Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-08-25

6ut y alneS a. UhIuciu cniu w ss'o
be true): st strikes blow at the wnnT
tariff system and blow / am not wiiIi'e
to strike. am unwilling TO admit us
bad taxes must be tied 70 good ones a''a
thus be kept ahcat"
Now, my friends, there is another tnmg
to which / wish to call your attention
They say all at once say ell at once, TOT
it is q very late doctrine), these adyoestes
of protection are all ut once seizsd Win
wonderful solicitude for the laboring man
Of the country, and they want high pro-
tectiye tariff, not to benefit the capitalist
not TO benefit the monopolist, not 10 bene-
fit the manufactures, according 10 tneir
statement, but to benetit the iaooring
man. He is the man they seek to protect:
And how are they going to protect him!
| Why, they say high protective tarin VIII
better his condition, give him more wages
better wages. l would like to know
how that can be. would like to know
how taxing lsboriDg man on everything
from the crown OF his head to the sole oil
his foot ia going to enrich him. Laugh
ter and applause
HOW THE THING WORKS.
Yet this is exactly what the tariff tax
does. II taxes him on the hat that he
wears, On the cap that l put on my head
to keep it warm. Applaase and laugh
ter I II taxes him on his shirt, on his
necktie, on his underclothes, on his coat,
on his vest, on his breeches, on his stock
ings, on his boots, on everything. he
newed cheering. 1t Raises the price and
taxes him until the poor man can hardly
make enough money, even if he gets few
cents more wages In the day-t taxes
him until he can hardly make enough
money to support himself and his little
family, if he has one. And yet they cay
that this is for the benefit OF the labor
ing man. My friends, that is very bold
faced statement, if there ever was one IN
the world, but there is another thing about
it. How is he to get the high wages? Why,
he ID to get them because his employer, the
capitalist or monOpoiist, will make more
money, and therefore can afford to pay his
employees or hired men higher wages than
he paid them before. agree that hecould;
l agree that IL increases the profits; |
agree that he might, having these increased
profits, pay his laboring men more than
they were paid before. But does be do II?
That is the question. [Applsuse and cries
of mo, no" Did you ever know him to
doi? Cries OF ''No, no."
| The tariff has been raised again and
again and again; it was immensely raised
by the act of 1851 or 1862, forget which
Of these years it WAS 1t was raised in
few years again, and again it has been
raised again and again, and yet Id all that
time never have been able to find the
manufacturer or capitalist who, upon
! the raising of the tariff, has increas-
ed the price paid TO his lsborers. If there
was such case it has escaped the atten-
ton of everybody, even of these dillgent
/ newspaper men who gather up all the
news and sometimes great deal that is no
| news at all. Merriment. But they
have never been able to find that manu-
featuring man who increased the price paid
his laborers because the tariff was incress-
ed.
But, nv friends, we have had now for
81 years nearly the highest tariff that this
country ever knew; fully on an average
twice az high as it was before the war; We
have had that high tariff all this time.
Now, if that high tariff ia so much for the
benefit OF the lsboring men, why have not
the laboripg men in these 81 years grown
rich, should like to know? Have they?
Cries of ''No, no."] If they have they
are very unreasonable men, for not a year
passes over our heads that we do not hear
Of strikes of laborers because they
DEMAND MORE WAGES
and say they cannot live on what they re-
ceive. Again and again we hear of what
are called lockouts, that is, where the en-
ployers suspend operations snd lock up
their mills because they cannot afford to
pay any more wages than they did pay.
Why are these strikes? Why are these
lockouts? Why are there such institu-
tions as labor unions So as TO secure bet.
ter wsges Why il there such an institu-
ton as the Knights of Labor? To prevent
laboripg men from being imposed upon and
to increase their compensation. Why is
there necessity for all these things and
all these extensive and worthy organiza-
tions if high tariff gives high wages 10 the
laborer? oman can answer that question
satisfactorily even to himself.
If what these men say is true about high
tariff and its effect upon wages, why,
then, gentlemen, all these labor unions,
all these Knights of Labor, and everybody
else who is engaged in that kind OF bust
ness, are simply wasting their time, for
the tariff nicely solves the problem for
them. Laughter and applause. Yes,
it does solve the problem for them, but not
in the way they like renewed laughter
nor precisely in the way that they feel a.
if they were benefited, and therefore they
have to resort to other means to get their
wages which the employers are not willing
to pay.
But while am on this subject of the
laboring man, let me add, they say that
the tariff does not raise the price. II it
don't raise prices / would like to know
why the manufacturers, or so many of
them, are in favor of it? Do they want
high tariff in order to lower the prices?
Not many of them, think. There are in
stances in which high tariff has lowered
prices for especial aud peculiar reasons,
but as general rule, as / have already
shown you by what read from Mr..
Adams report and from other authorities
and also from reason, the tariff increases
che price. II il don't increase the price
you may be sure that the manufacturers
and capitalists would mol want it, and if
it don't Increase the price pray where il
the protection-where does that come in?
They are afraid of our getting things
cheaper in this country than they can be
manufactured here, as they say by reason
of the pauper labor, as they call it, OF
Europe. Well, now, if the tariff is
not 10 increase the price of articles
which we buy and which are manufac-
tured here, where is ths protection to
American manufacturers, and how if the
price is not raised are better wages paid?
THE CoLORED BROTHER.
I But there ia one class of labOrers, my
friends, that want 10 call your attention
to especially. There is one class of laborers
in this country which has been, according
to the claims Of the Abolitionists in the
country, and Of the Republicans, their es-
pecisl wsrds-especially under their guar
disnship, and for whose interests they feel
the most peculiar and earnest solicitude,
and those are the negroes. Now, the result
of the war was to free about 4, 00G, 600 Of
negroes, and / am very glad they were
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