The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-04-25
WHOLE NO. 1919.

A redGction Of duties would not, as As
serted, cheek manufacturers and eramp
labor. We always imported more goods
when prices were high. Under lower
duties we could export more goods, our
z manufactures would Inn steadily, and
labor gould be constantly employed. Not
more than ten per cent. OF the goodscou-
sumed il the United States would be inn
I ported if all the custom houses were torn
down AMI the government supported by
Z direct taxes Protecti0uists argued that
ranufaetHred articles were cheaper here
than in any other country. as a
result Of proection. II was surely not
30 but supposing it was. why. then.
should they resist 50 stTenGously any ef-
fort TO lower duties if they were able to
un3ersell European manufacturer? Did
the manufacturers pay higher wages be-
caEse protection enabled them % Do it2
No, Jag Could was able to pay his boot
black $500, bat he did not 10 it. lie paid
the market priee-he paid his nickel ike
a little man. Higher wages were made ly
coal, steam and machinery, and not
higher wages meant lower cost Of pro
duction
This accounted for the fact that free
trade England paid higher wages than
protection France and Germany. and vet
controlled the worlds markets. He had
requested the present chief Of the Labor
Buresu 70 ascertain if there was any ex-
cePtion TO the role that wages depended
on the efficiency Of labor. and the result
Of highly paid efficient labor vas the low
cost Of product. In answer he read
a tahulated statement, prepared by Mr.
Wright, giving figures, which he said es-
tablished the truth of his assertion.
The large proportion Of the balance Of
his speech was devoted to showing that
Americans produced more Il less ex-
pense for labor than any other nation.
High wages meant low cost Of product.
AMI in the superlative degree it was
equally true that the highest rate OF VA
yes meant the lowest cost Of products.
After fortifving his statement Mr.. Mills
made an eloquent perozation, and then
came back 10 figures again in order to
show that the workmen rot more Of the
increased price from protection. He quo
ted a long array Of figures. mentioning
only the labor cost on articles, and COM
pairing it with the rate Of duty. and when
the labor cost was less than the amount
Of duty on an article he declared that the
manufacturers got all the benefit Of
protection
The speech was vigorously delivered.
less demonstrative than most of his pre-
vious utterances, and little more con-
uected in its sequence of subjects. In
some eases the arguments were clear,
whether bearing on the subject or not,
but in others they were a hopeless tangle
from the start As whole, however,
the speech was one Of his best efforts,
and gave a great deal Of satisfaction to
his friends, who feared he would break
down.
Judge Kelley at once took the floor.
he began his spsech wi;h an extract
from an address delivered at Corsicana.
Texas. On The Dist Of May last. by Mr..
Mills, Chairman Of the Committee on
WAYS ard Means. in which he said
We produce an exchange among our
selves and consume in the satisfaction Of
our wants more Of the products of our
own labor than the a0O.0O0.O00 on the
continent Of Europe. We have invented
and have now in successful operation
more LABOR saving machinery than all
other people We are turning ont over
s6,O00,00oOo0 worth ofproducts Of manu-
factures every year. and producing them
at lower cost Of production. and at the
same time paving higher wages to our
workmen than any other people.
rs read this tribute" said Mr.. Kel-
ley, to the enterprise, energy and thrift
Of his countrymen, l hoped to find that
the speaker had supplemented II by tell
ing his hearers that the fostering inau-
euce Of protective tariffs had in less than
a quarter Of century lifted rs from the
national bankruptcy to which we had
been reduced by the revenue tariffs Of
1856 and 1885, and had exalted Us TO the
lofty prominence among nations be 50
elowingly described He could have
supported these statements by reference
10 the report Of the census for 1850. whirh
shows that our manufacturing establish
ments numbered at that time more than
a quarter Of a million. employed =. 3D.
272605 Of capital, and paid 2,737.S95
manufacturing operatives the higher
rates Of wages TO which he referred
Mr. Kelly then briefly sketched the
rise and progress of American industries
under the system Of protection, and en-
tered an emphatic protest against the
passage Of the pending bill, which. he
said, was calculated to scatter 10 the
winds the magnificent results achieved
in less than quarter Of century under
the fostering influence Of protection. and
instantly paraIyze the energy and enter
prise Of he people.
The bin was then viewed as partisan
measure. drawn on the old Southern line
Of slave labor. the only labor un.ler
which free trade can be successfully con-
dHoted, 10 matter If the slave be the
white man in the cotton factory or the
negro eultivatiHg the crop in the field.
It was the old slave power Of the south
pushing the matter Of ownership Of labor
over the entire country instead OF organ
izing resistance for the protection Of
ownership in man in the South.
The history Of King Cotton" as elu-
cidatei in the work ofthat name publish
81 thirty pears ago By Pritchard, Alb
bolt < Loornis Of Augusta. Ca, was taken
up, ami copinus extracts we're read, all Of
which were strong arguments for and in
exact harmony with the provisions Of the
bin under discussion. These extracts"
Mr. Kelley said, viii saftiee 10 show
that this bill belongs 10 past age. That
a. u measure proposed for future guild
anee it Is. As has been said an anaehronism
and IS Illustrative Of systems OF ethics
and economic philosophy against which
history hes written in blood DEGREES that
are final and iDnutal,le. It's irst effect.