St. Landry democrat., 1888-09-08

w.
FAR from this Mills bill being free trad
thu most striking thing about it is that
Is the most modest reduction Of tart
duties that has almosteyer been attempte
IN this country The average duties levie
under the present tariff are Al per CEN
Under the Mills bill the average dutie
will be only about 40 per cent. A mere re
duction of Z per cent on all the dutie
taken together. Of course there are som
things upon which the duties are reduce
more. For Instance, duties taken off
! number of articles called raw material
winch are used by tho manufacturers i
| their work in the fabrication of their prod
! uct. And as they receive this grea
benefit of having their raw materials fire.
or at comparatively small duty, the bill
wisely provides that articles manufact
ured BY them when brought into the coun
try shall pay a lower rate of duty thar
they did before, but that is nothing NOR,
than compensation for taking off the dut'
On raw materials. President Garfield
said in the House of Representative:
on March 10, 1871: Il was sur
prised at the remark of the distin
guished gentleman from Michigan II dom
know who that distinguished gentleman
'So cuU iiS " Ho d 4hltllS duuCE. Ilc DIS
serted that there is no item in the whole
tar II that stands alone on it's own merits
but that it must all be taken in a lump in
order to stand" He was high projections
lst, this Michigan man, so he said there was
no Item in the whole tariff land there are
400 and odd items in it on which a tax is
levled) that could stand on its own merits.
and it was necessary to take them into a
hmm antirn CO hot box ;crb+
meant that coal must take salt by the hand
ana they must take something else by the
hand and that all the interests should unite
their forces before they could make stand
before the country. This Michigander
came from log country, expect, and was
in favor of log rolling and log rolling on
the largest kind of scale. He believed
that the man who wanted protection on
one article should log roll with one who
wanted protection on another, and thus,
by all uniting together and making one
grand syndicate or pool, force the measure
through the Congress of the United States.
What said Mr.. Garfield? IF this remark be
true 1t strikes blow at the whole tariff
system, blow | am unwilling to strike. /
am unwilling to admit that bad taxes must
be tied to good ones and thus be kept afoat.
think 1t unWise to continue this duty
On coal-they were then talking
about coal-and l am, therefore, in
,avor of its repeal' There is another
hing to which l wish to call your atten
ION. They say all at once-I say all at
'nce, because it is very late doctrine
nose advocates of protection are all at
nee seized with a wonderful solicitude
or the laborng-men of the country, and
hey want high~pro tective tariff, not to
'eneht capitalists, ut to benefit the
nonopollsts, not to benefit the maDufact-
rer, according to their statements, but to
enet1t the laboring man. He is the man |
hey seek to protect. Well, how are thew
olng to protect hima They say a high !
protective tariff will better his condition |
nd give him more wages. Iwould like to |
now now that can be; would like to know
o" taxing laboring-man on every thing,
rom the crown of his head to the soles of |
IS 1eet, for that is exactly what this tariff |
oes, IS going to enrich hima This pro-
ectlVe tariff taxes him on the hat he
'ears, on the coat he wears, on his shirt
MS necktle, his underclothes, his vest
Is ereeches and his stockings and his
pots. lLaughter.l 1t raises the price on
very thlDg, and taxes the poor man until
can hardly make enough money, even
ne can get few cents a day more
ages, to support himself and his little
'mlly, II he have one. And yet they say
lat this is for the benefit of the laborine-
en-. My friends, that is a very bald
ced thing, if there ever was one in the
GRID. But there is another thing about
How is he to get those high wages. He
TO get them because his employer. the
pltalist or the monopolist, will make
ore money and therefore can afford to
y his employees or hired men higher -,
ages than they were paid before. Iagree
at he can. agree that the protective {
riff Will increase his profits. 1 agree
at he might, having this increased profit, {
y his laboring men more than he did l
fore. But does he do ita That is the
estion. Cries of "No," aNo"1 Did YOU +
er know him to do it1 [Cries of sNo.s
ever."l The tariff has been raised again I
d again. 1t was immensely raised nv {
act of 1861 or 1862, forget which Of I
sse years It was raised ID few wears r
ain, and again and again, and yet in all G
1t time | have never been able to find
manufacturer or monopolist who upon P
raise OF the tariff increased the wages
his labor. S
NOW, my friends, while 1 am on this sub
i OF the laboring man, let me speak of y
aerlcan labor as compared with the :,
er OF other countries. 1t is true that in - -
1efica the laboring man generally re- -
YES more wages in money than they do ...s
foreign lands, but by no manner of -
ans to the extent that you may suppose =. =,
m hearing so much said about it. For VI
lance, let me give you the following =.
Is: According to the last census Great VI ",
tain had population of 4O1 to the " "
are mile, and the average wages paid &c
912s cents per day. New England has ~
to the square mile, and the average ~ y.
ses are sl.o2 per day; about 4 cents a. =,
'e than in England. Ohio has eighty -
he square mile, and the average wages ~
Sl.06 day. Colorado has two t" the 70
are mile, and wages in that State aver -
81. IS day. The entire United States
including the Territories and the Dis
t OF Columbia, has twenty-four to the Ell
are mile, and the average wages are se
2 per day. What fact does this estab- ar
Z Does it not prove that the more do
Sc the population the greater the COM in
ton among wage-earners and the lower Sc
wages, and the reverse proposition. wi
less competition among wage-earners m,
higher the wagess No man can DENY ha
who has any regard for truth. co
is 1t. Now, my friends, you be
great deal said about the tn
per labor of England, especially be- so
'e our chief imports are from Great IN
ain, that is England, Ireland and Scot be
!, and yet you see in that most pros per- tn,
State OF Massachusetts, the greatest on
ufacturing State of the country, the un
ages are only about four cents more chi
they are in England But if you take fall
power into account, as you ia,
do, the wages are just as high in on,
land as they are in Massachusetts IA on1