Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-09-17
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM A LA

BOR ORGAN.
The National Labor Tribune is probably
the most prominent labor organ ID the
being the official organ Of the
Amalgamated Association of Iron and
Steel Workers, the National Federation of
Miners and Mine Lsborers, snd OF D. A.
1876 K. of L 1t is exceedingly ably ed
tied and Of course non-partisan and strict
" devoted to the interests of labor. In
view of these facts the following from its
editorial columns is interesting and signih'
One of the troubles of labor organiza-
tions has always been the disposition OF
trusted leaders to sell out the members
The Knights OF Labor was never intended
to be a party organization; ON the contra
its main purpose is to protect labor
against the greed Of capitalists. If this
organisation had no existence labor would
be entirely dependent upon employers who
insist upon the right 20 dictate to laborsrs
what price they shall work for. If party
politics is allowed to enter the orgsDlzs-
ton its day of usefulness will soon be gone.
The Knights Of Labor " it to them
selves to severely rebuke General Secretary
Litchman for his attempt TO deliver over
the votes of the organization to Quay. No
body doubts the right OF any citizen to
take part in politics and vote as he may
see fit; bat an officer in the employment OF
a nOn-partisan organization has no right
70 use his official position for party or per-
sonal M If Mr.. Litchman had
been simply an unofficial member Of the
Knights OF Labor, would Mr.. Quay have
procured his letter, or the Republican
have given il circulation ?
Certainly not; anybody who ID not very
stupid knows that Mr.. Quay wOnld never
have employed Mr.. Litchman to write or
sign q partisan campaign letter, If he hsd
not been n leading officer OF a great labor
organization. The letter ia nothing more
nor less than a Republican campaign doc
ument, and it's only value grows out of the
fact that it is signed by a man who has
been honored by the knights Of Labor
with official position. lis has abused his
trust by using his position to give charac-
ter to Republican rot"
Look at the letter. The substance Of it
is that it is TO ne interest of iaboring men
to vote for the Republican candidates, be-
cause the Republican party "would foster
and the labor of our " peo-
ole and retain fer them the market and
wages of our own country" while, as he
says, the Democratic psrty represents the
British system, which would break down
the barriers of protection. Such is the
every day clap-trap of Republican news
papers, and it is utterly false.
The British system is free trade, while
the Democratic policy is embodied in the
Mills bill; and the Mills bill retains q duty
on every manufactured article high enough
to cover the difference in cost of produc-
ton in this country and abroad. Take
steel rails. Ii coats $3.50 q ton more to
make them here than in Eog!and, and 1t
costs about 81 a ton to ship steel rails from
England 10 this country. While the Eng
man can make his ton of rais 81 80 cheap.
er owing to the lower wages and less cost
of pig, it costs him 81 to bring each
ton into our market, so that, if there
Was free trade, the Englishman would
have an advantage of $55 % q ion.
The present duty is SIT a ton, and
the Mills bill reduces it 10 $1l, being over
IS per cent reduction. So that any manu-
facturer of steel rails can afford to pay the
rates of wages paid before the recent re-
duction was made by the aid of a police
force, and still be able 10 produce rails
SIS so q ton cheaper than the EDglishman
can bring rails into our market subject to
the duty provided by the Mills bill. The
same il true of every other manufactured
article, because the bill was carefully
drawn 80 as to retain duties high enough
to cover the difference in cost of production
at home and abroad. The duties on every
article are more han enough 10 enable our
manufacturers to keep up the present
standard of wages, and the fact that they
object TO such reduction is conclusive
proof that they want II higher tariff than
the Mills bill provides for the purpose Of
increasing their WI profits, and not for
the purpose of keeping up the price Of H.
Dor.
The high tariffs Of the past twenty-seven
years have benefited the British by de-
stroying American shipping. and taking
away luN NhStS VI Tuip-'hiliiuk duu Ihr
running OF ships. When the Republican
party came into power the tonnage of
American ships engaged in the foreign
trade wa twice IA great az it wa when
that party was driven out of power. al
though the trade had doubled. In 1860
American vessels carried over sixty. six
per cent. of our foreign trade; in 1884 only
sixteen per cent. Labor vas driven ont
Of the shipping business and compelled to
crowd into the highly protective indus
tries, aud the labor employed in furnish
thrown out of employment. The British
got the shipping trade. Labor was driven
ont of many other kinds of employment
into the protected industrial. If duties
were fairly adjusted, as the Mills bill prU-
vides. new channels of labor would be
opened in industries now idle.
Every Knight of Labor who has kept
his eyes open during the past twenty-s5ven
years, to see what Is going on about him,
has seen the people of this country gradu-
ally dividing into classes such az exist in
England he has seen the gulf between
laborers md their employers growing
Wlutr eaCu year, He ud5 StSu STaHu man.
siOns, like the homes of noblemen, built
by protected mill owners and capitalists ;
and he has seen his own class treated with
such a degree Of u~nfairDess that they were
forced to organize to secur anything like
fair prices for their work. High tariffs
have produced classes in this country, aud
forced labor into the lowest and most de.
pendent and least respected class; and
they would have been forced into servile
positions if they had not saved themselves
by organization.
The whole course of Republican legisln-
tIon has been against labor. That party
enacted the contract labor law in 1864,
and kept it in force until it was repealed
by a law originating In q Democratic Con-
press. II made the government bonds
payable in gold. although they had been
bought with ~greenbacks, when gold was at
q high premium, thus favoriDg the rich
and hardening labor. They abolished the
war taxes on home manufacturers, on cor
pOratiops such as insurance companies, on
bank deposits, checks, deeds and the like;
which taxes were paid by the rich, and
were abolished within three years after
the close of the war; but now, when the
WAT has been over twenty-five years, they
will moi listen to any proposal to lower
the war taxes on the articles which the