Delaware gazette and state journal., 1884-01-31
A rirrsBURG yANUFAorURHR
Gives His Views Upon the Relations
of Farm ana Free Trade.

New York Herald interview.
Henry S. MoKss, OF Mckee & Brolbers,
said to the CORE. poudelt, referring to
the tariff question:
"We bave tatiii ( 40 per cent. ou
our goods, and M care how soon 1t
is taken eff. Oar mecliaery ia 20 per
foot, our produo. / 80 great and our men
are 20 quick TO make improvements in
our methods that | hava nothing 10 fear
from the competition Of the rest OF the
world. The labor unions have tried to
dictate terms to employers regarding
wages, but they can ney or succeed. The
question of their wages will be- ultim ately
settled by the law OF supply and demand.
The union keeps wages uniform over
given section, but it can never secure
higher wages than manufacturers oau
afford to give.
'If we had free trade to morrow the
laborer would get less wages, but the
cost OF his living would go down too. His
advantage would, however, spring mainly
from the fact that his work would be
more steady. And yet the lsborers, in a
blind way, all play into the hands of the
high protectionists, although by 80 doing
they only get apparently high wages,
with very precariOus hours OF work. The
best evidence that We do not want pro
lection Is that my firm is to-day shipping
to all corners of the world, from Australia
to Germany"
Speaking as an iron and steol mau,"
said he, 81 ain perfectly willing to let the
tariff remain ss it is; but as a citizen of the
United States | cannot but feel that it IL
an injustice to the country aud posi-
tive harm. This district here is dyed in
the wool protection, aud yet should not
be surprised, If things 60 on as they are
now going, to find this very city the CEN
tre of free trade agitation"
"Why so f''
'This tariff question has never been
discussed among us. We are protec-
tionists simply because we have been told
80 over and over again. Workingmen
think that high wages come from pro-
lection =; the retail dealers think they are
prosperous ss long as lsborers have lots
to spend the manufscturers think that,
on the whole, things are about as we'll as
they can be-in fact, they take the
present condition OF things to be the
natural one. Why, you can't find a
preacher, school teacher or profess
sional man OF any kind that doesn't
swear by high tariff None OF these
people can figure it out honestly for you.
They always sentimentalize about pro-
teuting infant industries' and keeping off
the 'pauper labor of Europe, but they
never will take out pencil and paper and
figure up what the results would bs if
we had no tariff at all.
1--WE have got to point in our indus
trial history when we must find an out
let for our surplus manufactures. Our
physical resources are the finest in the
world. England cannot approach us in
the wealth which nature has given us.
We have here altogether the most perfect
machinery known to manufacture In
the steel industry we are far ahead of
England in our capacity to produce the
finished article with the minimum manual
labor"
"What inhueucs would the tariff have
on steel manufacturers %
"Whoever would get squeezed, Pitts
burg would not ba the first TO suffer. We
might stop work for eome tims until
things generally come down to sold
level, but when they did come down We
would have cheaper ores cheaper cost Of
living, aud IN consequence cheaper labor.
We would then manufacture successfully
again and give steGdier work than under
tariff tbat makes the trade subject to
enormous ups aud downs. Some Of the
poor factories would be wiped out Of ex-
isteHce, but the country can spare them.
| However, even II the government bought
them ont aud shut them up, the people
would be the gain5rs in the long run.