Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-05-03

manufacturer might whistle for his share
Of the protection Well. that is precisely
what the manufacturer does now with his
products protected and his labor free"
As to the claim of the high protection
lists that tariff not only raises directly
the prices OF manufactured products. but
indirectly the prices Of all other articles,
and hence the wages Of all other labor,
the Senator says:
OF course this is absurd, but It is neces-
sary for them to say something in answer
to the charge that If protection does not
20 all round IL is the taxing OF one man to
support another, and is, therefore. unequal
and unjust. a moments cor
alteration viii show that protection cannot
help even the factory hand. II his wages
are increased, rs they ssy, because prices
of products are increased, then the price OF
labor is dependent on the price Of pro-
ducts, and the amount OF the one must be
in proportion 10 the other. It follows,
then, rs clear rs day, that the increased price
ofeyerythingo on which the laborer lives will
precisely keep pace with the increase in
his wages, and his condition is not whit
improved There is no escape from this
on the theory that protection is Just and
raises all prices in the same proportion.
In this case it would be no protection at
all, for tax levied equally on every man
for the support Of every man, would do no
man any good, and would be simply anui-
sanee. The only conceivable way in which
protective taxation en- benefit anybody is
to levy it on and collect it from one set Of
men and pay il over to another. This Is
precisely what protection does, and that is
why the manufacturer elamors for it and
the consumer does not. Again, If wages
were regulated by the prices of products,
it would follow inevitably that the normal
ratio between them would be preserved
under Similar condition. Yet, as have
before said, for many years past, with more
or less Of fiuctuation, prices have steadily
fallen and wages have risen with equal
steadiness.
Senator VANCE then quotes the figures
to prove 'thst wages have risen more and
been better maintained in free-trade Eng
land than in slave-trade America, " and
continues:
In truth, all economic history shows that
wages have always been lowest when prices
have been highest, TINS furnishing con-
elusive proof that the workingman's reward
has been increased as science has enlarged
his intelligence and improved his imple-
ments, and freedom has stimulated his en-
ergies, by all Of which his products have
been multiplied and eheapened.
OF the lying methods of the protection
to- American labor hypoerites Senator
VANCE gives the following illustrations:
Just at this time, pending the tariff re-
| form agitation in the House, in common
with other Congressman, am daily del
uged with slave trade pamphlets, all more
! or less distressed TO death over the horrible
fate of the workiugmsn, and appealing to
the humane TO save him. One pamphlet,
which is now before me, is headed as fol-
lows: 1.-THE Foreign Raid Begun! Pre-
pairing for the Onslaught on American In
dustriesw Then follows the startling in
formation that lot Of Belgian iron masters
are preparing to flood this country with
with cheap iron house and bridge building
material, and have already scattered their
advertising circulars broadcast over the
land Sin anticipation of the possible action
of the free trade Congress" The writer
then says that Tariff Leage representative
got list Of their prices on beam iron, and
found that they offered them at SIS 81 per
ton, plus s.. Al charges and SIS duty-to-
tai $50 80; and adds that American man.
ufacturers cannot make such beams for
less than SO. OF course, he says, "The
labor cost, more than anything else, makes
this difference 1t so happens, however,
that the census of 1880 gives US statistics,
furnished by the manufacturers themselves,
of the percentage of labor in the working
of iron in America; that percentage is
lI8.77. At this rate the labor in a ton of
such iron in Belgium is about IS so, in
America SIG. so; but the duty is $2S and
ocean freight $244 more-total $50 A,
against the Belgian. Now, what becomes
OF the S13 81 which remains after paying
the American ironworker three times the
wages of the Belgian? No man with COM
mon sense can doubt for moment that it
goes into the pocket of the manufacturer
He shouts himself hoarse for the money
to be given to the American laborers; he
hires men like this scribbler to falsify the
truth in the name of the American lsborer;
his tears roll down his cheeks in eopious
and piteous streams for his beloved Ameri-
can laborer, but, suppressipg his grief IS
bsst he may, he wipes them away aud
pockets the money. Surely this is an aff.c-
tion SURPRISING the love of woman.
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