Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-04-06
FACTS FOR WA0EEARNERS
What Protection has done nnd il Do
ing fer WorkinRmen.


A"''i AN'i''ii ifNoh''f i''1N'i'
The result Of the adoption aud manten-
ance Of the protective system has blessed
this country far beyond the widest dream
or fondest hope of a Hamilton or a CLAY.
Sir, its influence has not been To establish
and cherish monopolies but aided and sec
onded by that wise provision Of the consti-
tuition which conferred upon Congress the
right TO secure TO authors and inventors
for limited period, the exclusive owner
ship of what they produce, our industries
have been multiplied TO- 80, 100 yea, 1000
| fold This seems startling and yet it is
strictly true. Within my lifetime the in
ventive genius of my countrymen has pro-
! duced and given 10 the world over 800, 600
new and useful Improvements in machin-
cry and other agencies and instrumentalities
used in providing and enjoying the neces-
saries and comforts Of life. a large per-
ccntage Of these represent new industries
and although it was thought by many and is
still believed by some that these improved
machines and agencies would reduce the
salary of the wage worker, the exact re-
verse is true. Invention has multiplied our
industries indefinitely, and the number Of
/ employees has increased with the multipl-
cation Of those industries. A higher order
of skill has been demanded and obtained
! An increase of wages has been the result:
the prices Of the necessaries Of life reduced.
and concurrently with all this, the comforts
and coveniences Of every home have been
increased
But, says the free trader all this would
have been present with us in the absence
Of the protective system, which is to say
we would have had an abundant harvest
without sowing the seed What gave rise
to our numerous plants and manufacturing
establishments! The hope of remunerative
profit We have seen, and the history of
our country abundantly attests, that the re-
muneratiye profit was out of the question
without protective system, and for reasons
. already adverted to. The development Of
our industries in the presence of the patent
law quickened the inventive genius of our
people. ! am not required to stand here
and philosophize about it in order to get at
the truth. The record is made up and
speaks for itself and shows that in the mat
ter OF progressive development in the in
dustral arts and practical and useful sci
ences, the United States has accomplished
more since the Inauguration Of the protec-
tive policy, which made us practically indie
pendent OF the older nations, than had been
accomplished by the whole world during
the 10 centuries preceding England, France
and Germany had abundance Of capital, es-
tablished plants and skilled labor, with vast
resources to develop. The record discloscs
the progress made.
The growth OF our industries has been as
follows: From l1S1 to 1860, being % years
the showing stood in round numbers: Pop
ulation, 81 O0O, 900; establishments, l4O, 900,
capital, Sl,OlO, 900, 900: hands employed
300, 900; wages, 1919 600 600; cost of ma
terials, 81, ,O32 900, 900; value Of products
l,35j, 900 900. Whatever degree of pros
perity this represents in matter Of growth
and deyelopment,it had such impetus as the
jefferson embargo could tender-a tariff
for revenue most of the time, a protective
tariff for term Of years, the fabulous
yield of the precious metals in California
and the demand created by the European
war. Up to 5000 years-the invent
i've genius Of the country had taken out 30.
j99 patents, while from 1860 to 1SS1-21
years-there were issued 81 ,696 patents
for new devices and improvements in ma
chinery, etc, used in the industrial arts
and sciences. For moment look at the
evidence of growth and progress in the in
dustrial arts under the influence of a pro
nounced protective system, inaugurated in
the midst of a terrible domestic war, which
drew upon the resources of the country for
men and material in degree unexampled
/ Here is the showing for single decade
10 years of protection:
Population, b, 600, 900 % per cent in
crease over 1900; establishments. 2j2, 600:
capital, -, l1S, OOO, 900: hands employed .
O55, 900; average wages for each year, $40
OOO,OOO cost of material, 50 4S3, 900; pro-
ducts, 81, 232 ,OO0, 900 Thus during 3
years, population had grown 10 81 900, 0O0
and in the ensuing 10 years increased T.
oOO,O 600 or p per cent Now note the de
velopment during the years from 1860 to
lS1O-practically six years. if we leave out
the period of the war. The number of
manufacturing establishments grows from
10000 in 1860 10 2J0, 900 in 1870. the cap
ital invested from 81 ,009, 600, 900 TO y. 11S.-
OOOO 900, average wages paid, from 1873,
600, 900 TO S176, 600 900; cost of materials
used from 81 ,OS2 900, 600 to s.. ABB. 600. e.
900; and products from 81 $50, 600, 900 to
81, 232 ,OOO, 900; the wages per capita in
creased from S2S3 in 1860 to S311 and S34G
per annum in 1870 and 1880 and the av-
erage product of the labor of each employe
was Sl43S in 1860 as against $1,000 in 1870,
and 1870 in 1850. Thus 1t is seen that,
while the increase of population was 1000, o.
900, an increase Of about - per cent, the
increase of manufacturers establishments
was over 80 per cent; the increase Of num-
ber of hands employed over 81 per cent
and the value Of products considerably
over 100 per cent In 1850 the wage work
er, including boys and girls, got $50 more
wages per annum than he did in 1860 that
a dollar would buy more of the necessaries
of life than at any other period thereto, and
beyond this the workmen turned out more
and better work, and in fewer hours, and
with vastly less wear and tear of the phys
ical man. Each home contained double the
comforts in 1880 that it did in 1860.
Among other results accomplished which
tended to bring about the prosperous con
ditions have mentioned, were the cheap
ening Of transportation, the increase of ia
cilities for the transaction of business, so
that it occurred in 1880 the gross profit of
the manufacturer was reduced more than
a third, while his net profit remained sub
stantially undiminished by reason of the
Larger business transacted, and the better
facilities for transacting that business.
But when it is considered, further, that
these results have been contemporaneous
with an advance in the wages of labor, and
that wages are now about 80 per cent.
higher than they were before the high tar
if period began, it seems to me that no one
not utterly blind can fail to recognize the
advantages to the people of our protective
tariff system. Three factors in the found
ing and establishment of our industries
have been substantially eliminated. We now
have the capital and hence the plants and
industrial establishments. We have work
men of skill equal to any in the world. But
there remains one factor which we cannot
eliminate, and against the hurtful influence
of which we must provide. 1t is the differ
exec in wages The wage workers Of Eu-
rope, with whom our own enter the field as
competitors in the markets, are underpaid
They do not sustain such relation TO tLeil
government as enables them to redres,
their grievances. They are in many cases
mere human machines, little better than
beasts of burden. They toll and toll on,
and the product of their labor is sent into
markets of the world.
l say to the wage workers of New Eng
land Do not worry about the philosophy
but stand by your bread and meat and the
means TO obtain il. If the conditions here
are not better than they are across the wa
ter land with those conditions you have tC
deaD, it is very strange that from every
nation of the Old World, TO escape sur
roundings which our free-trade friends de
scribe as admirable, thousands are cominl
to the United States TO enjoy the conditions
which the same gentlemen so greatly de
plore Certainly there is something sug
gestive in this. Let our opponents phioso
phize and grow thin, while we remain prac
tical and grow fat
A Hint TO Wives.
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