Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1888-09-05

a
false pretense. Well, what said Presi-
dent Arthuri He was good Republican.
In his annual message to Congress in 1889
or 1883, he said: 81 recommend the en-
largement of the free list That is, all
goods that pay no duty, so as to include
within it the numerous articles which yield
inconsiderable revenue, simplifcation of
the complex and inconsistent schedule of
duties on certain manufactures, particu-
larly on cotton, iron and steel, and sub
stantial reduction on those articles and
upon sugars, molasses, wool and woolen
goods" Well, that Ia precisely what the
Democrats are striving to do. That is pre-
cisely what the Mills bill, as it is called,
attempts to do. And yet those gentlemen
who are bowling around about the beauties
OF protection and the ruin the Democrats
are bringing on the country tell you that
this thing which President Arthur recon-
mendod only 80 recently is nothing in the
world but free trade.
AIMS OF THE MILLS BILL
The Republicans are more afraid Of free
trade than they are of rattlesnakes.
Laughter. They are terribly alarmed
less they should be bitten by free trade.
lRenewed laughter and cheers. Now, so
far from this Mills bill beng free trade,
Z
Is the most modest reduction Of tariff
duties that has almostever been attempted
in this country. The average duties levied
under the present tariff are AZ per cent
Under the Mills bill the average duties
will be only about 40 per cent A mere re-
duction Of per cent on all the duties
taken together OF course there are some
things upon which the duties are reduced
more For instance, duties taken OF
number OF articles called raw materials
which are used by the manufacturers in
their work in the fabrication of their prod
uct. And rs they receive this great
benefit OF having their raw materials free
or at comparatively small duty, the bill
wisely provides that articles manufact-
ured by them when brought into the coun-
try shall pay lower rate of duty than
they did before, but that Is nothing more
than compensation for taking OF the duty
on raw materials President Garfield
said in the House Of Representatives
on March 10. 1871: "I was sur
prised at the remark of the distin-
guished gentleman from Michigan. RI don't
know who that distinguished gentleman
was, but he was a Michigander] He as
serted that there Is no item In the whole
tariff that stands alone on its own merits,
but that 1t must all be taken in q lump in
order to stand" He was high protection
ist, this Michigan man, so he said there was
no item in the whole tariff land there are
1000 and odd items in it on which tax is
levied) that could stand on its own merits,
and 1t was necessary to take them into q
lump entire so that they might stand He
meant that coal must take salt by the hand
and they must take something else by the
hand and that all the interests should unite
hf.a 1x.xHa 4
before the country. This Michigander
came from log country, expect, and was
in favor Of log rolling and log rolling on
the largest kind Of a scale. He believed
that the man who wanted protection on
one article should log roll with one who
wanted protection on another, and thus,
by all uniting together and making one
grand syndicate or pool, force the measure
through the Congress ofthe United States.
What said Mr.. Garfieldi 'Tf this remark be
true 1t strikes blow at the whole tariff
system, blow 1 am unwilling to strike
am unwilling to admit that bad taxes must
be tied to good ones and thus be kept afioat.
think IL unwise to continue this duty
on coal-they were then talking
about coal-and 1 am, therefore, in
favor Of. its repeal" There is another
thing to which wish to call your atten-
tion- ThSy say, all at once-I say all at
once, because it is a very late doctrine
those advocates of protection are all at
once seized with a wonderful solicitude
for the laboring-men of the country, and
they want high-protective tariff, not to
benefit capitalists, not to benefit the
monopolists, not to benefit the manufact.
urer, according to their statements, but to
benefit the laboring-man He is the man
they seek to protect. Well, how are they
going to protect hint They say a high
protective tariff will better his condition
and give him more wages. would like to
know how that can be; / would like to know
how taxing laboring-man on every thing,
from the crown of his head to the soles of
his feet, for that is exactly what this tariff
does, is going to enrich hint This pro-
tective tariff taxes him on the hat he
wears, on the coat he wears, on his shirt,
on his necktie, his underclothes, his vest,
his breeches and his stockings and his
boots. tLaughter.] 1t raises the price on
every thing, and taxes the poor man until
he can hardly make enough money, even
If he can get few cents q day more
wages, to support himself and his little
family, IL he have one. And yet they say
that this is for the benefit of the laboring-
men. Ny friends, that is O very bald
faced thing, If there ever was one in the
world. But there is another thing about
it How is he to get those high wages He
is to get them because his employer, the
capitalist or the monopolist will make
more money and therefore can afford to
pay his employees or hired men higher
wages than they were paid before. Iagree
that he can. agree that the protective
tariff will increase his profits. agree
thathe might, having this increased profit,
pay his laboring men more than he did
before. But does he do itl That is the
question. Cries of sNo," sNo."l Did you
ever know him to do it, [Cries OF @No,s
@Never."l The tariff has been raised again
and again. 1t was immensely raised by
the act Of 1861 or 1852, I forget which Of
these years. 1t was raised in few years
again, and again and again, and yet in all
that time have never been able to find
the manufacturer Oh monopolist who upon
the raise of the tariff increased the wages
of his labor. II there was such q case it
has escaped the attention of everybody,
even of these diligent newspaper gentle
men who gather up the news, and some
times get a deal Of what is not news at
all Laughter But they have never
been able to find that manufacturing man
who increased the wages of the laborers
SCNo0oC
THE LABoRER AND THE TARIFF.
For nearly twenty-seven years we have
had the highest tarih that this country
ever knew before-an average fully twice
as high as 1t was before the war. We have
had that high tariff all this time, and If it
Is so much for the benefit of the working
man why have not the laboring men grown
rich In these twenty seven years. would
like to know. Have theyl fCries of .No y,
"Nor'l If they have they are very un-
reasonable men, for not a year passes
over our heads that we do not hear
of strikes of laborers because of de-
mands for more wages on the ground
that they can not live on what they re-
ceive. Again and again we hear Of what
are called lock-outs-that is, when the EN-
ployers suspend operations and lock up
their mills, because, they say, they can't
afford to pay any more wages than they
have been paying NoH, why are these
strikesi Why ara those lock=outsl Why
are there suoh institutions as labor unions
to secure better yaQes1 Whv Ia there such