The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1884-01-30
AN IMPROVED PUBLIC OPINION ON
THE TARIFF,
Cleveland Catholic Universe,

Cleveland Catholic Universe
Tho people at large realize the exist
Ing tarilf TO be IN evil. Even the capt
tai dry'nursed by II seems TO have o
dawning recognition that protection
interference with individual liberty and
the natural laws OF production and trade
causes a business confusion which ia
In the end disaster. Only tho towering
mOnopolists survive the havoc.
Aud the labor which has been termed
protected" has become quite generally
aware that the system which IL the idol
OF exacllng employers IN not one OF
reciprocal advantages TO capital and
labor.
A Pittsburgh dispatch dated the 18th
lust. announces an invention by which
h0bnails hitherto manufactured by hand
can now b0 made by a machine which
with three operators can turn out ton
q day, or the work by hand OF one hun
dred men. Each machine will throw
nlnety'seyen men out Of employment,
Here IL u line chance for u prOlectiOnist
TO inyeigh against this machine ~ de-
sIructlve OF labor. But the protection
ist will only hasten tO get a patent on
| the invention.
Workiugmen perceive that while their
| efforts expended under high tarifl pro.
duce dollars for the employer they re-
turn only cents 10 the employed; and
that the purchasing power Of those cents
| IN scarcely One-halt what IL was under
the free trade tarin that ruled In our
most prosperous years--irom 1916 TO
| 1860.
These workingmen discern that the
cry OF protection TO home industry
carries no protection 10 them; that
home industry Is restricted IN the
practical application 10 the capitalist;
IL not extended to the artisan.
Labor Is not blind TO tho fact that
however a given Industry may profit, the
rate OF wages III that production norm
ally remains the same, II the men
strike, new hands are procured; (4Om0
few OF them, may b., NJ Increased
wages-to DO lowered again when the
difficulty is tlded, and their expert ser.
Vices have been used TO train the green
handsD or the strikers ara compelled by
their necessities 10 submit.
Wages depend upon the demand In
which labor IL held, and the supply In
which IL IL given.
II is AZ curtly ~ vigorously stated by
French operative.
When twi workmon run after n master wares fall
when two masters run after workman wages rlso,
WOrkingmen viii remember which OF
these incidents took place on the Occa.
sion OF the la'e STUBBORN strike OF the
telegraph operators.
Aud the iron wOrkers-am0ng whom
we number q large Intelligent class OF
readers, notably In Cleveland, YOungs-
town, Pittsburgh Wheeling, C0vingtOn,
KY, VIII please observe how, when their
protected masters have drugged the
market In an unnatural, avariclOns
competition, wages are reduced, the la.
boring force Is diminished, or the works
are anmmarily closed aud labor sant 10
the right about, while idle furnaces, no
wealth accrninR to the country there,
limit the supply that byand by the con.
sumer may pay the last larthing Of the
protection toll, the tribute TO the rob.
Der bar0na Of the high tariff.
This closing Of mills, too IL I'm spite
OF previous millionaire profits to the
iron master.
Reflect on the reduced hours Of this
labor, reduced wages, stOppagea, strikes
the arbitrary periods, aud sometimes
methods OF paying hands, with n C0nse.
quent enforced credit system for the
workman'a daily necessafies, aud We
gain u more correct idea than standard
quotations Of the wages OF labor In
these protected industries.
IL " then no surprise that unprOtecl.
cd labor, operating through nnturaland
not artificial channels, shows u greater
annual average OF wages than the cen.
suq places 10 the credit OF protected"
operatives.
The Que stumbling block stIll is the
failure, In many instances, Of the work.
man to recognize that II protection
were withdrawn tomorrow, II will not
lessen the amount OF capital TO employ
labor, nor the desire Of the capitalist 10
Increase his hoard, nor will the absence
OF protection destroy, however II might
change the avenues OF bread earning.
Why, indeed, should hundreds Of thou.
sands annually come 10 this magnIn.
cent country, blessed by God with al.
Inost limitleas resources, II we can moi
prosper without government pap TO
miscnlled "hOme industrIoaY
Better stop immigration II that be the
case, which II IL not, and no longer tax
the American people In general TO sup.
port this foreign influx prccpItated
nto mines and mills aud manuiactOr.
los.
Why should nm impost be levied upon
the masses In favor OF the protected
capitalist 10 pay him the amount Of wa.
ges 0f his men, the Interest on his capI
tai aud u handsome surplus hesIdesY
Relieve the general public Of this
weight Of imposition, the millions we
weekly pay 10 the support Of protected
interests, nnd those millions viii re.
main with ana circulate among the
many, where they Justly belong, who
VIII DO by no much the more able To
provide themselves from the greater
abundance which would ensue with A
constitutional tafiif Of purely illcal dlI.
tlee; thus improving tho labor market
through an increased general demand,
AMI augmenting the honest well.belng
0f all.
The consumer would grow fatter,
though monopoly would giow leaner;
and tho operative class should ever re'
member that In enjoying the personal