Los Angeles daily herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, 1888-06-04

the zhifina plo1ae6l IL connisica
where the keaio 81 price is low,
ara wDsrs wa9H arc hut little
anoVs Use fsagYatien rates. And
now eoines tiie thyuicis ggkin to tell us
ihat Size stimulation Of home production
bring down prices 70 lower figure than
before the beginning If the aystem that
Tho Tables d psicns prove that every con-
ttlvahie article u cheancr now than in
no cheapest period Of free trade. With
this prospect ~ view What advantage do
the fnisiA-makers of California perceive
b secufiug protection for their product?
II the Chronicle iB right, the protection OF
vino aad faiBins Will tend directly and
Immediately toareduction Of their value.
q campaign Is ia progress in Oregon,
and Mr.. Swift, Of California, for the Re-
publieans, and Mr. Irish, u the same
State, for tic Democrats, are engaging in
tho eanyass 81 that Stlio The burden
Of their diacoura0 hsA been the influence
q the tariff upon wool. Mr.. Swift asks
tbs people OF OREGON TO elect the Repub-
hcan ticket, on tho 0ronnd that the pro-
fective system, 20 which portion OF
the Republican party ia committed,
viii raise the price Of wool. MIR. Irish,
on She other hand, contends that the
rate Of tariff hss no influence upon
the price a wool And now comes the
Chfonieie 70 tell us THAT q protective tariff
upon WOOL viii make the article cheaper
than any system Of free trade that could
nOaaifllv he devised. According TO the
Chronicle, both Mr.. Swift and Mr.. Irish
are wrong--Mr Swift Ia holding out TO
the wool-growers OF Oregon the delusive
hope that a protective tariff will raise the
price Of an article in the production of
which they are engaged, and Mr.. Irish
IN saying that the protective tariff will
have no influence whatever on the price
Of wool. With profundity worthy OF
Captain Cutie, the Chronicle has found
the truth Of all this to DO that protec-
tive system will make the price Of wool
lower than the abolition Of the tariff and
the Inauguration Of free trade in wool.
II should DO obvious TO the meanest
intelligence that whatever tends TO raise
the price Of materials upon which labor
is expended tends to reduce the rate Of
wages, since the material and the labor
constitute the leading factors entering
into the cost Of the production OF wares
and merchandise And also that the
FREQ importation Of articles from coun-
tries where the rates OF wages rule low,
can have no other tendency than to re-
duce the rates Of wages in the coun-
tries to which they are exported, and
that, therefore, a high duty can have no
other tendency than 10 raise the cost Of
the article imported, by an amount equal
TO the impost laid. The amount of the
impost becomes o premium on domestic
production, and hence o stimulation to
production. This situation only exists
while the higher price or premium can be
obtained for the wares produced, and
ceases as soon as the premium ceases TO
exist. If, through this artificial
stimnlent, prices are brought to O
lower standard than by any other
means, then confessedly the stimu-
liant ceases 10 operate, and production
correapondingly declines. If the Clsron-
icle is right in declaring that the tables
show that nearly every conceivable OBJ
ject of ordinary use is cheaper now than
at the cheapest period of free trade, then
the hope OF the laboring classes of Amer
lea for the maintenance of high wages
through the means of protection must be
abandoned.
Protectionists should take the earliest
opportunity to repudiate the Chronicle as
an authorized exponent of the fiscal sys-
tenn for which they are contending.-
lhecord- Union.
The Chronicle and the Record Union
are the chief protection papers of this
State. How admirably they agree is
shown in the above article. The fact is
that there are many factors entering into
this industrial problem. The trouble
with our Protection advocates is that
they try to solve all it's phases by the use
Of the one factor, the tariff. Following
this false guide they wander in |
very serbonian bog Of fallacies.
The trouble with this theory OF |
over-protection, is that it is |
contrary to economic laws which are as |
immutable as the decalogue, as eternal |
as the Sermon on the Mount. Over-pro-
lection results in over-production. Then |
follow low prices, then shops close up, |
then idle men become hungry, then hun
Cry men create riots for bread. In spite |
OF these potent facts, both the Chronicle |
and the Record Onion raise a cry of |
horror at any attempt to change one |
item in the present tariff schedule.