Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1888-03-06
A REPLY TO wArTERsoN.
Conclusive Answer 10 some Of the
Kensueky ssasesman's Free
Trade fa5aaetea.

teal knowledge. Every man to his
own business" il An ol 4 fashioned, but
true expression. II . business man OF
manufacturer desires Information on q
question of law he eonsults lawyer
If he proposes the erec>.en OF . building
or buildings he consuIrs An architect
but the average revenue reformer has
views of his own-he does not seek in
formation from persQas who, because
of their special businest or occupations,
are fitted to impart it.
Mr.. Watterson startfout in his arti-
Gle on the tariff in Hfkper's Magazine
for January by saying he subject has
failed to take hold of Il popular imagi-
nation" The reason iks.~sss-Er1ss
body of the people Is nea with fne
tariff and does not clan Ior free trade,
and has manifested sme interest IN the
subject mp to the time d the reading OF
the Presidents MESSAGE Now it is the
subject OF conversation dsponR all classes.
As am engaged in manufacturing, d |
claim to know something about the
business and its Requirements. | will
not quote long articlss from Henry
George, who now sdmitA that laborers
should have capital if ttey wish to i'm
prove their condition. but taking .
tariff question, [ believe that every
manufacturer will admit that goods can
be produced IS cheaply "A this country
as in any other, provided the manutac-
turer can get his machinsry. rent, labor,
raw material at the same rates prevail
ing in England, France and Germany.
The question to my mind is: Do we
want the same conditions 20 exist here?
do not think that any one imagines
that the American manufacturer Of
woolen or worsted goo6k can compete
with similar manufacturtrs all over the
world and pay double the wages, for all
wages enter into the manufacturing
from the raw wool up 70 the finished
cloth. England has been complaining
TOR several years past OF France, her
rival; rQw Germany
gives her most concern; and why? Be-
cause Germany can manufacture goods
at less cost than either France or Eng
land. Not that raw materials are more
cheaply obtained IN Germany. for she
buys them in the London markets, but
because labor Is cheaper. and yet Mr..
Watterson says "the English workman
does not dread cheap labor. The fact
is that Germany is MAKING daily inroads
in the markets of the world where
England formerly held sway. 1t is tol-
ly to talk of the inexpert pauper labor of
Europe being ayer matched
BY the skilled labor of Eeeiand There
.re no more expert or affd l.borers
viii ind it difficult TO naule an indus
sry in which Germany is lexcelled by
England, unless it be one for which the
climate or soil is specially adapted.
Protection or "Assurance" as Mr..
calls it, is the best guarantee
hat can be given to the employer and
the employed. Look at the facts; un-
der our system of Protection have not
Dur industries prospered and increased
beyond any precedent in any country?
The condition of our working people is
tar better than that OF the working
people of any other country; immigra-
ton is proof enough of that. What we
want is the home market. Competition
among ourselves regulates the price and
prevents continued or extended monop-
ply.
In reading Mr.. Watterson's 9 argument
,ne might infer that the manufacturers
we're q privileged class. The field is
open; let him who viii, try it. 1t is
claimed that the American farmer gets
nothing by Protection, and MIR. Waiter
ION altogether ignores the home market
made by manufacturing industies and
iismisses the subject OF manufacturing
being conducive to in
crease OF wealth and population, by
sitting the case of the discovery of
yold in California and q long article
BY Henry George on theaters. 1t is not
,laimed that manufacturing is the only
incentive to the building of cities, but
,ne of the chief. Neither is it averred
hat all labor will be employed at high
wages, but the manufacturer at present
S enabled to pay higher wages than he
would be if he had to compete with
Europe on q free trade basis.
Why trouble ourselves about foreign
market when we are deharred from sup
plying our own When we import to
he value of dollars goods that should
,e made ut home, som et1ing is radically
wrong. The enormort importations
'ather show the tarif is not high
enough on the articles imported LII to
decrease the revenue be the object, let
Congress inquire into the subject and
ind out the reason why SO many goods
come into the country from abroad and
Why We do not make them ourselves.
md it will be found, if the truth is
coiig uCSlICo ou0 II Dc kuuu IuluR 10
essen the rate OF importations. that the
.ste of duty will have to be increased
.ather than diminished.
Certain goods largely IMPORTS could
be cheaply Manufactured at home were
he duty taken off wool. which, includ-
ing charges, is from 45 to 90 per cent,
but the American farmer claims that
he growth of wool does not pay him
even with the present protective tariff
The country presents all the natural
advantages for agriculture as we'll as for
then why should we
cripple either? Mr. Watterson makes
he statement that the wages of labor in
he United States are fixed by the wages
Of the unprotected farm hand, not by
those of the protected factory opera
i've. From practical observation
[ would say that rs the kind OF
work 10 different so also is the compens-
ltion. will not speak for the South
,r West, but the universal complaint
With the farmer in the Eas. Is OF the
high wages paid in the cities which
draws labor thither and makes it scarce
md high on the farm Mr.. Watterson
1uotes some statistics in regard to labor,