Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-04-05
EXPERT VIEWS OF THE TARIFF.

EXPERT VIEWS OF THE TARIFF
New York Tribune.
The North american RerieIC has done
what the Ozark Lantern" confederates
neglected to do. 1t has invited repre-
sentatives of the great industries affect
ed by the line of action proposed by the
Presidents Message to give the country
the benefit of their practical experience.
Over thirty pages of the current number
are occupied with brief statements OF
opinion on the leading question of the
day from men cOmpetetent to speak for
the productive interests of the country.
These statements are made in response
to direct inquiry respecting the proba-
BILE effect of measures passed in line with
the Message on the industries which
they represent and on the wages of
working people employed by them Sew
enteen of these business experts testify
with one accord that the effect of such
legislation would be ruinOus to indus
tries and wage-earners alike.
The Hon. b. F. Jones, speaking on
behalf of iron and steel manufactures,
resolves the tariff into simple question
of wages and rate of interest. He con-
tends that Protection would not be
needed if it were possible to make the
rate of interest as low for business pur-
poses here as it is abroad, and also if it
were desirable to reduce wages to the
pinching standard of other countries.
He denies that Protection can be aban-
doned on any terms. George H. Ely,
representing iron ore, argues that there
is one supreme obstacle to tariff franz
ed in accordance with the President S
idea of putting raw materials on the
free list: the question of wages for hun
dreds of thousands of laborers. John
Jarrett, having in view ironmOngers'
wages, forecasts mischief and disaster
from the proposed legislation. A. l..
Conger, speaking for manufacturers of
agricultural machinery, maintains that
the Presidents tariff reform" will ruin
the metal industries, impoverish the
| farmers and scale down the earnings of
workmen who are now receiving from
forty to sixty per cent. higher wages
than corresponding classes of work
men abroad. Stockton Bates predicts
paralysis and ultimate collapse as the
effect of the same policy upon man.
ufactures of textile machinery. Senator
Chace, after stating that labor in New
England factories is about siXty-five per
cent. higher than in Great Britain, and
nearly three times what it is in Italy,
affirms that there are no trusts in the cot
ton business and that the present want
on assault upon working peoples earn
ings and praiseworthy business enter
prises is not justified by the condition of
the country. Equally emphatic are the
denunciations of the Preeident's policy
from representatives of the wool grow
ing, woollen, flax, jute, silk, sugur, paper,
coal and other industries.
STORIES of two bulldogs come from
the West. One of the dogs lives in
Springfield, Mo-, and when the fire burns
low in the fireplace before which he is
accustomed to lie he goes to the wood
shed, gets stick of wood and puts it
on the Goals. The other dog lived in
Racine, Wis, and was not as intelligent
as the Missouri dog. He tried to jump
through a swiftly revolving fly wheel,
and, it is said, 'partly succeeded. A
part of him got through and other parts
went off in different directions"