The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-04-30
INCIDENTS IN lABOR'S GREAT CONTEST
Not Proper Material for Debate on
the Tariff.
Mr.. Reed Points Out Some Petty
Methods of Discussion.
Secretary Whitney's Little Trip Helps
to Lessen ArgumentatIve Zeal.

| secretary Nullut1 llbbAO JuuhCt W ctit-
brate the launching of the new gunboat and
dynamite cruiser, only thirty-five members
were present when the House. today, went
| into committee of the whole and took up the
tariff bill. The debate was of colloquial
character. During its continuance. Mr..
| Whiting of Massachusetts said that he lived
| in city where there was great variety of
| manufactures, and statistics showed that
wages there were from 65 to 70 per cent high
| er than in Great Britain, and that the cost of
living was no higher. More than half Of the
working people were depositors in the saw
ings banks. What was true of that city was
| true of every city in Massachusetts, and he
believed that the effect OF the Mills tariff
bill would be to reduce the wages Of labor.
Mr.. Bayne of Pennsylvania, declared that
the wages paid for labor in the county of AL
leghany alone were annually more than the
entire wages paid in all the States represent
ed by the Southern contingent ON the ways
and means committee. [Applause on the Re-
publican side.
Mr.. Breckenridge of Kentucky said that
the concrete representative OF the protective
system was guard of Pinkerton detectives
at the Edgar Thomson steel works, for the
purpose of enabling Hungarian immigrants
to work. while American workmen were
kept out at the point of the gun and rev0l-
yer. That was a concrete picture of the
state of wages in Allegheny. Applause on
Democratic side.
Mr. Bayne declared that that was a mis-
take. Detectives were there, but the men
they sought to protect were not Hungarians.
The men they were to protect were non
union men whom the Edgar Thomson Com
paDy desired to employ. The Hungarlans
that were there were not skilled mechanics
and could not do the work required.
Mr.. Breckenridge inquired what wages
the workmen at the Thomson works had
been receiving.
Mr.. Bayne replied that they had been re-
ceiyiug So day.
Mr.. Breckenridge said that the average
wages of the Pinkerton detectives was IS a
day. They received that rate of wages to
prevent breach of the peace by men who
received SO a day.
Mr.. Reed of Maine said that the gentleman
from Kentucky had drawn picture which
left the American in the cold and showed the
Hungarian protected by Pinkerton detec-
tives. The gentlemen had predicted that as
the final result of protection, when 1t was
only an incident in the great dispute which
went on either under protection or free
trade. The gentleman wanted to contrast the
wages of men temporarily employed with
those received by permanent employees: He
(Reed) thought it ought to be pointed out
that such methods of arguing this question
of free trade or protection, were somewhat
petty in their nature. The question was
what system secured the greater wealth to
the country and the higher wages to the
wOrkingmen.
Mr. Breckenridge said that Allegheny
county had been depicted as the scene Of pro-
protective development, and he had shown
the result of that development. man did
not have to eat whole leg of mutton
to know that it was spoiled.
He denied that it was an incident
that he had depicted and asserted that it was
the necessary consequence of an unnatural
system of taxation, under which an organ
iZed body of armed detectives was used in
guarding convict labor to undersell American
labor.
Mr.. Smith of Wisconsin said that the sub
ject of monopolies was the one calling for
attention now.
Mr.. Farquhar replied that the gentleman
meant the monopoly of transpOrtati0n-th
monopoly which would make all the shoes of
the country in Massachusetts. That State
had squinted toward free trade because she
had all of the benefits of protection and
would keep it from other sections now about
to benefit in turn.
Mr.. Smith-Who put the monopolies in the
field
Mr.. Farquhar replied that most of them
came from the West. Congress had done
everything in its power by passing the inter-
State commerce bill to restrain them.
The committee rose and the House ad-
journed
The Pension List.
The following Maine pensions have been
granted:
John Fl. Allen, Glenburn.
John King Oakland.
Jacob Bemis, Lagrange.
INCREASE.
James Maddocks, North Union.
Ichabod Sampson, Pembroke.
Alden w. Smith, Millbridge.
REIssgE.
Josiah NJ. Jordan, Burnham Village.
Martha, widow of Mahlon G. William, West
Gouldsboro.
John, father of Edwin 7. Clifford, Rockport
Charlos Williams, Portland.
Theodore III. Whitten Cornish.
Judge Cooley Better.
WASHINGTON, April 29.-Judge Cooley, of
the Interstate Commerce Commission. Is
much better tonight, and is believed to be
out of danger.
Mr. Putnam Among the Few.
1t is said to be highly probable that the
nomination for Chief Justice will be sent to
the Senate before the end of the present
week. The persons most seriously consid-
cred are Senator Gray, Melville Fuller of
Chicago, Mr.. Putnam of Maine, Frederic
Condert of New York, and Samuel Dickson
of Philadelphia. Mr.. Dickson is strongly
urged by members of the legal fraternity in
all parts of the country.