The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-10-11
action Of .he Republican parry, sided BY very

few Democrats from manufacturing districts
1t is demonstrated by the history of all nations
that a high tariff encourages manufacturing and
serves TO educate the people in landicraft: and
that the building of manufactures in any conn-
try tends to make wages high and the price of
manufactured products low. Macaulay, the En-
Rllsh historian, says that In lS48 the time he
wrote. wages in England were more than double
what they were in 1855, when England began TO
be great manufacturing country; and further
more, that all kinds of manufactured goods and
wares were not only cheaper in 1913 than in 1855,
but much better. Precisely such has been the
course of things in this country. From the
time that great genius in statecraft, Alexander
Hamilton, demonstrated the utility of protec-
ton. and secured the passsge of our first tariff
laws, wages have been steadily increasing here
and the prices of manufactured products have
been as steadily going down: and thus has the
laboring been doubly benefited by
the policy of protection. His wages have
been greatly increased, and at the
same time the necessaries and comforts of life
nave been so cheapened as to come within the
reach of all. A hundred years ago an overcoat
was a luxury that who depended
wages could afford. Now good overcoat
be bought with a weeks labor. A young mar
rico couple can now purchase an entire OUTFIT
for housekeeping with what clock cost in 1856
AND the wife can 90 TO the most stylish enter
talnment, dressed the height of the fashions if
she will do her own sewing. in garb that costs
less than calico dress pattern did In the days
when we had no manufactures, and depended on
foreigners for our supply. The houses OF indus
trious and frugal mechanics better, and bet
ter furnished to-day. than the houses of any but
the exceptionally wealthy were hundred years
ago. All the vast Improvement in the condition
OF laboring people is attributable to the steady
growth of manufactures and the steady develop
ment of the mechanical ingenuity of the coun
try
The present is the most inopportune time that
could be found TO abandon the policy of protec
tiop, as the Democratic party insists we shall
do. For thirty years we have been greatly slim
ulating agriculture. The government has. been
giving farms to ali who would accept them; and
by railroad grants have been building rail-
roads to the new farms in every part of the
West, so that now the five States of Kansas,
Nebraska. Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are
sending more wheat to market than all the
States in the Union did thirty years ago. This
longcontinued encouragement to agriculture
has served to elut all the markets of the world
with the products of the farm. Our agricutu-
raj have far outgrown our manufacturing in
dusJries. AS remedy for the inequality in the
growth of these industries we need more
protection, not less and to this end we
should increase rather than diminish our tariff
rates. If we are collecting too much revenue,
as some contend. let us shut out by higher
duties. part of the foreign goods and wares
upon which we are collecting revenues, and thus
give the benefit of our markets to home capital
and home labor.
Governor Gray. in late speech at Logans-
port, which has been published as a campaign
document says:
''Mr Blaine, the great national leader of the
Republican party, cites the increase of mann-
features since 1861. and attributes the increase
to the working of the present tariff. sufficient
answer to this is the fact the percentage of in
crease in the number of manufactures and
manufactured goods. and the increase of wages
under the tariff of 1916, before the war.
was greater than under the present system" 1t
is but justice to Governor Gray to say that he is
not the author OF this ingenious sophistry. and
that if he had given it moments thought he
never would have repeated it.
Its utter absurdity may be easily illustrated
Here is a tree which is 1Qoayears old. The year
it came from the seed it grew one inch in diane
ter. The second year il grew another inch in d.
ameter or. in other words, it gained 100 per
cent The third year it grew another inch in d.
ameter, bat, instead of gaining 100 per cent of
its then size, it gained only so per cent. The
fourth year it grew another inch. but, instead of
increasing 90 per cent. the increase was only %
per cent. The fifth year it grew another inch.
but the increase was only 123 cent. of its then
size. Now, while the actual growth of the tree
was the same every year, there was decrease,
In regular geometrical progression. in the per-
centage of growth; that the tree. during the
last fifty years of its life, increased only so per
cent While the per cent. of increase during
the last fifty years was only as
much as the per cent of increase
crease was fifty times as great. But. according
to Governor Gray's arithmetic. the tree increased
in size just as much during the second year as it
did during the last fifty years, because the per-
centage of growth was the same in the two Pc
RODS. The sophistry is in confoundlng the per-
centage of growth with the actual growth when
the two widely different
To illustrate further. son is born when the
father Is twenty five Zines as old as the son.
Now, when the son gets to be twenty five years
ola, the father will De fifty; but instead of be-
ing twenty five times as old as the son. he will
be only twice old According to this Demo
cratic arithmetic the son has somehow been
growing old much faster than mis- father The
percentage in tho increase of the sons age has
been greater than the percentage of increase
10 the fathers age, so that according to Govern
or Grays method of calculating the boy will be
a hundred years old when his father arrives at
seventy-fve. When party leaders resort to such
iugglery with figures to misead the people, is it
not time to suspect their gAod intentions?
CRAwFoRDsvILLE. Oct. 6. P. s. KENNEDY.