The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1888-08-21

Iro14cf 0f HMs. Tons. Duty teed Jy Tariff
ssi s!s sna l1Sp rod $3.50 .ss"S S =. $500 'is%SS"
Plate and steel - s32.oS $3.50 iswo,oo
Other products. 100000 2.+o l2000o
S,ee rails Sc..~ $4,000 SW 2l,oOO,0,
| steer bars, &c.--.-... 242,Oo0 sa60 12.0O0,0O
Thus it will be seen th,x Il. 1880 the
United States government generously
donated to the Bessemer ring-the Penn
sylvania Steel Company and its comanp
ulators-$ll4,OO 900 of clear profit
MIR. Blaine and Mr.. Quay must surely
put this in the coming catechism Also
the following:
The highest wages which the 40, ,97e
laborers, skilled and unskiled, for their
work In the iron mills during this year
was Sl.l5 per day on an average, worked
out by such clear headed men as Mr.
Abram 5. Hewitt, now Mayor of New
York, and Mr. Swank, Of the Iron and
Steel Association. Note this is the "av-
erage" for those earning the higher pay.
The ordinary unskilIed laborer, the rank
and file, received no more than 80 to 50
cents day. Certainly grand showing
for labor in so highly protected an indus
try! On the one hand prolific millions,
on the other hand honest poverty, the
red shlrted laborer working six full days
or six full nights-tor, bear in mind,
those big iron works run day and night,
including Sundays-for the muniticent
sum of $l.l5 at most on which To main.
tain themselves and families. And, of
course, they were expected to return
thanks for the benefits of protection y
and vote on election day to keep the &.
0. p. in power.
" sTEALMAsTERs ENRICHED LABOR DE
FRAUDED.
Yes, indeed, the new Republican cate
chism ought to contain all these edifying
facts-alSo that the laborer in iron and
steel mills in Pennsylvania has been
brought by ''protection'' to point little
above the level of national paupers.
Millions has it given to the iron and
stealmasters," while to their employees it
has been the wiI-o'-the wisp, false bea-
con, hope and promise of better things
which have never been realized.
1t is not the fault of the disinterested
gentlemen" who are now loudly crying
ont "don't touch the tariff" that th e
country has not been ruined by the bur-
dens they condemned il to bear; ruin was
averted because the national prosp erity
was more powerful than the national i'm
povershment. Even since the Morrill,
act was passed in 1861 importations have
increased more rapidly than population,
in spite of q tariff intended to be almost
prohibitive. During all this time the
American people have been paying the
full amount Of duty in addition to nat
ural prices, both on domestic productions
and imported goods, proving that extreme
protection has not been the cause of any
fall in prices.
All, But Mr. Blaine's ignorant follow
ers, i. e., those who need educatlng-re-
fused to regard the matter in that light.
They have declared, first, that high wages
are great benefit, and can only be Sc
cured through high protection sec
ond, that high wages are certainly a
disadvantage, and must therefore be
offset by high protection. They are
like Baron Manchausen's hare, which
could always elude pursuers because he
had one set of legs where every good
hare is supposed to grow them and an
other set folded up on his back. When
he got tired out on one set of pins he
turned over and ran on the other set.
The generally accepted idea is that raw
material in the manufacture of goods av-
erages about 60 per cent. of their hnal
cost. The tariff on this material is 30
per cent, or l8 per cent. on the finished
article The amount of wages in this fin
ished article, according to the latest estl-
mate, is also lS per cent The manufac-
turer therefore pays an increase in the
shape of tariff tax equal to the full amount
Of wages in his goods. The result OF this
unustiiable imposition is to diminish pro-
duction. That's all.
Less than one per cent. OF the popula-
ton, or 493, 1854 laborers, were employed
in the wooden, cotton, iron, steel and
sugar industries when the last census
was taken in 1880. Supposlng an ave
rage of three persons dependent on each
of these workers, still there will be less
than per cent Of the whole people bene-
fitted bv the increased wages it is
declared protection gives these laborers.
If the argument that high wages are Sc
cured in that way could be substantlated
land it cannot), the fact would still stand
out in bold relief that 96 per cent. OF the
nation is taxed for the benefit of the other
per cent. on the productions mentioned.
More points for the republican text
book
REPUBLICAN STATEMENT OF AMERICAN
LABOR
In 1878 when the government was in
the hands of republican retormers, the
Department of State published state
ment to the effect that "the average
American workman performs from one
and a half to twice as much work in Il
day as the average European workman"
| At this "official" " rate the American
workman is paid at least 25 per cent. less
than his brother across the seas. For,
see here. 2,732,595 American workmen
produce manufactured articles valued at
$5. 1863, $40, ,l9l, equal to $l,965 per work.
er. while the English average was only
$3.50 per worker. Thus the republican
official statement is corroborated. But
that statement was issued for purpose
The purpose failed. Now the same par
ties who issued it declare the government
must "protect the manufacturer " be-
cause he pays 25 per cent. more wages
than the foreign manufacturer "a vile
falsehood, for, according to their own
" official" document, American Labo,
is really so per cent cheaper than ta6o'
abroad
While the late President Arthur was
in power the Department of State also
published the fact that English cotton op-