Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1888-01-03
THE REAL MOI

During the presidentid
last summer and fall the republican
party, its organs and speakers on the
stump were loud in professions of
their love for the laboring man, and
went so far in their zeal for his in
terests as to make believe that they
did not care q continental what be-
came of the wealthy manufacturers
and tariff nabobs so long as the hard
working laboring man got well paid
for his work. And, of course, in Or
der to secure to him good wages
and to keep him above the despised
foreign pauper laborer it was neces-
sary to keep up the robber tariff
system. There is no doubt but that
by these hypocritical professions of
love for the laboring man many of
the latter were deceived and caioled
into voting the republican ticket.
Now that the election is over, how
ever, and that the false and hypocrit-
ical plea has served its purpose, no
one need be surprised to see the re-
publican party again aligning itself
with the monopolists, whose friend
it has always been. Nor need any
body be now surprised to see the
New York Tribune, which was one
of the most clamorous of the organs
for high tariff in order to raise the
price of wages, and which is consid
cred one of the leading opponents of
the republican party, viewing with
alarm" proposition to establish by
law a wage minimum to insure fair
division of the tariff premium be-
tween the wage-worker aud the en-
ployer Of course it would be I'M
wise and unjust to pass law regu-
lating the minimum price of wages
or the maximum price, or to inter
fere in anyway with the labor mark
ct. 1t would be an ,abridgement of
personal liberty, which is guaranteed
by the constitution. Every man has
the right to control his own labor
and if he is willing to work for a
stipulated price and the employer of
his labor is willing to pay it nobody
and no law-making power has the
right to interfere. But the republi-
can sheets, to be consistent, and in
order to prove their professions of
love for the laboring man ought to
favor the proposition, for as the
tariff system operates it is of no ben
eft to the laboring man, but only
makes the rich richer and the poor
poorer, as we. have always contend
ed. These republican organs, how
ever, not only oppose any arrange
ment for a fair division and distribu-
ton of the tariff premium between
the employer and employed, but in
giving their reasons for opposing
knock the prop out of the whole ar
gument in favor of protection. The
Tribune says: "Put the wages five
times as high, and the cost of things
which the worker has to buy will be
raised also enough to take away the
desired benefit" This is but an
ether way of saying that the price
of wages is regulated by the cost of
living and that the cost of living is
regulated by the price of wages,
which, next to that other law of de-
mand and supply, is one of the ele-
mentary and most self-evident prin-
ciples in political economy. And,
again, as aptly remarked by the st.
Louis Post-Dispatch, according to
the Tribune law to raise the cost
Of products for the exclusive benefit
of the rich employer is good for the
laborer and the country, but law
to compel the employer to share the
increased remuneration with his
mill hands would be very injurious
to the latter.