The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-08-13
THF TARIFF.
No. 4

what it does. This inquiry is made
| 10 the Tribune almost every day.
Most of the men employed in pro-
tected industries know full well that
they owe much to the tariff-a larg-
Ter demand for their labor, better wa
ges and happier homes. But some
even of these working men do not
see clearly how the system operates.
| On the other hand there are a great
many workers who do not see how
the tariff affects them at all. They
are laborers, porters or clerks In
towns. hands on railroads or II
shops, mechanics in the various
trades, and hands on farms, and
they fail to realize that the system
which lifts the rate Of wages for the
men in various branches Of manu-
facture makes the demand for all la
Dor greater, raises the rate paid for
all labor, and so lifts their wages
also.
For more than quarter OF a cen
tury this question has been thrust
aside in popular discussions. The
Republican party made the tariff in
1861, only one Democrat voting for
il in the Senate, and fourteen against
it; and in the House only two
Douglas Democrats favored the bill,
while all the other Democrats, forty
in number, and only one Republi-
can, voted against it. BY similar
votes many bills ofimprovement or
revision have been past, greatly
strengthening and broadening the
protective system Republicans al
ways supported them, and Demo-
Gratis always opposed them almost
unanimously. At each revision. too,
the Democratic party has fought for
amendments designed to destroy the
efficiency of the system in some par
ticulars. and at times they have sue
ceeded, as they did when the wool
duty was cut down. Every tirae the
Democrats have obtained majority
in the House it has tried to tear
down the tariff. Under the leader
ship of Mr.. Morrison, of Illinois, 1t
made desperate effort in 1876, but
earnest Republican resistance forced
him to abandon his bill. Under the
leadership of Fernando Wood anoth-
er effort was made in 1878, but after
prolonged agitation had greatly pros
trated industry, the bill was finally
killed on motion of General Garfield,
lib Democrats and only Republi-
cans voting for the mischievous bill
I to the end, while l15 Republicans
and only 19 Democrats voted to kill
/ it.
In 1882 the Democrats elected a
great number of members upon dis
tinct pledges that they would vote
to cut down the tariff to a revenue
basis. Last winter, when Congress
assembled, there was a bitter fight
between the extremists, who sup
ported Mr.. Carlisle, and men who
desired more moderate changes, led
by Mr.. Randall. When Mr.. Car
Isle was elected as free-trader, and
selected Mr.. Morrison. with his
known record, as leader of the
House, an agitation began which
speedily prostrated all branches of
industry. Mr.. Morrison soon intro
duced bill which threatened to cut
down duties one-fifth. In effect, if
there was protection enough to Sc
cure wages of 81 per day, Mr.. Morri-
son wished to cut it down SO that it
would secure only so cents per day,
or else close the factories entirely.
This bill, and the alarm about it,
produced such disorder Of industry
that the great manufacturers have not
yet recovered from its effects. 1t
was finally killed May 6, but 152
Democrats and only three Republi-
cans voted for the measure to the
last, while 11S Republicans and Al
Democrats voted to kill it. But the
Il Democrats assented to the plat
form proposed by this same Mr..
Morrison at the Chicago Democratic
National Convention.
Thus it is seen that sharp and
clearly defined issue has been raised
by the Democratic party, whose rep
resentatives have for twenty-three
years sought almost unanimously
to break down and destroy the poll
cy which the Republican party has
adopted. What is that policy, and
how does it affect labor?
All workers know that labor in
other countries is not paid as well as
it is here. But this difference could
not exist, if the products of 50-cent
labor in England or Germany or
Canada could be sold freely in cur
markets instead of the products of
81 labor here. Hence, this country
compels the employers of the 80
cent labor abroad to pay duty for
the privilege of selling their goods
in this market. That duty is called
tariff. Fit is made high enough
to fit the difference IN rate or wages,
so that labor in this country cannot
be degraded toward the level Of sim
liar labor in other countries, it is
called a protective tariff. Such
tariffs a defence of American in
dustry against direct competition
with the under-paid labor of other
countries. But if it is not made
high enough to serve that object, it
is "a tariff for revenue only"-or, in
the language of the latest Democrat
ic platform, taxation for public
purposes exclusively" 1t is taxa
ton which is not intended to help
the laboring people, or to prevent
the depression of wages toward the
level of the overcrowded countries Of
Europe. Y. Tribune.