Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1888-09-06
The Tariff and Wages.

Mr.. Harrison in his Toledo speech
said, "The one fact that do not need
to stop TO demonstrate by statistics Is
that the scale Of American wages is
higher than any other country in
the world" and then he proceeds to ex-
plain why this Is so by saying: "It Is
because we have for years by our pro-
tective tariff Disseminated in favor of
American manufacturers and Ameri-
can worklngmen."
This is little better than deception.
1t Is true the scale of wages in the coun-
try is high, but why? William M.
Evarts, certainly good Republican au-
thority, said in his report Of 1879: 1.-THE
average American workman performs
from once and half to twice as much
work as the average European work.
man." James G. Blaine, who is now
trying to deceive the American work.
ingmen into the belief that the cause
Of good wages is our tariff, said, in his
report dated June 25, 1881: "Undoubt-
edly the inequalities in the wages of
English and American operatives are
more than equalized by the greater eff
cheney of the latter and their longer
hours Of labor" That was when Mr..
Blaine was in Office and had no induce
ments to make emisstatements about the
cause of high wages.
MIR. Blaine was right in 1881 and he
is untruthfnl in 1888.
The American workman receives
more than the English or French or
the German because he produces more
and Is more efficient. He receives more
because he earns more, and in 1881 Mr..
Blaine declared that this more than
equalized the differences in wages.
There was then no claim that this
inequality was, even remotely, due to
| the tariff.
But we need not take the words of
Mr.. Evarts or Mr.. Blaine for evidence
of this great truth, for the facts demon
strate 1t. The census of 1880 gives the
value ofeach workingman, in both the
metal and taxtile industries, in the
United States as 81 1884 per annum,
while in England it was only $3.50 a
year. But while the value-the earn
ing power-of the American laborer in
these to braches of industry, which are
the leading ones both in this country
and England, is 116 per cent. greater
than the English, the former does not,
according to Senator Chace, of Rhode
Island, receive more than 65 per cent.
greater wages.
But if Mr.. Harrison is truthful in his
statement that the tariff is the cause of
our high wages we ought, since we have
uniform tariff in the United States,
to have something like uniform wages
in the same protected industries. But
such is far from being the case. The
average annual rate in cotton manufac-
lures was, in 1880, according to Carroll
D. Wright, chief of the bureau of labor
statistics, $258 in Massachusetts, $216 in
New York, $182 in Georgia, and $l36 in
North Carolina, while in England it
was about $240. Why does not uni
form tariff, which Harrison declares is
is the cause of our high wages, bring up
wages under it to something like an
equality? Or, worse yet, why does it
not bring the wages of New York,
Georgia, and North Carolina-all
blessed with tariff-up to an equality
with 1.-The pauper labor" of England?
Again, if the tariffs the cause of high
wages, will Mr.. Harrison tell us why it
is that in free-trade England wages are
four times higher than they are in
highly protected France and Spain, or
why in free trade Belgium wages are
higher than in protected Germany?
In Mexico the duties are higher than
in the United States, but wages are
very much lower. Whatever the reason
may be, the tariff has no more to do
with the rate of wages than the duty
on hens eggs has with their Matching
qualities. Chicago Ne,Os.