Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-09-06

And the most certain Law Of this rise and
EalI Of tie currency is-thst. wages are the
6rst to fall and the last to rise, and al
other interests are In Ike manner ipJu-
riously affected. When the tariff Is high
and tie circulation Is low the prices Of all
things, including labor, viii be regulated or
ruled by the scarcity Of the circulation or
money. Such a tariff in any honest or
economic sense of the word Is not protee-
ton; il is absolutely or unquah-
fed prohibition, where all other
interests laborers, mechanics, agr-
eulturits, and all consumers, are, by lniquit,
GUS law, tributaries to an unduIJ favored
ana fostered class, IL such q tariff could De
literally enforced. This is the harvest OF
smugglers and the time of universal
nlnnder of the revenue, on the whole hne
of our boundaries, by which men who dis
rseard all laws make their il-gotten gains
from those who themselves are protected By
pnipst laws. When the tariH IS high and
he circulation is high all prices are adj
vanced. and in the present state oil our man
ufacturing facilities competition brings our
production, and over-production produces
those results which are so disastrous to the
capitalists and the employees, and which ends
in temporary or long-continued stagnation,
rvipous TO an the interests Of the country.
AGAIN. where the tariff is low aud the clrcu-
Iaiion is high, the foreign manufacturer can
send in his goods and wares, sell at the ad-
yapeed prices, and take home a -emunera-
tive profit. This is no benefit to our labor,
for il brings our labor into direct competi-
ten with foreign labor, and all other classes
Of our people are subjected to the increased
prices for both the home laborer aud the
foreign capitalist. This may be attempted
to be remedied by the employees entering
into leagues and combinations. This can
have but little avail on the general result
II the prices Of all the candidates are In
creased BY the high tariff and the high
prices of our labor, still the foreign manu-.
iacturer can make his importations, pay the
duties. and take home the difference between
the foreign labor and our own prices OF
manufactured articles as the exact amount
of bis own profit. Besides, these leagues
are only partially practicable, when there
ia not an excess of labor. When there Is
an excess of home labor the laborers them
selves will come into competition with each
other. and then we will have those outburstS
which the law cannot recognize as legal
for the law must protect the rights Of all
labor. In this sense all men stand equs!
before the law, and it cannot recognize the
right Of any body Of men to resort to force
to maintain their own special advantage
over another body who have the same "a
tionsl and legal rights as themselves. So
again, when the tariff is high and wages are
high, and when tariff is high and labor is
scarce, the cumulation of wealth and Of a
certain kind of enterprise occasion not only
the introduction of foreign labor but the in
Tention and Improvements of machinery
and processes by which tens Of hundreds oil
thousands of laborers are supplied or art
displaced, production multiplied, and tn,
competition Of those retained Increased
Gotten and iron and steel exemplify thi,
law OF action. The population Of the wOrln
could not do the work BY hand that is uOU
done BY the cotton machinery Of the United
States.
The increase ofthe ls5oring population i
the increase ofits own competition, aud tn
immigration multiplication of foreignlabo
tend rapidly to break down these selfPrO
tecting societies OF the various classes
employees So it is seen that such comb
nations do not benefit the agricultural, thu
large body Of unskilled workmen, nor the
children Of the skilled workmen, who ART
thus born into the law OF competition which
is so unusual that the conditions in one
country affect the conditions in another
So we End that there are great general laws
which govern all our movements, and our
duty is 10 understand them and so modify
and apply them that all shall have their
rights, and that there shall Oe the least pos
sible injustice TO any.
A SOUND CURRENCY Is THE BASIS or SOUND
TARIFF.
The FIRST question to be considered in
levying tariff is, What is the state Of the
currency? If it is huctuating currency
one that can De expanded and contracted
at the will Of those capitalists who have the
currency under their control land who are a
separate class ofcapitalisIS, there can be no
permanent and fixed rates of duty on i'm
portations for there can be no fixed values
of anything-labor or the productions OF
labor. lands cultivated or lands or house
in the market. The revulsion from re
dundant currency places eyerylhiug-labor
and property-at the mercy ofthese curren
CIV manipulators. | have known property
70 sell at one-tenth Of its price, under such
reyulsion, Of what was the market value
when the currency was inflated. These
men can initiate or contract the currency as
NAV suit their interest as such class. They
can by such infa'ions and reductions
change prices, and speculate in all things
rs they speculate in stocks, and in the vol
umes of gold, silver and bank notes, in the
labor OF the country and in the productions
Of the farmer and in the prices Of property.
7 his was fully shown in the history Of the
| ank of the United States, when, in 1887
or 1888, without any assignable cause other
Il an its own action, in hostility to the then
Administration, to produce a panic, it re-
dueed the price of wheat, by the reduction
e the currency, from eighty cents to thirty
even cents per bushel / speak from ex-
reIienee and observation. No tariff would
fe Of any avail against such a power over
lie currency 1t is true there is now no
Pank ofthe United States to carry on po-
itical warfare, and our currency is sounder
snd better, but still capital can be massed
against the labor and agricultural interests
Of the country. and We are on the eve OF
trying the problem of fusion between the
Greenbacker and the Republican. TIE
inst step, then, in the imposition of tariff
is q sound and satisfactory state of the cur
rency-one which will be as uniform as the
condition Of human affairs will permit.
there can be no fusion Of a Greenback
want of principle on the subject Of the
cuerencv with a Republican claim of q
permanent tariff and sound currency that
all give either soundness or uniformity to
the currency
An lLLINITABLg CURRENCY.
An illimitable currency is the first step
toward confusion in the finances, disorder
in prices, uncertainty in employments, dis
ssters in the general business which shall or
may so become the football of politicians
and the machine movement of the specta-
tors. Can the Greenbacker and Republican
both be honest and economic supporters Of
the truth in politics and both pull at the
same end Of the roper An ilimitable cur
reney is the first step towards national in
pnlvapcv for ~ Tiara "a MT q firm, ,,nu,ar oc