Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1884-08-22

ement of protection by tariff taxation i.
necessary to preserve the present rate o
wages paid to manufacturing labor in thi.
country, it is sufficient perhaps to refer &c
the views upon this subject of Mr.. Henry
George, who, himself selfeducated work.
lngman, has, in his book. progress and
Poverty" made an exhaustive investiga
ton from the workingman's stand point
of the theory of wages and the cause of in
dustrial depressions. This work has
teen much commended for its force, origi-
nality and logic by the leading journals OF
the country, including many that are com
PEELED by party interest, against their bet
ter judgment, to advocate the flimsy pro
tective fallacy. While Mr. George,in point
ing out the remedy to industrial depres-
arrives at conclusions, to say the least,
quite in advance of the present age, he has
certainly brought very remarkable ability
and learning to the discussion of the ques-
ton. He is generally recognized as the
leading spirit among the workingmen of
the present day, far better qualified by OBJ
servation, education and integrity of char
acter to be such than the false and empty
old pretender, Ben. Butler.
Mr. George utterly repudia'es the pro-
tective system all the way through his
book as means Of ameliora,iag the con-
dition of the laboring classes. In his
caaons of taxation he lays it down that
taxes should be so levied as ''to take from
tho people as little as possible in addition to
'ohat it yields to the government" and that 1T
bear equally, 20 as to gioe no citizsn an adcan-
tdye orput any at q disadcantags as compar-
ed Nth Others" At page 27O he says
"But social distress is still largely attri-
buted to the immense burdens which ex-
listing governments impose-the great
debts, the military and naval establish
ments, the extravaganza which is charac-
teristic as well of republican as of monar-
chical rulers, and especially characteristic
of the administration of great cities. To
these must be added in the United States,
the robbery inroloed in the protective tariff,
'ohich, for ecery taoenty.1foe cents it puts in
The treasury, takes a dollar, and it may be
four or .1fce, out Of the pocket Of the consumer.
Now THERE SEEMS TO BE AN EVIDENT CON-
BETWEEN THE SUMS THUS TAKEN
FROM THE PEOPLE AND THE pRIvATIoNs OF
THE LOWER CLASSES"
Thus does this enlightened and honest
advocate of the cause Of the American la
boring men not only fail to find in the
onerous protective laws any real benefit
10 the poorer classes, but on the other
hand he recognizes and declares, as all
honest MN of intelligence must, that these
avs are direct cause of the privations
Of the lower classes. Mr. George fails to
discover any antagonism between the well
being of the mechanical and agricultural
aborers whereby the one should be made
o bear burden without compensation
or the benefit of the other; but very ra-
ionally and legitimately discovers COM
nunlty of interest between all toiers,
gricultural, mechanical and otherwise in
'nsequence of which such legislation as
8 onerous upon one class is necessarily
oppressive to all. He, in common with
il other honest and enlightened econo- :
nists of the present day, recognizes that
he better wages paid to agricultural la .