Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1888-09-18

can get land to labor upon, to set up
for himself and family by simply asking
for it from the government and settling
upon it and remaining settled upon it Q
given lsngth Of time. The consequence Is
that with these advantages no man need
be dependent upon the good will of any
moropolist in the world, and that gives
our laboring men an Independence which
is not seen elsewhere upon the globe, n
enables him, therefore. to demand, and he
does receive somewhat higher wages than
they receive elsewhere.
Then there 2 the effect of our free insti-
tutions; - effect G he pride that
every man in TINS country, 20 he laboring
man or not, feels in the consciousness that
he is an American citizen. Applause. He
helps to govern this country, and he makes
people govern it, as far as possible, for his
benefit. Renewed applause But, gen.
tlemen, there is another thing that is con-
elusive on this point, and that is this, to
show that a high protective tariff does not
increase the wages of the labOring man.
1t is conclusively shown by the fact that
laborers In unprotected industries are
as we'll paid as those in the 30
called protected industries. Now, how
many laborers are in what are
called the protected industries; that is to
say, who are engaged in manufacturing ar
ticles which, when they are brought from
abroad, are charged with q tariff tax, and
how many laborers are there in the our
try engaged in industries which are in no
wise projected by tariff tax, and cannot in
the nature of things be protected by any
such thingr Why, my friends, it has been
estimated some place-I think the highest
estimate I have seen placed upon the
Iaborers in these protected industries-at
between 800, 600 and 900, 600 men, women
and children. But I will put it
at 1000, 900, and say that there are
1 900, 900 Of them, while there ar
EIGHT TIMES AS MANY
other laborers whose industries and occu-
pations are in nowise protected by the tar1f,
and, therefore, if protection is for the bene-
fit of the laboring men the wages of this
million men engaged in the protected In
dustries ought to be higher than the wages
of men employed In unprotected industries,
and yet such is not the fact. In round
numbers, the laborers in unprotected
those in the protected industries.
I do not know what the
wages of farm hands are here in Michigan.
In my own State they are about 81 a day
for farm hands, and you see that in the
State of Massachusetts,, according to the
returns of their own Board, they are $1.04
in these manufacturing industries, 80 that
there is practically no difference whatever
worth talking about between the wages
that one receives and the wages that the
other receives-they are both substantially
the same. If you tax comforts and cost
of living and all that into account, the
agricultural hand in the State of Ohio re-
ceives quite as good wages as the laborers
~ - Tho n1-nk~-
My friends, nothing Is more common
for these men appeal to everybody
than to hear the protectionist orator say
that the tariff Is q benefit to the farmer.
How it can benefit the farmer I have never
been able to find but. Let us consider the
subject in the light of experience. We
had q low tariff from 1916 up to the break
ing out of the war. It was called the
Walker tariff, or the tariff of '46. I re-
member it very well, for I was in the
House of Representatives at the time and
voted for it. Now from 1861 q this
from the census and, therefore, l have to
take these ~years-from 1850 to 1850, while
that tariff was in force, farm lands in the
United States, according to the census
report, increased in value 103 per
cent. Then came tho high tariff OF 1s6d or
1862, whichever it was. And from 1860 to
1870, another period of ten years, the in
crease in the value of farming land in the
United States was only 40 per cent. Under
the low tariff 1t had been 103 per cent. in
crease in value. Under this high tariff 1t
was only 40 per cent. But it may be said
that it included the period of the war and
don't make q fair comparison. 1grant the
force of that to some extent, n the war
ended in 1856, and we can compare the next
ten years, from 1870 to 1880, and by the
same census reports it appears that in these
ten years of profound peace, from 1870 to
1880, the value Of the farming lands of the
whole United States have increased but 8
per cent.
CHINESE CHEAP LABOR,
Judge Thurman here made an argument
against the Treasury surplus, Ginning that
it is a great injury to the country, and
quoting John Sherman to sustain his po-
He continued:
Ny friends, before 1 conclude I want to
ask your attention for a moment to another
question, 10 what is called the Chinese
question, the question of the importation
of Chinese into this country. Now, what
1 think upon that subject cannot be better