Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-09-14

can derive picANt1 tFOlE g. ne cost OF
MS oountrymen who buy his wares.
Strip the subjscs of the deceitful
drapery of words which the skillful
euphs INST employs, and there is the
whole of i. When you hear m-n denv If,
ak again icHerein does the tariff protect
9th rlCises Ii " ware not for b :, tUhdt
is i that the manufacturer lcants of itf II
Il were not for this, would snev seek con-
tiuuasIy to make the tariff tar HIGHER: If
1t were not for tals, wIu.d the Specially
favored manufacturers contribute SO
enormously of thei' fiat" TO their psrs!
Why otherwise wogid there be obirc-iou
TO the reduction Of the tariff taxstiobs
Now, wherein Is there q benefit TO the
American people at large from this sys-
tenn?
FIRST, WHAT DOES IT COT?
Here lies the subtle secret Of Is epdur-
ance. TIE citizen pays, UNCONSCIOUS of
the limits of the ex4ction. It is here q
little and there little, and the difference
requires careful inquiry 10 distinguish:
Az inquiry that the average man but rare
iy makes. The demand is, however, upon
eve.y man, woman and child in the land.
tt is visited upon every article o / appar-
cl from head to foot; Gpon almost every
thing with whic5 the affairs of life are
conducted. 1t adds a few cents to the
RIBBONS our ladies wear, a few dollars TO
the coats upon our backs, few mills 10
every pound of nails the tarmer buys, q
few dollars TO his plowshare; 1t is little
upon his hoe, and it is much upon his
reaper. Reckon for moment; what i
the sum in q year of five cents a day on
every nan, woman and child in the land.
Roundsy stated, a thousand III 'liion of
dollars. That is the process by which
the tribute of protection is exacted. Here
a little and there little, here less and
there more; but nobody escapes, nc child
20 young that lss necessities do not con
tribute to this charge, none so old, 40
poor, that they escape this exRction. It
is paid on the n1rsiDg bottle for the baby
first coming into the world, and on the
coffin when he is carried out of it.
Mark! this is not tariff taxation; this is
tribute to class.
The tax which is paid on articles i'm
ported, we all know the amount of. 1t
was S220,O0O,C00 during the last
There lies the pitL of this matter. That
IS hidden to every one except the careful,
patient, plodding student Of statistics.
L. 10 III Iuc VI ltto
that the success of the devilish machina
lion lies. If the American people we're
directly charged with il, instant revolt
would follow. But what is the amount of
it? Ask the statist!cian. The more
studiously and laboriously you inquire,
the greater Will the startling sum appear.
Itis safe to say, as the result of statisti,
cal inquiry, that the enhanced cost of the
articles protected by the tariff law is more
than five times the amount of the tax
which the tariff yields the treasury.
And what are the benefits TO compen-
safe this national burden? The favorie
argument is that it increases the wages
of the laborer in protected Industries.
IF IT DID
there would at least be something
in its favor. Yet, even then, it would be
better ard cheaper to make the increase
by direct bounty. We should, atleast,
know what We paid and know that the
labocer got it. But no pretense was ever
talser than this. No Iaborer derives q
mill OF gain by reason of this tribute. 1t
is simply bold assertion, untrue in fact
and incapable of proof. The manufact-
urer hires his labor, ard aIgeys will, as
chespIy as he can; and the price hoes not
depend on the abundance OF his means,
but IL governed by tho lay of supply and
demand. You have seen manufacturers
become millionaires. Did they raise
wages thereupon? Do wages rise as en-
ployers grow richer? How sreposterous!
Have not manufacturers repeate dly reduc
ed wages when the tariff tax WAS not red DC.
ed? Let the records of the Knights OF
Labor answer. Let the history OF strikes,
the plague of tramps, both almost un-
known 20 Us before e8hOrbitant tariffs,
give reply.
But simple com pariscn which every
man can make on his own knowledge, eff
fectuaIly disp0ses of the false pretense.
Contrast the wages paid laborers in pro,
tected industries with the wages earned
by carpenters, bT masous, by brirhlayers,
by blacksmiths, hy printers, iii shOrs, in
any unprotected industry. No labor is
more prosperous than theirs; no more
iaborers more Independent than they.
But suppose it were true that sometimes
something has been doIed cut to the
laborer from the increased profits paid
By the people to the producers Of tariff
protected articles. Is that system to
be permanently sustained b, American
freemen?
AEE THE SIXTEEN MILLIONS OF LABORERS
engaged on farms, in trade and trans por-
lation, in professions aud personal ser
vices, in the various unprotected indus-
tries, 10 be earning great sums
of money, year By year, forever
10 be given tho few employers
in the industries claimed to be "a
vo1ed by protection, uPOn the weak and
simple trust that they will pay their la
borers more! Is it in accordance with
the spirit of American liberty to Gstab-
lish sach a system of financial feudalism
III the land, to set up lords of wealth il
order to take care or them they hire?
How foolish such an expectation, let
single case unfold. Col. Scott. the rep
resentativs in congress from the Ecie
district of Pennsylvania, himself az ex
tensive emplorer of labor, an honest,
fearless man who finds no necessity for
wrong dong 10 order TO be successfGl in
business, exposed on the floor of congress
the unvarnIshed truth. He recently stat
ed to that body that a member of the
Edward Thompson Steel works, nearing
Mr.. Carnegie, though he gave no name),
personally admitted to him that IN a
single year he drew as his individual
share of that company 81 ,0O0 of
money; and he bat one of several part
neIs.
FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER DAY
to that poor laborer for 800 working days
in the year. And what gas the average
daily wage his Sorkingmen received
during such time as he employed them;
about 81. The company divided as the
profits of an hour more than tbs WORK
ingmau received for the labor of year.
This is the pith of protection 70 the
American laoorer. This, doubtless, is an
extreme case, but it Is an Illustrative one.
Few of the tariff protected lords are so
lordly gs Mr.. Carnegie, with his castle il
Scotland, aud his coach and four upon
which Mr.. Blaine rode 10 view the indus
tries of Great Britain shortly before he
came back to this country to tell Us, in
our bepighted ignorance, all about labor
there and labor here, with that keen and
appreciative sym Sarhy with toll, which
one derives from residence in a British
castle.
COURTESY ID GEN. HARRISON.
Here the speaker went on
to speak of the effects of different
tariffs, beginning with the Walker
tariff Of 1916. He also dwelt on
the presidents message and the Mills
bill. and then closed in magnificent
Peroration in which he courteousIy spoke
of Gen. Harrison. He said:
It is gratifying always to speak OF
r,nIftiral pdverzarv and especialIv nf