Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-04-05

it became necessary to confine our
selves to the one topic Even under
this head, we shall only touch upon two
or three points, and that in an imper-
feet way. Our subject then is: The
Influence Of the Tariff to Lower the
Wages of the Laboring Cla sses. Labor
Is any exertion rendered ftrpay. This
pay is called wages" Wages are COM
posed of at least two factor s; one the
nominal amount of wages paid. and
the other their purchasiI IS power.
Wages may be high when expressed
in dollars and cents, and yet be quite
low when expressed in goods -purchas-
ed by them. Wages may be no. minally
high, but the goods still higher, as was
the case soon after the war, and thus
high wages buy very few goods. On The
other hand nominally low wages, II
goods are correspondingly low, as just
before the war, will purchase a grea ter
amount of goods and leave mo re moneS7
IN the wallet at the end of the year.
In fact wages imply value, va lue always
involves comparison, and airy view of
wages is imperfect which does not take
into account both terms of that COM
parison. We will therefore notice that
the tariff makes wages lower, not only
by decreasing the nominal wages paid,
but also by depreciating their purchas-
ing power.
1. Tariff decreases nominal wages.
This it does directly by reducing the
amount of wages received. Nothing is
more evident than that, with the same
supply OF labor, the amount of wages
for the year depends upon the demand
for the goods which that labor produces.
Ever workman knows that it if his en-
ployer has an open market where he
can readily sell his goods, the laborers
have plenty of work, but that when the
goods cannot be disposed of at the
usual profit, one of two things must
happen: either reduction of the
| amount of work done in producing the
commodity, or reduction of the wages
paid in the production. Either the rate
of wages is lowered or, what is equiva-
lent, the laborers have to work on half
time, or some, or all of them, are dis
charged or remain idle a portion of the
year, or are even permanently thrown
out of work and must seek employment
| elsewhere. Coal is kept at a paying
| figure by allowing the colliers to mme
only limited number of hours. When
the prices of knit goods decline, the
| men women and children, work on
''short time'' with long faces OF, in
their own dialect, are 'out of job"
The laborer naturally blames the man
ufacturer, but he may be instrumental
in bringing about the result OF he may
not, as we shall see farther on. But,
| if instrumental, ,heis not so inthe manner
that the workman supposes. 1t may be
remarked in passing, that all men
have a right to employ their capital or
to withdraw part, or the whole of it,
from any Employment and to invest it
in any other enterprise, or none, as he
may choose. Men do not usually en-
ploy their capital in factories or mines,
assume the cares of management,
and incur the risk of financial failure
and disgrace, for the sake of giving
employment to some particular class of
workmen or to any workmdn whatever.
Laborers have no peculiar claim pom
the capital of other men. They have
no more right to demand work of the
capitalist than the capilist has to de-
mand. and compel the people to pur-
chase his goods. The principle that
they have such right would, if admitted,
prove fatal in its results. If the en-
ployer has not sole property in, and con-
troll of his capital, then the laborer has
not sole property in, and control of his
labor. and slavery would ensue, which
result, presume the workmen would
not willingly accept, yet the premise
admitted, the conclusion is invitable.
This we deem sufficient argument
against the philosophy of strikes, and
similar combinations. But to return
from our digresion. the cause assigned
for this suspension of work is over-pro-
duction and flooding the markets"
We have accepted our opponents def
nitions, we now accept hiss figure also.
The position of the protectiOnist is
precisely that of the man who, living
on stream, tried to guard against an
imaginary flood by building a high dam
between his own property and that part
of the stream which was below it. The
market is flooded. but how came it
flooded ? By throwing the necessary