St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-02-28
WHY so MANY PEOPLE HANr WORK.

| WHY so MANY PEOPLE HINT WORK.
The San Francisco Examiner says the
problem of how to get work is becoming
every day more difficult of solution to very
large class of the American people. 1t is a
question which appeals almost as seriously to
the industrial economy of the Pacific coast as
it does to the Eastern communities. The
West has larger field inviting development
but fewer established industries than the
East, and consequently the question of earn
ing afving is an important one West as
well as East.
The Examiner has unquestionably stated
facts, and we very naturally inquire for So
luton of the causes which create the diff
Guilty in bread winning. It may be stated
without fear of contradiction that the causes
are due almost entirely, if not a.tog ether, TO
the protective policy inaugurated by the Re-
publican party and maintained by successive
Republican administrations for the last
twenty years. The secretary Of the treasury
in his annual report says that our protected
manufacturing industries are able to produce
as large an amount of goods in six months
as the country can use in one year. lie
mentions those of iron, wool and cotton.
This means that there is only full work for
one-half the people engaged in manufacture
ing, for the protective system with its present
adjustment virtually cuts off markets beyond
our own borders.
If the theory of protection is to prevail in
this country, it is manifestly proper that it
should be impartially applied. If one man
is to be protected in the product of his CAPT
tai, another who has the labor should also be
/ protected in that. Otherwise the government
| simply discriminates in favor of individuals
or classes, and is bound eventually not only
to enrich one man or class at the expense OF
another, but to provoke just and loud com
plant from those who are sighted or op-
pressed. Just here has been the trouble all
the time with the Republican tariff system.
The tariffs have not been impartially and
justly applied.
If every business or occupation could be
| equally protected there would be no particu-
lar injury inflicted upon any class by the
protective system. But that is the trouble
and always will be, as long as the present
system prevails. For instance take the far
mer. The product Of his labor and capital
cannot be protected because we import 10
wheat or corn. To protect all others aud not
him is to rob him for the benefit Of the rest
| He is levied upon for the benefit of his
manufacturing neighbor, and he is taxed to
prevent that neighbor from having any COM
petition while ne himself is exposed to any
amount of il.
And so it is with laboring classes. For the
| groceries they consume, for the clothes they
wear, for the stoves they use to cook their
frugal meals, in fact everything they have or
use is taxed to protect others, but the COM
modify they deal in-labOr-is not protected
at all. The labor of the worlln gman is his
stock in trade and he is entitled to get just
as much for it as he can, just as the manu-
facturer is entitled to get the best prices for
/ his fabrics, and he is fully as much entitled
/ to have his stock protected as the latter is.
There is a great deal depending upon a
proper solution of this question of tariff
adjustment There is not so much objection
to protection as there is to governmental
Partially in adjusting it. If home labor
could be protected by tax upon imported
labor, whether it comes under contract or
not, we would be able to sift our immigration
and secure only the best class of workers and
keep out European paupers and many of
Europe's criminals. And then if we could
fall upon some device by which the agricul-
tural classes could be protected we could get
along swimmingly under protective system.
As it is the situation is not satisfactory and
ought not to remain. If let alone, as
the Examiner suggests, it will grow
worse and anarchists and socialists will null
| tiply. "When men are idle the devil is busy"
is an old and very true proverb, and If We
want to avert the social dangers which men
ace the country there should be equity in
governmental policy and something provided
to give laboring men employment. The
Democratic party policy of tariff reform would
! benefit all classes, and is the only remedy
for our social, commercial and financial
troubles. 1t is the only policy that will do
| justice to all classes.