II. The editorial page
is nearly covered with protests in favor
Of the suffering classes. The first is
about "The Right Of the Retail Buyer Z
In curious contradiction to its inn
memorial tradition of offeringto the poor
man the most favorable home Of all tue
world is the actual fact that no other civ
ilized country is SO inconsiderate of his
rights and needs as the United States
Rents are higher than elsewhere, and
the poor mans rent is the highest Of all
in proportion to what he gets. The tariff
nearly doubles the,cost of clothing. If
he falls into temporary distress we have
patriotic sharks to lend him money at
from to 10 per cent per month. In
every large town the saloon offers him
the only available lounging place. We
have practically no second-class or third
class railway fares between stations. The
people who ride for nothing are gener-
ally the richest in the community. Those
who pay the lowest fares are the next
richest class. The retail fare falls to the
poor man every time. F
"The same hard usage extends to the
poor man in his retail buying. How we
are all swindled in bread and -four has
been shown in these columns. When
cold weather comes it will be proper to
point out the coal swindle. In amajority
of the smaller groceries of this city the
tea which is sold at 20cents quarter OF
pound costs at wholesale not more than
80 cents pound. This same proportion
applies to almost every article of food
supply. Meat, which costs 6 cents a
pound at wholesale. retails at Is to 20
cents. The rule is universal; the retail
buyer is over-charged in price and
cheated in quantity in exact proportion
to the smallness of his purchase.
ut is singular that our people of small
means seem helpless to remedy this evil
for themselves. The simple expedient
of neighborhood club of twenty fami.
lies putting in $5 each and buying bill
of goods at wholesale and afterwards di-
viding pro rata seems to be beyond them.
Yet an hours study of the wholesale
prices will show any intelligent person
that by this mode of purchase he can
save an average of 30 per cent upon his
groceries, and in some lines so per cent,
and at the same time be surer of getting
what he paws for, This mode of saving
is equivalent to an augmentation of
wages" l.
Tariff nearly doubles the cost of cloth
ing" but does tariff double rents? Does
tariff make the value Of money 5 to 10
per cent per month from patriotic
sharks?" Does the tariff prohibit all
''lounging places" except saloons? Does
tariff make low railroad fares for the rich
and high fares for The poor? Does tariff
cause us to be "swindled in bread and
-four ?" Bring on somo other remedy.
Mr.. Melville E. Stone, editor, the tariff
doesn't seem to fit.
Neither, saving 80 per cent on groce-
ries, nor buying in clubs, can protect US
from adulteration. Nor will 'vote for
Cleveland" cure anv of the above evils,
aad Mr.. Stone must be aware of it, too.
Free trade is good, but it cannot cure
everything. Protection" is a bad thug,
but it is not to blame for everything. 1t
is misleading term. Restricted trade"
would be better term to express an
idea opposite to "free trade" "Protec-
ton" has a seductive twang (which
charms the feeced laborer.
The News goes on with the good work
in telling of starving New England
Operatives "The first gun fired by the
protected New England manufacturers
in answer to Blaine's triumph in Ohio
is the discharge of 10000 operatives in the
Fall River Mass. cotton mills, and the
stoppage, indefinitely. of 100000 out
of total of /, 100000 spindles employed
in print goods in that city. These oper
atives must now depend upon the blaze
of the torchlight professions for heat
with which to cook food for their bellies
and to provide warmth for their backs.
ask weeks ago the large Falls cotton
mills, at Norwich, Conn, shut down for
the winter, throwing between four and
five hundred operatives out of work. A
correspondent of the New York Times
saws that six weeks Of idleness has re-
duced most of these persons to distitu-
ton; that for awhile they were allowed
trust" at the company's store, but with
in week or two that source of supply
of absolute necessaries has been cut off.
He adds that what they are to do they