Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-12-17
PROSPERITY AND THE TARIFF.


 One thing the election of Harrison has not done is to bring around the wonder ful prosperity the windy orators and enthusiastic press of his party promised as it's speedy result. It has, in fact, pro- duced just the opposite result. Mer- chants everywhere are complaining of hard times; shops are closing down, shortening hours and help, or reducing wages: money is scarce, sales are limited and collections difficult. That is the case right here in Waterbury to con- siderable extent, and it is so throughout the country,
 In Pennsylvania six thousand ''sov- ereigns of American industry" have just been thrown out of work in the Monon- gahela mining district-and the keystone state has always been a stickler for high protection. And millions more of the ''sovereigns" will be squeezed dollar or two more ton for coal on the pretext that the miners are not working, and there fore the coal supply is limited to the amount already mined. Perhaps one re- suit of the campaign of education may be the ability of the wage-earners to dis cover how they have been tricked by the republicans. The high tariff, under which large fortunes have been made every year." have not marked the periods of highest prosperity in this country. They have never, until the period during and since the rebellion, when attention | was largely directed to other issues, re. ! ceived the acquiescence of the people and after the war, the moment the ! problem of reconstruction had been set tied, the republican leaders themselves ] by proposing to reduce the tariff. When ever the tariff has been reduced it has
 been a source of prosperity, and had the Mills bill been passed by both houses we
 would have already been experiencing | the good result of the change. The heav | fest tariff reduction ever made was tha of 1S46, but it was not made without tht predictions of ruin and disaster tha marked the republican campaign of 1888 l And vet under the Walker tariff ou
 manufactures increased ST per cen, ou, agriculture 90 per cent, our nat.ona
 wealth 126 per cent in a single decade So marked, indeed, was the prosperity
 Of manufacturing New England unde the low tariff of 1646 that it's representa- tiqes in congress voted for a still fur .he
 reduct on of dut.es in 1857. Labor ha pfcspered, in so far as a tariff has an,
 relation to it's pl osperity, more under th
 low tariffs than during the periods whel bigh rates of duties have been levied
 Under this low Walker tariff the price o
 labor increased much greater proportion
 al AIy than during the high tariffs tha preceded or followed 1t. I always will because under lov
 tariff the marked for OUT pro
 ducts will be enlarged and the de
 mand and compensation of labor en
 hanced in proportion.
 The promises made so freely by the re pub1icans during the campaign of pros porous times under the high tariff regim of Harrison have yet to be redeemed
 The sd1cess of tlAeir party has so far ir
 diccted rothirg but an unsettlirg 0
 business confidence and threatene
 dull winter. And as usual it is labo that is most affected. There is abJndan protection for the manufactures in high tariff-he can reap the most in portant benefits from i,-but the hig tariff does'nt do much in the way C protection for the industrious wage
 earners of the land.
 Perhaps they will profit from the eG ucation they will receive while the rt ,,,bl;ooDS aniov tho officae co1 ssf,,r fo,1