Lexington weekly intelligencer., 1886-06-05
HOW IS THIS, MR. RANDALL?
From the n. Y. Herald

! We have received a copy of the
memorial OF forty thousand workmen
engaged in textile manufactures in
! Philadelphia asking congress- to make
raw materials duty free and = revise
| the tariff on manufactures.
| This document, of which we publish
ed some parts yesterday, is strong
| presentation of the case of the work.
men, who demonstrate to congress that
| the tariff, while it enriches some of
| their employers, does not "protect"
the operatives, but, on the contrary,
seriously Injuries them. Here is a
statement by these forty thousand
wnrkmen which touches bottom and
deserves the attention OF congress:
1T is lime indeed that this little bug
bear about wages was dropped and the
greater ones about high rates of inter-
est aud profit on capital, the enormous
Tax on raw materials, the high charges
and determinations of the railroads in
transportation, the heavy general tax
alton, the lack of skill and management
and economic administration and the
excessive number of high salaried
bosses in our mills be taken into
account; and 1t will 6e found that in
these combined there is room for a re-
ductIon that vii! aggregate more than
the entire wage account of American
labor and make up more than ten
times over for all the difference there
may be between American and
European wages. AS the law now
stands the tariff tax OH the materials
amounts 10 much more than the wages
paid on the finished fabrics, which
accounts for the enhancement of prices
without a relative compensation to
labor; and hence the possibility of
importing the finished or even partly
finished product at II greater profit than
10 import the materials and have them
manufactured here"
But what is curious to us about this
appeal is that it purports to have been
presented by Hon. A. G. Harmer and
printed at his request" MIR. Harmer,
we find Oh reference to a congressional
directory, is republican member of
the house from Philadelphia. So far,
good; but where was Mr.. Randall, q
democratic member of congress from
Philadelphia, when the workmen of
his city made this appeal? We suppos-
cd Mr.. Randall to be the foremost
friend OF the worklngmen of his city.
How comes il that when forty thousand
Philadelphia wOrkmen appeal to con-
gress for justica it is not Mr.. Randall
who proudly and zealously brings their
appeal TO the attention of the house, of
which he is conspicuous and influen-
tial leader, but that this duty is left to
an obscure member, not even demo-
crat, but republican?
We should nave said with great con-
fidence that when the wOrkingmen of
Philadelphia desired to appeal to con-
gress Mr.. Randall wonld be found
their spokesman, ,and that he would not
only get their appeal printed, but would
lay 1t before the hOuse and demand its
attention TO SO important and able a
document. We are the more surprised
that Mr.. Randall has allowed the
appeal of his Philadelphia fellow citi-
zens for tariff reform to be presented
without good word, or indeed any
word at all, from himself, because we
remember that so long ago as last May
he pledged himself in the Herald to
tariff form in these words:-
"As To the tariff. the administration
should be guided bv the spirit and let (
ter of the utterances of our platform on
this subject, and faithful execution of
those declarations without cavil will
unite our party everywhere and ac>
complish the tariff reform which both
platforms asserted to be necessary.
Changes Occnr in the conditions exist
ing III our country and the countries
with which we exchange productions
more rapidly than is supposed. These
changes must be provided for through
notifications in our tariff laws, and the
best time to make these alterations is
immediately following the information
and results shown by our system of
census returns"
We do not understand Mr. Randalps
silence; nor, apparently, do some of
Phlladelphia's wOrkingmen understand
if, for we have surprising report from
that city that the Samuel j. Randall
Association at a special meeting on
Monday evening determined to change
the name of that club to "The Eleventh
" ard Association on the expressed
ground that Mr.. Randall ''has made
treacherous alliance with the republi-
cans to defeat a reform of the tariff.