Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-07-06

[ the IdTlI we WHEN the UdThtt lOI Oui
manufactured products. 1t is only by
removing the restraints upon trade
that we can enlarge the consumption
and exchange Of the products of in
dustry. That and that alone can give
employment to the ever increasing
army of idle men and make their en-
ployment steady and permanent. The
| furnace man as well as the farmer
must be able to sell his surplus pro-
duct in the markets of the world be-
fore labor in this country can be con-
tinuously employed at wages which its
intelligence and industry can place far
above the wages of the ignorant and
incompetent labor of other lands
The taxes imposed by the Republican
party at the demand of the manufac-
lures are the most powerful factor in
enforcing idleness and in reducing the
wages of labor. They enforce idIeness
by restricting and cOrnering the mar
ket for our manufactured products.
They reduce the wages of labor by
burdening the employers Of eighty per
cent. of the country S labor for the
sole profit of the manufacturers who
employ only twenty per cent. These
taxes are levied by the manufacturers
at the great trade centerS and chiefly
in the Eastern states upon the people
at large and the wealth of the country
is steadily flowing eastward and into
the large centerS and into few hands
y diminishing margin is left in the
hands of the people for the purpose of
country towns, as every country trader
will bear witness, and this has given
rise to the necessity of offering for
sale cheap commodities of all kinds
These are not always the wisest econo-
my but they are made necessary by
the want of money to pay for more
substantial though higher priced
goods.
Although there is a very striking
and instructive analogy between tariff
and patent laws, it has never been
claimed that patent laws were a bless
ing and protection to labor Each
grants government protection against
competition and in favor of greater
profits Has it ever been claimed that
manufacturer under patent actually
paid higher wages by reason of his
patent? Why then should it be claimed
that manufacturer under a tariff paws
higher wages than he would without
the tariff Can we escape the con-
clusion that the claim is made for the
sole purpose of delUding labor into
supporting the manufacturers demand
LOT protection
There is, lastly, another feature of
the situation which marks us as pecu-
liar among the great industrial powers
of the world. As | have shown the
great nations of continental Europe
living under a high tariff relieve the
competition of labor by compulsory
army service and also by emigration to
this country. We are the only great
industrial nation which imports labor
and at the same time discOurages the
expectation of the products of labor.
We restrict to its lowest possible linn
its the market for our manufactured
goods While we daily add to the COM
petition Of labor by immigration from
other lands. We enact the story of an
old nursery rhyme, "Walk into nv
Parlor said the spider to the fly" The
spider welcomes the immigration of the
fly, and when it is once within his do
mlnion he promptly corners the
market. Spider like we welcome labor
and then with great assurance proceed
to the second act of the spider s little
dramatic performance the ENJOYMENT
OF the home market. The manufac-
turing spider is the only one benefited
by corned home market, his fellow
men are the flies upon which he fat
tens. The tariff is the web which he
spins for the protection of labor and
labor has thus far been its melancholy
and long suffering victim. | believe
the day of its deIiverance is near at
hand and with its deIiverance we shall
find localities now in industrial decay
renewing the activities of earlier DAYS
The distribution of wealth will be
more nearly determined by industry
and honest endeavor and we shall then
see and recognize the fact that LABOR
Is MOST blessed WHERE IT Is LEAST
BURDENED; that while laws can enrich
few they can not confer bounties
upon all. The utmost they can do for
all is to prevent the unjust exaction Of
a few. DAVID r. JoNrs