West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1888-06-15
TO woRKrNGMEN.

levied on imports for the purpose of
increasing the price of certain com
modities in our own country so that
the home producers ofsuch commod.
tiles can get higher prices for what
they sell to their fellow-countrymen.
Protection can't enable any Amer
lean producer to get higher prices
for what he sells to people Of other
countries, and no duty is protective
unless it so increases prices as to
enable some emo to get more from
his fellow citizens than he could
without protection. How protect
ion" may thus benefit some people is
perfectly clear. But how can it ben
eft the whole people ? That it may
increase the profits of the manufac-
turer is plain. But hoW can it in
crease wages ? Protection" raises
the price of commodities. That
may be to the advantage of those
who sell labor and buy commodi-
ties p
Never mind the confusing claims
that are put forth for protection un-
til you can see hoc it can do what
is claimed for it.
Ask yourselves what protection
is and how it operates, and you will
see that the only way it can benefit
any one, is by enabling him to get
from his fellow citizens more than
he could otherwise get This is the
essence of protection; and If it has
any stimulating or beneficial effect
it must be through this. The pro-
tective effect of any protective duty
is precisely that of a subsidy paid
BY the government to some people
ont oftaxes levied on the whole peo-
pie. The only difference is, that
with the subsidy system, the gov
eminent tax gatherers collect the
from the whole people and pay it
over to a few people; and with the
protective system the government
tax gathers only collect q tax on for
eighn goods so as to protect" the
favored people, while these favored
people themselves collect taxes on
their fellow citizens in increased
prices.
Now if workingmen get any ben
eft from what is thus called protect
ion, it can only be through the pro-
tected employers and by their favor.
The protective system gives nothing
whatever to labor. 1t gives only to
the employers of labor, and only to
some of them. And these some are
necessarily comparatively few. 1t
is utterly impossible that any pro
tective tariff can protect" the lar
gest industries of any country, be-
cause duty can only have protect
i've effect when levied upon goods
which are produced in this country
and some of which are imported or
would be imported if it were not for
the duty. Import duties cannot be
LEVIED upon things of which we pro-
duce enough for ourselves and con-
sequently do not import, or of which
we produce more than enough for
ourselves, and consequently export;
and If levied upon things we must
import or go without, they can have
no protective effect In every coun-
try, therefore, The protected indus
tries can only be those in which but
a small part of the labor of that
country is employed. In this coun-
try, out of 100000 of laborers of
one sort or another, those employed
in the protected industries do not
amount to more than l,500,000; and
these industries, it is to be observed,
are those in which large capital is
required and it is impossible for the
mere laborer to employ himself.
Now, would it be possible by levy
ing general tax especially a tax
which, like all protective taxes,
bears on the poor far more heavily
than on the capitalist) and paying
out the proceeds directly to the la
borers engaged in certain industries,
to raise wages, or even to raise
wages in those industries I? Every
one who thinks a moment will say,
No. If we were to levy such tax
and pay out the proceeds directly to
glass workers or iron-ore miners or
the hands in cotton or wooden fac
tories, in addition to what they get
from their employers, the conse-
quence would simply be that labor
would be attracted from the unsub-
sidized employments, and wages
would go down to point that would
give the subsidized laborers no more
than they got without the subsidy
But if such plan of raising
wages is utterly hopeless, what
should we say of plan to raise
wages by levying tax upou all Ia
borers and giving the proceeds, not
to al, laborers, or even to some la
borers, but only to some employers ?
This is the plan of protection. If
protection can increase or maintain
wages, it must be in this way.
What protective duties actually do
is to increase the profits of certain
employers-to allow them to collect
q tax from their fellow-citizens with
out any stipulation as to how they
shall spend it. To suppose that