The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1888-03-16
THE AMERICAN SYSTEM.

Why the aAmercian system" enslaves
the people
ist. Demagogues delude the masses by
misrepresentation Of the working OF the
tariff. We are told that Il makes wages
coed. This Is received without question
by the people In majority OF cases II
Is asserted with much emphasis that, be-
sides keeping up wages, It also prevents
foreign competition from flooding the
country and thereby stopping our Iniaat
industries Industries an hundred years
old are called infaats. We are blandIy
told, We must protect eur iaberlng classes.
Thla la wolf In sheeps clothing. We arc
told that Il Il TO prevent our free psopie
from being brought In competition with
pauper labor Of England. This Is warn
Ing given by designing polldelans They
ara the apt tsois ef their emplopea-they
are hypocrItes. They are men who by
sleeck evasions of she.pIedges made to the
people who elected them to Office. Tkey
are the paid servants Of the manufacturers
by whose money they secured their elec.
ton. They are the monopollsts Attor.
neys. The pledges they made to their
constitutions, vanish like the dew Of =
July morning. Yes this is what We are
told, and have partially shown By when.
In fact We are an enslaved people. and we
are partly to blame, but net wholly. The
true werkIag Of the tariff shall now en-.
deavoF TO show from the home standpoint
Of the Iaboriag CLASSES. I shalt pull of
my gloves 20 TO speak and handle II with
a. plain English as can command. To
begia with, then, shall lay down some
statements based on facts
rst. Almost every article the labsrsr
wears bears a higher duty according to
cost to manufacturer than apparel wern
by the rich.
and. The tariff works hardship on the
lab0rer, while II flls the Golfers of the
manufacturer to overiiawing with cash BY
unequal and unjust taxation.
3rd. Internal revenue and import duty
work similarly, ia adding cost to the con
sumer.
9Th. All tariff Is protection.
ssh. Duty paid on imported goods arr
tiHclally enhanees the price Of all similar
articles manufactured.
9th. The consumer not emily pays the
duty but also the dealers per cent on eost,
and this includes more than a reasonable
per cent upon the manufacturers coat bat
large per cent on caah Investea as duty,
and the evidence Of this will show csHclu'
sIvely for whose beAeEt the America n
system. was Instituted and, will en-
dsaver to fully elucidate that the mana.
fseturer and moaopolists were the instiga.
tors and origiaators Of the Amerieaa sys.
tenn, for the very purpose Il actually fila,
|. e. Il makes the poor man poorer aad the
rich man richer. That there were men In
Congress who anticipated the effect Il
would have IL plainly shown BY the an.
swcrs given by the friends Of pTotsctlen at
that time 70 objections advanced BY true
politicians. Said the protection advocate.
"we only ask for this tariff law to hold a
few years, until we can get our factories
built up and in good running order then
| we can complete with the world" This
they felt 10 be true. That Il has built up
giant msnePelles no enc doubts. That the
boarded millions thus acquired are being
used TO held their owners death grip on
the masses Is positively shawn In Wash
ington to-day. That there Is to be great
battle between the true politician headed
by Grover Cleveland and the hydra-head.
ed octopus led by Blaine, Sherman, etc, is
manifest. The conflict Is upon US. Every
veter in the land will be called upon 70
take sides. Intelligent, upright, honest,
candid man, investigate before you enter
the fray.
Now In giving the proof Of staten ent,
FIRST above, II Is not necessary TO say more
than that the reading public Is fully aware
that the highest per cent ad valorum duty
Is on the cearsest and cheapest, hat, wool
en- cloth and cotton fabrics, etc, hence
acting as a factor, to unjustly ovcr.tax the
Iaborer. Further 1t tends to fiIl the Golfers
and money vaults Of the rich at the sx
pense of the bone and sinew Of the labor
er, because there are thousands of labor.
ers 70 tens Of the wealthy classes, thus we
see in the tariff the effects Of this Ameri
can system which stamps II as class legis
lation enslaving the masses, for the bsne
fit Of the few. and. The proof of the sec
ond statement lies In the fact that every
article bought not produced on the farm i
taxed directly by having an import dut,
or by Its price being artiicially raised Il
the amount of the price of duty paid OF
like, or similar fabrics. This point |
worthy of careful consideration, for II
can be maintained that duty paid on an.
article will thus materially affect the Pric
of similar articles manufactured here, e,thei
we will be the better prepared to denounc
the entire system as we'll as the men VIII
ment Third, is self-evident, / thinl
for 1t seems plain to me that II any articl
for commercial purposes were required
then pay out cash for internal revenu
stamps to stamp such articles before the
could place them upon the market, thi
they would be compelled to ask per Ger
! profit On this, and with as just reasons ts
as though It had cost them just that muc
more to produce them, hence the concl'
sion Is correct that protection does work
hardship on the larborer, by artificial
raising the cost on every item of the laho
ers purchases whether hat or boots,
coat for himself or the prints or cambrl
thread, buttons for his family. Thus stat