Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-05-04
THE HON. VIM. l.. WILSON.
The High Estate Of the American Cit
lien 10 Due to the C0nstitutton; Not
to the lari6.

The High Estate Of the American Cit
izen 10 Due to the Constitutions; Not
to the raTid.
The Hon. VIM. L. Wflssa, ef WIS., vlr-
ginia, discussed the tariff IN it, relation to
labor In . very lucid manner. In the course
Of his remarks he saids
Mr.. Chairman, l come b the claim Pot
forward with most earnsstnsss In this debate
that the tariff 10 the defense Of American
labor, and the one guaranty Of good wages
and prosperity to the American laborinR
man. This II IN honorable claim and de-
serves serious consideration. should deem
tertainsd any views In private or sought to
embody any principles In legislation. that
would harden the lot or impair the oppor-
tunitiss OF American labor.
But how do The advocates Of high tara
ton support this claimi Why, sir, they
stand up In this Houss, day after day, and
paint In glowing colors. which ! am sorry TO
high estate and happy condition Of the
American lAhcrsr, his good and steady
wages and ready accumulation Of wealth,
and bis easy path upward to influence and
prosperity; and then they draw with greater
sxaggsrstiou Of detail their gloomy pictures
# foreign labor, it, degradation, scant
wagss, and almost uncomfortable destiny, and
exclaim, behold what the tariff dos for
American labori''
Sir, II u true, and thank God Il h true,
that the American laboring man Il born 70
. higher and bsttsr destiny than the labor.
(ApplAuss.) 1t 10 true that We have never
yet had separate wegs-earning class In
this country. 1t u true that there u no
pressure Of ignorance Or poverty 20 great
that an ambitious American youth can not
break through ana Ii,e e AM, position TO
We can ~ to-day man who has risen from
orphanags and poverty to tho Chief Magis-
tracy Of sixty millions Of people; that In the
past men have risen from. the weaver's loom,
the tailor's bench and the canal-bost; and
rejoice - IN American citizsn that the same
upridng career Il still open to ambition and
merit. But, Mr.. Chairman, they did NOT
owe this 70 any such antiquatsd and medieval
device - protective tariff. Applause on
the Democratic sids.l They owe it to the
bounty Of Almighty God and to the institu-
tions Of . great and fres country. RE-
nswsd applause.) They owei It TO the man.
hood, the pluck, the ambition and virtue
with which their Creator endowed them and
to the unsqualsd held for their display
which the institutions OF their country ~
cure them. RsneWsd applauss.}
Mr.. Chairman, should but follow with
limping gait the vigorous and mastery step
Of the Chairman Of the Committee ON Ways
and Means, were ! to dstain the Committee
Of the Whole with an attempted discussion
speech embodied . careful and complies dis
cussiou Of the whole subject. shall aspire
to nothing more than the statement Of few
general principles, and their confirmation
BY an authority or two. Wages are better
in Amsrica, and will remain better in Am
erica. not BY reason Of q protective tariff,
or any other kind OF tariff, but because
the workingman himself earns more than
the laborer Of any other country. Jap
plsus&.) Some OF the reasons for this are
that be brings to his work . more vigorous
body, q more cheerful and ambitious tenn
per, . higher order Of intelligence and of
skiIl, and because he surpasses all other men
in his constant efforts TO invent labor helping
machinery whereby the products Of his
labor are indefinitely multiplied. This last
u Q matter Of common observation among
ourselves, and of constant wonder to other
people. The Superintendent Of our last
census has said:
.sThe American invents - the Crock chiseled,
q the Venetian painted. - tbs modern Italian
singA"
The Commissioner General of the United
States, 1t the last Paris Exposition, reported
that the new labor-saving inventions In our
machinery gallery ''were q constant sur
prise and delight 70 the visitors from other
lands"
The whole argument on the other side ID
based on . comparison OF daily wages. 1t Is
not . question of daily wages, but of the
cost of production which 10 TO determine our
ability to compete with other nations in our
own markets or those Of the world. 1t il not
tho daily wages of labor, but the produc-
tivity OF labor, if may use q word do not
altogether like, that il the vital element in
the discussion. American labor, a. q rule,
is able to produce more, and for that reason
does receive more wages than other labor,
but this does not imply that with US the
labor cost OF production is higher than else
where.
Wages have increased in this country, but
not in the ratio in which the productive
power OF labor has increased. These propo-
sitions are abundantly confirmed by those
who have most thoroughly Investigated the
subject. shall cite the testimony OF but one
or two.
am aware, sir. that 1t is part of the tao
tics of our friends on the other side to dis
credit every man who tries to reach general
principles a. . thsorist and dcctralnaire.
To attempt to apply general principles IN
every other field OF legislation Is commended
as statssmsnship, but IA the great fold OF
taxation it becomes, in their eyes, mere
theory and college professorism. There is
no gentleman, In my judgment, moro en-
titled TO q hearing on this phase OF the wage
question than Mr.. Edward Atkinson. Mr..
Atkinson is . man Of almost infinite indus
try, who to the capacity for gathering the
most minute details adds . power Of general
izatioA hat y byae| ~ More