The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1888-06-21
4 HOME LESSON.

AOA0 ABOGOHs
The protective tariff tax, which
Cleveland wants removed, is = tax that
does not touch single article manu-
featured in the United States. There
fore persons who use only articles |
made in this country do not pay q cent
of it.
Butt argues the Cleveland man,
''the tariff enables the home manufac-
turers to keep up the prices Of their
goods much higher than is necessary,
and far higher than the prices of the
same kind of articles from abroad"
To this the answer is made by think
ing people, that competition will and
must regulate the price, except in
cases where the manufacturers enter
into an agreement to regulate prices.
A practical illustration can be made.
Right here in our own city, we have
canning factory and a soap factory.
Both will probably be paying enter
prises, as it is more than likely that
they can furnish goods here at less cost
to themselves than people in the same
business father away from Emporia.
But, if the prices charged are such
that the business viii return a large
percentage on the money invested, the
prices will have to either come to a
legitimate profit based on American
wages, or our town will be composed
of nothing but canning and soap fac
tories in a short time.
On the other hand, supposing the
products of these factories were arti-
cles protected by a tariff tax, and the
Mills bill takes off such protection.
The country would be Immediately
flooded with articles made by European
cheap labor, and our working people
would have to either work for pauper
wages or the factories would have to
shut down and all be thrown out of
employment.
In either case who would be the suf-
ferers?
OF course the first thought is that
those who owned and those who were
employed in the two factories would be
the only ones to suffer.
This is mistake which any of our
market gardeners in this vicinity has
already found out.
Hardly person here but would be
more or less injured.
Every farmer would be more or less
hurt in his pocket, as it would take
away a home market from his very
door.
Every merchant would have his bus
mess more or less injured because OF
the loss of trade, whether caused by
poor wages or no wages at all.
Every owner of property would be
poorer in pocket just so much as his
property would be worth less in dead
than it would in live city.
Not class of citizens, from banker
to beggar, but would be injured by a
free trade policy, even here in Emporia.
And if this is so of Emporia, how
much more so must it be in the larger
cities where manufactures are thick
and the workers compose large ma.
jority Of the population,
Already is business feeling the effects
of the agitation of this subject, and
were the Mills bill, as first read in the
house, or Mr.. Cleveland's theory as
promulgated IN his late message, to be
made the law of the land. it would not
be long ere such scenes as have occurred
lately and often at Trafalgar square
in London would be enacted in our own
fair land.
Now, under protection, the worst we
ever had IN the way of mobs has been
where agitators have induced men to
quit work when they were receiving
such wages as would be considered mu.
nificent in England.
Under free trade system, it would
not be strike for higher wages, but q
bowling mob composed of people ask.
ing for "bread or blood, {" who would be
willing and glad to work for any wage:
they could get.