Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-09-22

country works by day, and. second, that
the mode of living in this and foreign
countries is the same.
These assumptions are false. What are
the facts2 The skilled labor in most OF
the manufacturing work by the piece OF
job. Take watch factory or a paper fac,
tory in the United States and England.
Most of the work in these industries in
both countries is done by the piece and the
wage worker in the United States gets
twice as much for the same, making the
same piece, as in Great Britain. Two
brick masons may be equal in strength and
experience, and yet one of them will lay
up one hundred more brick in a day than
the other. Both may do equally as good
work but the most skillful of the two will
either charge so much per thousand or an
extra amount per day. But whether he
works by the day or by the thousand
he receives twice as much as in England
1t is so in any and all employments
whether for skilled or unskilled labor.
The second fallacy, that of assuming
that the mode of living is the same in both
countries, is equally false. These free
trade orators always talk about the cost OF
living, but never about the mode of living
The cost of living to the wage-earner in
the United States is one-third more than
for the same class of wage-earners in Great
Britain. but this difference is not because
Of an increased cost of the same articles IL
this country over that of Great Britain
1t is because of the difference in the man
ner of living. Our wage-workers have
better food and more of it; better clothing
and more of it, and better shelter and
more of 1t. In a comparative statement
from the state department at Washington,
issued in 1885, it was shown that the re-
tail price upon the finest quality of the
necessaries of life used in the families OF
The wage-earner in this country for one
week was only 1919 cents greater III
Chicago than in Liverpool, but this in
eluded beef for every day, when the En-
glish wage-earner uses it but once a week
Ind often not at all. 1t included coffee
which he seldom uses, and number OF
other things which are not found in the
pantry of the English wage-earner.
A new doctrine is now, however, being
preached in this state. New prophets
have arisen, who say that as we have had
good and bad times under tariff and free
trade, therefore the wage Garner is not in
terested in either. "There are none sc
blind as those having eyes, see not"
You might as well say that employment
and its compensations are not affected by
the law of supply and demand. Suppose
d man in this city had some work to be
done which would require one man day
to do it; he puts a notice in the paper:
Wanted, a man to do some work. Call on
A. B." Suppose twenty men, all needing
work, call and ask for the work. The first
man says, | will do it for 500. The next
man SAYS. will do it for $l.15, and so on,
each striving TO get the work and Compel
ing with each other for it. Finally the
last man, who has had nothing to eat for
twenty-four hours, says: | am out OF
money. have had nothing is eat for TWEEN
ty-four hours. / am hungry and must
have something. | will do your work for
nothing if you will only give me some
thing to eat. Why was this? Because
the supply of labor was twenty
times greater than the demand.
The supply of labor in the United States
is now greater than the demand. Every
new industry needing labor, increases the
demand for it. Every manufacturing
plant started in our country increases this
demand and renders the probability OF
steady employment more certain. y great
amount OF labor is now employed in
manufacturing industries. If these in
dustries were to close up, it would not
only throw this labor out of employment,
but unless they had a competency, would
necessiate the seeking of other work. This
would increase the already over supply.
These necessities and this competition
with each other for employment, could
have but one effect, viz: 10
REDUCE THE PRICE OF LABOR.
4 his seems TO me 50 DidiI, tlldJ dIl filuSO
agree as to the result.
1t Is conceded that protection encOur-
ages manufactures and the development
Of new industries. How then, can any
man say. that labor is not interested IN
this question of tariff? Aye. my friends.
the poorer a man is, the greater interest
he has in this subject. The rich man and
the man who has money ahead, can
live without employment. but the
poor man, having nothing but his
ability to work, upon which to de
pend, must have employment to earn
money with which to buy the necessaries
of life.
We have heard a great deal about the
importation of labor into this country.
Why is every one, except the importer
opposed 10 this? Because this adds to the
over supply of labor and reduces wages.
My Democratic friend viii agree to that.
Ny Union Labor friend viii not dare to
take any other position, and vet, while the
Democratic and Union Labor orator vie
with each other in denOunCing this i'm
portaton of pauper labor from other
countries, they want to open our gates
wide to the importation of the products of
pauper labor. Why do you denOunce the
importation of Chinese labor but have not
even one little weak protest against the
Imuortation of the product of Chinese
labor? They both dlsplace the American.
1 ntN Dpln com ilclt Win American LtDOF.
Every man who faVOrS bringing into this
country the pauper labor of Great Britain,
or any other country. to have it compete
with and displace American labor, is not
only a public enemy, but he is also the
enemy of the wage-WOrker. Thus far my
Democratic and Union Labor friends go
with me, but that is not far enough.
To be consistent, you must go
with me farther and declare as | do. that
every man who fayors the free importa-
ton of the products of foreign labor into
this America OF ours, Is an enemy. not
only 10 my country, but TO every toiler
who earns his bread by the sweat of his
brow. | am for the labor of this country
and against the labor of the rest OF the
world. I am FOR the products of the labor
OF this country as against the products of
labor of the rest of the world Are you
with me in this. my Union Labor friend?
If you are, then you are an enemy to
British free trade, and you and can fight
il under the same banner. Are you with
me in this position, my Democratic
friend? Then bid goodbye to the British
free trade candidate for president. and in
keeping with the teachings of Jefferson
and Jackson, fight with me to place that
party IN power that will protect American
labor not only from the pauper labor OF
the old world, but also frcm the product
of the pauper labor of every country that
does not fight under the stars aud stripes
No interest in protection In Iced.
England a free trade city of $4,000, not
one laboring man or mechanic owns
homo. In Philadelphia, a protection city,
liO,OJ0 homes are owned by wage earners.
No interest in protection, The wage
earners in all of England, Ireland Scot
land and Wales. have in the savings bank
only slS2.00O.0 600 In Massachusetts alone
the wage earners have in the savings banks
S231, 100000, or So 000, 600 more than all the
wage earn>rs of Great Britain.