The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1888-10-25
PROTECTION.
WHAT 1T DOES FOR THE AMERicAfI
LABoReR AND FARMER. a.

True American 8yetoms - Dtate0 - the |
Georyia Chautauqua by william MoKin-
ley, Jr.
Upon what terms can we adopt rev.
onue tariff system in this country In
one way only, by accepting European
conditions, and submitting to all the dis
comforts and disadvantages Of our COM
mercial rivals. The chief obstruction in
the way of q revenue tariff is the wages
paid American workingmen, and any
return to that policy involves reduc-
tion Of the cost Of labor. We can not |
afford, Mr.. President, to have cheap labor |
in the United States. Cheap labor means |
cl,enp men and dear money. I would
rather elevate and improve the condition
of my fellow. citizens than increase the
value of money and the power OF
''money- bags" This 10 republic OF
free and equal citizenship. The govern
ment is in the hands Of the masses, and
not Of the few. This IL our boast, and 1t
IL proud one. The condition Of the
masses, their well-being, their intelli-
gence, their preparation for the civil du-
ties which rest upon them, depend
largely upon the scale Of industrial wages.
It is essential, therefore, that the best pos
sible wages attainable shall be secured
and maintained. This is vital and fund
amental. We can not without grave dan
ger and serious disturbance--we ought
not under any ircumstances-adopt
policy which would scale down the wages
and diminish the comforts Of American
workingmen. Their welfare and inde-
pendence, their progress and elevation, are
closely related to the welfare and inde-
pendence and progress Of the republic. We
have no pampered class in this country,
and we want none. We want the field
kept open. No narrowing Of the avenues;
no lowering Of our standard. We want
no barriers raised against higher and
better civilization. The gateway Of oppor-
tunity must be open to all, to the end
that they may be first who deserve to be
first, whether born In poverty or reared
in luxury. We do not want the masses
excluded from competing for the first
rank among their countrymen and for
the nations greatest honors, and we do
do not mean that they shall be.
FREE TRADE MEANS CHEAPER MEN.
Free trade, or q revenue tariff, will Of
necessity shut them out. It has no..respect
for labor. It holds It as mere machin-
cry Of capital. II would have cheap
men that Il might have cheap merchan-
disc. With all it's boosted love for the
struggling millions 1t is infinitely more
interested in cutting down the wages Of
labor than in saving twenty-five cents
ON q blanket; more intent In reducing
the purchasing power Of a mans labor
than the price Of his coat. Things are
not always dearest when their price is
nomipally the highest. The price ia
not the only measure, but the where
with to buy 1t Is an essential factor.
Few men before me but have found in
the course of their lives more than once
that which was cheapest when measured
by mere price was dearest when they were
without money and employment, or when
their products could find no market, or
finding 1t commanded no price at all
commensurate with the labor required to
produce them. Primarily 1t Is labor
which is interested most in this question
of protection. The man with money can
seek other avenues Of profit and invest
ment, or can wait for his dividends, but
the laborer cannot wait for his dinner,
and the United States do not want cit
ixens who make presidents and senatea
and the house Of Representatives to be in
condition Of dependence and dsstitu.
tion. That u not the sort Of citisenship
We want aAES HE +
T., THE MAGNIFICENT ''HOME MARKET"
Next TO the. laborer the farmer Il the
immediate beneficiary Of the American
system. It brings 70 his plantation q
city of consumers The farmer and the
factor are brought Into CLOSE proximity.
The problemof transportationls largely
eliminated. He hnds market not only
for stapls products which would bear
TRANSPORTATION, but for many prodnst,
which but for . homo market would
waste and decay in the fields need moi
tell farmer In this neighborhood Of ths
beusficisl effects Of Q home market Hi
own experience 10 better than any phi
losophy. Atlanta has given him an OBJ
ject lesson. It has increased the valu,
OF his farm products and enhanced ths
value Of sve-ysfoot Of ground hs owns.
" BENJAMIN franklin, in writing from
London in 1881, to Humphrey Marshall
comprehended the situation when h,
said: Ai'Y ~ ''''I "'t '''
; every manufacturer encouraged II
our country makes part Of a market
for provisions within ourselves, and
saves 20 much money to- tho country
Is must otherwise bs exported To pay fol
the manufactures he supplies. Here II
England 1t is well known and under
stood that wherever q manufacture a
established, which employs numbe
of hands, 1t raises 'the value Of land II
, the nsighborIpg country all around 1t
partly by the greater demand near q
hand for the produce Of the land ant
! partly from the plenty Of money drawl
by the manufacturers to that part o
the country. II seems therefore to tn,
interest of our farmers and owners o
lands to encourage our young man
ufacturers In preference to foreign onei
tvV1vN nd