National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-01-12


nocent children of labor: Protection is an
determination. 1t violates the constitution. IL
kills commerce. 1t swamps business. 1t
n makes you poor. IL robs your vito Of her
silk gown and your poor, freezing child of its
n warm blanket" And then an avalanche of
j. S. MOores lying figures are launched at
the poor mans bewildcrcd head to prove 1t.
After a little tho tune changes. Now no is
told that protection is thus bitter because it
is taken directly. Sucked through an incl
dental straw protection is sweet and en-
hilarating 1t goes to the right spot,
and makes the constitution Of the
laborer feel good and braces up the
constitution of the United States.
Mr. Mcdonald sitting in his luxurious
leathcr-covered arm chair, studying the great
question of labor with profound concern as to
its bearing on the next presidential election,
opens volume of Pope to find what nurses
give children when they become fretful, and
learns that they are
Pleased with rattle; tickled with straw,
and says: Now l have it. l will give
these poor children of labor a straw to suck
their protection through. The darlings will
like it taken that way; but taking it directly
from tho bung it impairs digestion and de-
ranges the system. They won't get quite SO
much, but what they do get will be SO
awfully nourishing they will grow fat
| aa mia bat tnl
nance indirectly through the teat" Then
the hilarious statesman lays back his head,
:, laughs, winks, and in an undertone remarks,
I with c.ihCKl5r U.b0t IN, 80 nde-ylish sly"
iRut Jo'ey's slyness all depends upon whether
the laboring men are bigger fools than the
pigs; for the pigs after awhile discover tnaV
good thing taken direct from the trough y,
really more satisfactory than the good thiI NO
taken by the old method, which is only Suited
to pighood in its early stage Of grgenness
should it turn out that tho laborin) 9 men in
this country know less than tTe litters Of
spring pigs the slyness of 10 WHY count :; but
otherwise not. We confidently expect that
the laboring men will PROVE Intensely es wiser
than Mcdonald imaginesThey are.
The philanthropists il urging forward re.
form go to the farmkr and say: Yours is a
dreary and Improbable calling. To farm to
advantage you>must employ labOrers, and
yout whole profit depends on getting hands
for low wages. Before the iniquitous tariff
laws existed farmers could get all the help
they wanted at $40 per month; now they pay
from $50 to $40 per month. There has been
: m average increase of wages of $50 per
month-$24O per year. The moderate farmer
hires ten hands, and their extra pay robs the
farmer of $4,000 every year. Your whole
sales amount to only little moro than that
sum, and so you work from year to year for
your father started you in the calling. Take
: off the tariff and you will save these 81, 400
each year." With as little conjunction as
: the qud of tobacco is wiped round into the
other cheek the philanthropist turns to the
laborer and says: "You are a fool
You worked last year for $50 pei
. month, as you suppose, but really
= you got but 50 per month. Your
(, wages are worth only so much as they
will bring in commodities for which wages
arc exchanged Now, thcre is a tariff of x
per cent or moro on commodities that have
raised their price exactly TO the amount OF
the levy, so that on each months wages S2l
have been taken from you in extra prices
and hence you have actually worked for s.
per month. Take off the tariff and you will
get $50 per month, and soon become an in,
dependent and well.to.do citizen of the great
n republic"
q That there is any incompatibility in tho
4 4 two statements that will be discovered the
n philanthropist never dreams, because wha
he tells to one he carefully conceals from tn,
other. The laboring man ponders n littl
and says: "That sort o looks sc" but, beini
). a ciphering fellow, he takes his pencil
i and after time works out result
q He says: "My father began TO
# himself at twenty.one. There was no II
IS per cent. tariff, and he hired to farmer a
j. $40, average, per month and board, whicl
y made per year the sum of $l2o. 1t cost hin
: for shoes, hats, and clothes, $40; he paid 70
dances, sleigh rides, and fun S25 which LEI
4 him a surplus of $55. The surplus he pu
4 in the savings bank at per cent, and
!. earned him the second year 1915.
). began life at twenty one, under the tarii
d of AZ. lot myself to farmer at $ls, aver
s age per month and board, though now &c
IS $50 at my trade. My wages the first yea
@ were 1916. wore better clothes than m
4 father, but they cost no more, and | WI
}, fairly and handsomely clad for SiOi sper