Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-10-20


cratic party favors tarlff for revenue
oniy; that IL a tariff to raise money with
which 70 carry on this government, and
they distinctly repudiate the fight Of the
government 20 levy taria on any mans
business for the purpose Of building MP
some other mans business. That Is the
sort Of tariff we have to-day. Our total
money circulation is about 3 / 800, 900 ,000,
and OF this S6e9, 900 900 Is locked up In
the national treasury. Under our present
protective tariff, this government is col
iecting annually from the people OF the
country between S98, 100000 and $780,
600, 600 IN excess Of al its requirements,
and that enormous sum goes every year
to swell the amount OF our circulating me-
dium now locked up and withheld from
circulation. Ever since the war the Dem
ocratic party has been demanding re-
duction Of this tariff. They have steadily
held to the doctrine that there is no au-
thority given to the general government
by the constitution To tax the people u
raise money for any other purpose than
the economical administration Of the
government. on the other hand the Re.
publican party has held that the general
government can collect money from the
people, not only 10 put into the treasury
10 NhIIH OH NIC hAt NAAk aNA
can levy this tax TO produce a surplus for
the protection OF the manufacturers In
this country against foreign competition
The pretext under which the Republican
party ieyies this tax is for the protection
OF American labor against foreign com
petition. That is their pretense. Now,
because l can present the question more
briefly by reading from u
speech that made in 1882
in the United states Senate, will read Il
proposition IN that speech, to which in
wife your attention.
"The cost OF any common article Of
manufacture Is made up chiefly OF three
items, material, labor and capital. Flo.
the chief articles Of manufacture, unless
II be wood and raw silk, the raw maia.
rial can be had as cheaply, II not at a
lower price in this country than In any
other, aud no protection Is required
therefore for the raw material. This is
notably true Of cotton and iron, and
capital is now about as cheap in this
country as 1t Is in Europe, and II will
continue TO grow cheaper, for at no distant
day the coin balance Of the world will be
regulated from this country as the center
Therefore, the chief need OF protection, II
any exist, is against the cheap labor Of
other countries, and am free to say that
l hope II win always be the boast OF our
country that our laboring classes are
better paid than the working people OF
any other country. Labor, however,
forms but portion Of the cost of manu-
PICTURES, and in most cases but a small
fraction. have before me table pre-
pared by the present commissioner OF
the mint, Mr., Burchard, republican,
giving the proportionate cost of labor in
most of the leading articles Of manufac-
ture in this country, from which II APP
pears that in textiles in general, labor
constitutes but l0l per cent. Of their
cost, material 621 per cent. In cottons,
labor IL 22 per cent, material, 68 per
cent. In woolens, labor is Ia per cent;
material, 90 per cent. In silks, labor T.
l6 per cent; materials, Ga per cent. IN
steel, labor 10 II per cent? materials, 3S
per cent?
From this II will be observed that 90
per cent Is the highest proportion OF
labor expended in the manufacture OF any
Of these articles, so that a tariff OF % per
cent. will not only protect the American
laborer against the difference in the
price Of his labor and that
Of his foreign competitor In the
WAKE ulhIktE Vi Llt MOElNf UuL VIII more
than cover the total cost Of the labor en-
tering into the production of manufac-
tured articles In this country. The great
est difference, however, in the price OF
labor in this country and in foreign cnun-
tries is one-half, while the difference be-
tween the wages paid in this country and
those paid by our chief competitor, as
well MS our chief consumer, is but one
third. Therefore, my fellow citizens, a
tariff levied for the protection OF the
American laborer alone, need not exceed
10 per cent. OF the cost Of the manufac-
tured product. tariff of 10 per cent
would be highly protective, and whep
this is increased to 30 or 25per cent, any
fair-minded man Will agree that to exact
more would be robbery Of the consumer.
The Republican party, In their state and
J national platforms, declare In favor OF a
! protective tariff, they say for the protec-
| ton of labor. The highest amount of
labor that enters into any article that is
manufactured Is % per cent, as compared
with capital and material, and that is IN
| the manufacture OF cotton, so that tariff
averaging 22 per cent. will pay back to
the manufacturer even In that highest OF
all articles manufactured, In the ratio OF
labor employed, all the money paid GU,
for labor; whereas, they profess that they
want only the difference botweenAmerican
and English labor, and American labor Il
about one-third higher than English
Notwithstanding this, however, we have
tarif averaging from 45a 20 47A PEI
cent, and II Is claimed by the Republican
party that even this ought to be In
creased for the protection OF the American
laborer. Now, that is the fraud that thai
party is perpetrating upon the people Of
these United States in the matter oil
the tariff. They collect sos geo, 00t
annually, more than Is needed tC
carry on the government, and thS
Democrats ever since the war, In season
and out OF season, have struggled for II,
reduction, and have been defeated by this
Same Republican party, which Indepen
dehtism In all It's forms is aiding
! TO THE EXTENT or ms ABILITY.
Now, desire TO call your attention tC
another fact. nave a statement her,
taken from the census OF 1850, showing
the ayocations Of all the people OF thi,
country. That census showed tota
population in these United States Of 80,
1885, sS. OF this total, the whole number
OF persons engaged in all kinds OF gaintu
occupations was 1899, 099. The balanc,
were women and children and those OF tn,
male population who were not engaged IL
gainful occupations. The subdivisions o.
these occupations are as follows En-
gagged In agriculture, the greatest interes
of this state, of the South and OF tn,
"A. ~ ~ IA. "A