Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-09-21
THE HON. wM.L. wILs0A.
The High Estdee Of the American Cit
lien IL Due to the COnstttution; Not


tzen 10 Due to the Constitution; Not
to the Tariff.
The Hon. VIM. L Wilsoa, Of West Viz
ginia, discussed The tariff in it, relation to
labor In . very lucid mAnnG. In the course
Of his remarks be saidi
Mr.. Chairman, come 10 the claim put
forward with most earnsstnsss In this debate
that the tariff 10 tho defense Of American
labor, and the one guaranty Of good wages
and prosperity to the American laboring
man. This II an honorable claim and de-
serves serious consideration. should deem
myself guilty Of . dagitious crime il en-
embody any principles In legislation. that
would harden the lot or impair the oppor-
tunitiss OF American labor.
But how do the advocates Of high tara
ton support this claimi Why, sir, they
stand up in this House, day altar day, and
say do not always portray the real facts. the
high estate and happy condition Of the
American laborsr, his good and steady
wages and ready accumulation Of wealth.
and his easy path upward to influence and
prosperity; and then they draw with greater
exaggsration Of detail their gloomy pictures
Of foreign labor, it, degradation. scant
wages, and almost unendurable destiny, and
sxclaim, behold what the tariff does for
American laborl'
Sir, It u true, and thank God It II true,
that the American laboring man u born 70
. higher and better destiny than the labor
ing man Of any other country In the world.
(ApplauSe.) 1t 10 true that We have never
yet had separate waGs-earning class In
this country. 1t II true that there u no
pressure OF ignorance Or poverty % great
that an ambitious American youth can not
break through and rise TO any position to
which his worth entities him. Il 10 true that
W. can So to-day . man who has risen from
orphanage and poverty to the Chief Nagis-
tracy Of sixty millions Of people; that in the
past men have risen from. tbs wcavsr's loom,
the tailog's bench and the cansl-boat; and
rejoice - IN American citizen that the same
uprising career h still open to ambition and
merit. But, Mr.. Chairman, they did NOT
S.v,ss
the Democratic sids.l They owe 1t to the
bounty Of Almighty God and to the institu-
tions OF great and free country. Ire
newsd applauseg They oweit to the man
hood, the pluck. the ambition and virtue
with which their Creator endowed them and
which the institutions Of their country ~
cure them. Renewsd applause.)
Mr.. Chairman, should but follow with
limping gait the vigorous and mastery step
Of tho Chairman of the COMMITTEES on Ways
and Means, were to detain the Committee
Of the Whole with an attempted discussion
of the question Of wages. His opening
speech embodied . careful and complete dis
cussion Of the whole subject. shall aspire
to nothing more than the statement of few
general principles, and their confirmation
By an authority or two. Wages are better
in America, and will remain better in AM
erica. not BY reason Of protective tariff,
the workingmAn himself earns more than
the laborer Of any other country. ZAP
plause.) Some Of the reasons for this are
that he brings to bis work Q more vigorous
body. 4 more cheerful and ambitious tenn
per, Q higher order Of intelligence and of
skil, and because be surpasses all other men
in hts constant efforts to invent labor. helping
machinery whereby the products Of his
labor are indefinitely multiplied. This last
ID q matter Of common observation among
ourselves, and Of constant wonder to other
people. The Superintendent OF our last
census has said:
.sThe American hvents - the oreek chiseled,
singA"
The Commissioner General of the United
States, At the last Paris Exposition. reported
that the new labor-saving inventions in our
machinery gallery "wsre q constant sur
prise an: :, delight TO the visitors from other
The whols argument ON the other ode IL
based on . comparison OF daily wages. 1t is
not . question of daily wages, hut Of tho
cost Of production which 10 70 determine our
ability to compete with other nations in our
own markets or those OF the world. 1t il not
the daily wages Of labor. but the produc-
tivity Of labor, II may use a word do not
altogether like, that il the vital element in
the discussion. American labor, a. . rule,
ia able to produces more, and for that reason
does receive more wages than other labor,
but this does not imply that with us the
labor cost Of production il higher than else-
where.
wages have increased in this country. but
not in the ratio in which tho productive
power OF labor has increased. These propo-
sitions are abundently confirmed by those
who have most thoroughly investigated the
subject. shall cite the testimony Of but one
or two.
am aware, sir, that it IL part of thu tao
tics Of our friends ON the otter side to dir
credit every man who tries TO reach general
principles a. . theorist and doctrainaire.
To attempt to apply general principles In
every other field of legislation il commended
ss statssmanship, but in tho great teld Of
taxation it becomes, in their eyes. a ,rs
theory and college profsssorism. There 10
no gentleman, in my judgment, more en-
titled to . hearing on this phase Of the wage
question than Mr.. Edward Atkinson. Mir.
Atkinson u . man Of almost infinite indus
try, who TO the capacity for gathering the
mott miuutA details adds q power of Qecet.i