Daily Republican., 1884-04-22
How lt II in Dunde &c.

some time ago we referred 10 tne lnl-
poverished condition of the working
people of Dundee, Scotland, which We
attributed to the results of free trade.
There are still those who recollect that
we were taken sharply to task by a
correspondent who contradicted what
we asserted but did not succeed in
proving that we made misrepresenta-
ton. Since then the Philadelphia
Press seems to have fallen into the
same channel we pursued and has met
with contradictions of the same char
acter we met with, but its accuser is a
paper called the Scottish American,
which seems to be devotedly attached
to the Democracy of this country and
consequently has strong leaning to
the side of free trade. The Press, like
on urselves, referred to the impoverished
condition of those laborers employed in
the jute manufactures of Dundee and
received from the Scottish American,
paper published in New York the fol-
lowing curt answer
What demands our ttention is simply the
untruthful and scandalous libel which our
contemporary indulges in against Dundee.
We uuhesitatingly assert that the stateme It's
are grossly unIue-there are not " several
t1ousAn old houses, many Of which are unfit
for habitation :" in Dun dee; nor does power
" and misery abound in these nests Of filth
and wretchedne' So neither is there shadow
of truth Ia the statement that ait is no un'
Common thing lor peop,e to die literally OF
starvation IN these ;enements.' We defy
our contemporary to adduce vestige OF
proof IN support Of his allegations. Evi
IDENTIFY our contemporary never was In Dun
dee, and never heard either Of its own special
act, or Of the general police act or of the
public hea tn &c which prevents any such
dwellings being occupied, supPosine they ex
listed. whi e the charitable provisions for the
poor are so libersl and abundant as to rendel
It impossib that 1t can be common thing
for pesple to die OF starvation in Dundee ol
in any part o. scott nd
To this unwarranted attack the Pres:
gave the recital Otan eyewitness who
lived in Dundee and knew that wha
he said was true, just as we gave th'
recital of an eye witness, sometime ago
to prove that what we said was true
but whether the Scottish American
will be so etftctually squelched by tn
answer aS was our accuSer by the an
swer of our infOrman', remains to
seen. The Informal OF the Pres says
ScOuringburn, Gin Dundee) the opera
tive quarter OF tn" city, contains hur
dreds of houses totally unfit for habita
tion. They are low gray stone building
with but one room on floor and win
dowS abont two feet square Some O
them which l entered fairly reeke
with filth and I actually found in on
whole family living like animals o
the bare ground. On a couple of board
in the corner, covered with the vile,
rags, the mother lay dying. the ma
told me literally of starvation. An
yet this was within two rods of the p'
lice station. The room in which | wi
messed this scene faced public tho
oughfare.
1t was lower than the street, and 4
the life of the poor starving creature o
the floor was ebbing the slime from II
drains oozed through the walls of tn
cellar habitation and dropped in
thick pool in the corner.
/ visited at least a dozen houses
this vicinity and found the inmates
a similar state of misery and wan
Some had been factory hands. and som
were laboring men, who said it W
impossible to get work even at 60.
and S3 week. They paid about tif'
cents a week rent for the dens they i
habited, and lived principally up'
bread. The houses of the more thrift
operators | found to be fairly comtol
able, but not comparable with those
Paisley"
Here is the picture Of the po
erty that must ensue If free trade TAX
place in this country, in nut shell
There is no doubt whatever that Il
deploraDle misery was the result of fl
trade. If it was not, why are not !
borers in this country in the same il
poverished condition With su
dwellings and such wages, how c
anything else than the most ahj'
soualid poverty be expected? W
are laborers more poorly paid in FL
land and Scotland than in the Unit
States? Because they have to
ground down below the starvation poi
in order to enable foreign manufacture
to compete with the protected ind'
tries of the United States.
Protection alone prevents labor FRI
being as poorly paid in America as
Dundee Remove this protection Il
then WE will not have to 90 to Dune
to find such squalid scenes Of povel
and misery. Do the working pro
of this country understand this
they do not, they should make the
selves acquainted with the subject
fore, by their blind adhesion to par
thew bring Dundee to their doors.
THE scarecrow of the Democrats
beginning to show itself. The work.