Wichita eagle., 1888-08-23

can people. Why don't they carry it out:
Why don't they, when they find IN Port
Huron lawyer think | may name them
the proceeds of whose profession don't
afford him and his family comfortable
| support, why don't they tax you all for
| his benefit so as to protect him? Or when
| they find doctor whose income is not sui
! ficient to support him or his family, why
don't they tax all the people OF Port Huron
tori And SO on with everything else!
Why don't they do it? And yet they do
tax man or did tax him, and do yet
pretty highly sometimes, on the medicine
| that he is obliged to take. l remember
one of the most satisfactory votes that |
cast when in the senate OF the United
States was to abolish the tax on quinine;
so that a man with the fever and
ague could have his .quinine
without being robbed of his
| means of subsistence. lApplause.J
| know there are few cases, but they are
| very few and exceptional and not OF SUI
| ficient Importance to make 1t necessary Tor
me to speak OF them toeay, IN the limited
time have to speak, In which the duty or
tariff tax is not all paid by the consumer,
but they are SO trifling in amount and so
insignificant that it is not necessary that L
should occupy your time with them. The
principal, the general fact IS that this tax
here the speaker was interrupted by
cheering and applause which followed his
producing a bandana handkerchief Well,
gentlemen, this is a good, honest handler-
chief, and | could have bought it good
deal cheaper if it had not been for the
tariff tax [Great laughter and prolonged
cheeringl Now, there are men who say
the consumer don't pay the tax. | have
said that that is a most audaclous
assertion, and I have tried to
bo, hot hp necessarily
tax. But if they want authority upon
that subject let me refer to some men who
have spoken upon it and whose words will
hardly be gainsald.
Mr. Thurman then quoted from John
Quincy Adams, President Arthur, Presi-
dent Garfield and other Republicans IN
support Of his argument.
lie then said: well, now, so far from
this being free trade, the most striking
thing about the Mills bill is that 1t Is the
most moderate reduction of tariff duties
that has ever been attempted in this coun-
try. The average duty levied under the
present tariff was Al per cent ana under
the Mills bill the average would be only
about 40 per cent, a reduction OF only per
cent upon all commodities put together
Of course there are some things on Which
the duty was reduced more For instance
the duty is taken off Of a number of artl-
cles called raw material which are used
by manufacturers III their work in the
fabrication Of their products. And as they
receive this great benefit of having their
raw material free or with comparatively
small duty, the bill wisely provides that
the articles manufactured by them when
brought into the country shall pay a lower
rate of duty than they did before. But
that is nothing more than a compensation
for taking off the duty from raw material.
Now my friends there is another thing to
which | wish to call your attention. They
say all at once q say all at once for it is a
very late doctrine) these advocates of pro-
lection are all at once seized with wonder
full solicitude for the laboring man of the
country, and they want high protective
tariff-not to benefit the mOnOpolist, not
to benefit the manufacturer, according to
their statement, but to benefit the labor
ing man. He is the man they seek TO pro-
tect. And how are they going to protect
him? Why, they say that high protec-
tive tariff viii better his condition. give
him more wages, higher wages. | would
like to know how that is to be. | would
like TO know how that can be. | would
like to know how taxing laboring man
on everything from the crown of his head
to the sole of his feet is going to enrich
him. Laughter and applause. Yet this
is exactly what this tariff tax is doing. 1t
taxes him onthe hat that he wears, on that
cap that put on my head to keep itwarm.
Applause and laughter 1t taxes him on
his shirt, on his neck-tie, on his
under clothes, on his coat, on
his vest, on his breeches.
on his stockings, on his boots, On every
thing Renewed cheering. 1t raises the
price and taxes him until the poor man
can hardly make enough money, even if
he gets few cents more wages in the day
it taxes him until he can hardly make
enough money TO support himself and his
little family, if he has one. And yet they
say that this is for the benefit Of the
laboring man. My friends, that is a very
bold-faced statement, if there ever was one
in the world, But there is another thing
about this. How is he to get these high
wages Why, he is TO get them because
his employer, the capitalist or monOpolist.
will make more money, and, therefore, he
can afford to pay his employees or hired
men higher wages than he paid them
before. l agree that he could; |
agree that it increases his profits; 1
increased profits, pay his laboring
men more than they were paid before.
But does he do it? That is the question.
Applause and cries OF mo, no.' Did
you ever know him TO do it? Cries Of
NO, no." The tariff has been raise
again, and again; it was immensely raised
by the tariff of 1861 or 1852, | forget which
Of these years it was. 1t was raised in
few years again, and it has been raised
again and again, and yet in all that time |
never have been able to find the manu-
facturer or capitalist who upon the raising
OF tariff has increased the price paid to
his lahorerS. If there was such a case it
has escaped the attention eff rybody,
even these diligent newspaper men who
gather up all the news and some times
a great deal that is not news at
all. Laughter. But they have never
been able to find that manufactur
ing man who increased the price had his
laborers because the tariff was increased.
But my friends, we have had now for
twenty-seven years, nearly, the highest
tariff that this country ever knew; fully,
on an average, twice as high as it ever was
before the war: we have had that high
tariff all this time. Now if that high
tariff is so much for the benefit of the la
boring men why haven the laboring men
in the twenty-seven. years grown 1fch? |
should like TO know. Have they? TCries
of no no. - Ii they have they are very
unreasonable men, for every year, not a
year passes over our heads that we do not
hear of strikes Of the laborers because they
demand more wages and say they can not
live on what they receive. Again and
a. gain we hear of what are called Jock outs
That is where the employers suspend op
erations and lock up their mills be
cause they say they can not afford TO pay
any more wages than they did nav.
Why ara these strikes? Why are these
lock outs2 Thy are there such inStitu-
tions as labor unions? SO as TO secure bet
ter wages. Why is there such an lnstitu-
ton as the Knights of Labor? 70 protect
laboring men from being imposed upon
and 70 increase their compensation. Why
is there a necessity tor all these things and
all these extensive and worthy orsanlza-
tIons u high tariff gives high wages to
the iaborer} No man can answer that