The Forrest City times., 1888-08-18
POLITICAL TOPICS.
Wages and Tariff

8
 The defenders Of our 47per.cent war 'arin are making desperate efforts to deluds sorkingmen Into the belief that sny reduc- uon of taxes or imports would reduce them 10 tne level of the "pauper lAbor'i of Ruropo. In .eea' 'ne efforts Of these peculiar philan- ,n,opsts are dlrectd almost exclusively 10 that end.
 lney get themselves badly tangled in s'sung their position with respect to wages and the tsrifi. One moment they say that high tariff makes high wages; therefore every man who works for wages should in. sst upon having hleh tarln. The next mo nent they forget themselves and say that be- ease wages are higher here than elsewhere we must have high tarlff here or the makers oi goods abroad who pay low wages will un ue'seh our mskcrs in our own market and ioiee them 10 close iheir shops and turn their workmen out on the commons 10 s,arye. And the third moment, when they come to consider the case of the consumer, they for. eet all about the man who works for wages, and assure us that the tariff give us homs competition and brings down prices hero al, low as they are anywhere, or lower, forget ting that If such is the case the tarlI must, according to what they have just been saving, make wages as low here as anywhere or lower Having thus covered the three sides of theIr argumentative triangle they start out to traverse the first side again, au so on in end less round.
 Now, put the three propositions side by side and see how they look:
 l. III gh tariff D11kes high wages
 < We hoVs high wages, therefore we must nave high tariff to keep out foreign cheap goeds and make our own goods dear
 o High tariff reduces competition and makes our own goods cheap
 1T proposition is true r obviously follows thai so much Of proposition 2 as sssuines that high tariff make. goods dear Is false. IL obviously follows also that the whole of prop osltion Is false; that high tariff does mot make high wages
 Is theie worklngman in all America 80 dull as not to see that there must be some. .hing wrong about such chop logic as that I there ishe is to be pitied. The men who dish up this very chop logic day after day in me columns of the high-tarif press assume that there are thousands of American voters who gre stupid enough 10 take 1t all in and never See that it must necessarily be falla. elouS
 Our dealers In chop logic try to make work men believe that nigh tariff makes high wages by telling them that in ths country which has high tariff for protection, wagcs are tnles ss high as in England, bleh has no 'efiH Tor protection. IL Is not true that wages are twice as high here as in England There is undoubtedly some dlfIerence-pos- slbly 2j per cent -in favor of the American workman. But how do our scrobatfc logi. clans know that our high tariff is the cause of iti That they never tell. They never at tempt 10 show that there is any relation of cause and effect
 TAeir reasoning is precisely like this: Wsges are higher here than in England; we produce iudisn corn and England does not i, therefore Indian corn makes our wages higher. Or, VIC produce petroleum and Eng land does not; therefore petroleum makes our wages higher. Or, We produce tobacco and England does not; therefore tobacco makes our sages higher. Or, we have Color ado beetles snd cyclones and England has not; therefore Colorado beetles and cyclones make our wsEcs higher There Is just as much there is in tbe proposition that our high tariff makes our wages higher.
 II high tarh makes high wages ln this country is ought 10 do tue same in other countries. Mexico has q higher tariff than ths country has Therefore according to our ihimble-tig logicians, wages should be higher in Mexico than here. But the fact is ihst wages gre not half as high iu Mexico as here. Germany has a tariff for protection and England has not. Therefore, according to these logicAus, wages sb Juid be higher in Germany than !n Euglanl But what Is the facti Let us learn from s high tariff author. ity. The commissioner of lalor statistics for the state of Maine, which Is he state of Bslne, Ia a zeaOus defender ot the A. per cent war tarld In his last report this official gives the following tabuiated statement of wages in ceftan trades in Eng and and Ger. many;