Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-08-30

were made Tree so that our manufactur-
erS could import them without custom
house burdens. They have had free
trade" in their raw material now for
sixteen years. This industry has been
an exceptionally successful one, and vet
you cannot avoid being surprised when
l say to you that in those sixteen years
We have been able to export but per
cent. of the leather production of the
country.
But if free raw material be necessary
to secure an export trade and the foreign
markets, then l answer that our manu-
faeturers to-day have substantial free
trade in foreign raw materials which
they make into the finished product in
the United States, provided they export
it. Sections 3,0l9, 1920, 3,021, and s.
022 of the United States statutes pro-
vide for the remission of duties on all
foreign materials used in manufacturing
for the export trade. The law is posi-
tive that all articles manufactured for
export from imported materials, upon
which duties have been paid, shall, when
exported, be entitled to a drawback of
80 per cent. of the duties paid on such
raw materials. Some use has been made
of these laws. The remission of duties
in 1884 paid upon imported material
manufactured for foreign markets
amounted to S2,256,638. On some arti-
cles the drawback is equal to the duty
paid, but in no instance where articles
are imported to be manufactured here
and sent abroad is the duty to exceed 10
per cent.
And yet we are gravely told by the
tariff reformers that We cannot reach
foreign markets on account of the high
tariff on the raw material, when, in fact,
for foreign trade, foreign raw materials
are practically free. This principle was
recognized as early as the Administra-
ton of George Washington, and has been
enlarged and made applicable to all i'm
ported materials, the drawbacks varying
from 80 to 100 per cent. What becomes
then of the cry for free raw
materials in the presence of this
fact? The truth is, We are not so much
concerned about the foreign market as
we are about the home market. The
latter is the best, and we have not vet
been able to control it, and until we do,
that should be our chief concern. But
if any of our people are sighting for a
foreign market and value it more highly
than our own, they can import foreign
raw material practically free of duty,
and after advancing into the higher
forms of manufacture can go out and
possess the worlds markets. Taxed raw
materials do not now stand in their way,
and it is hypocrisy to claim otherwise.
CHEAP LABOR MEANS CHEAP MEN.
Upon what terms can we adopt rev.
enue tariff system in this country? In
one way only, by accepting European
conditions, and submitting to all the
discomforts and disadvantages of our
commercial rivals. The chief obStruc-
ton in the way of revenue tariff is the
wages paid American workingmen, and
any return to that policy involves re-
ductiOn of the cost of labor. We can
not afford, Mr.. President, to have cheap
labor in the United States. Cheap labor
means cheap men and dear money. l
would rather elevate 'and improve the
condition of my fellow-citizens than in
crease the value of money and the pow
er of ''mOney-bagS." This is Republic
of free and equal citizenship. The Gov
ernment is in the hands of the masses,
and not of the few. This is our boast,
and it is proud one. The condition
of the masses, their well-being, their in
telligence, their preparation for the civil
duties which rest upon them, depend
largely upon the scale of industrial
wages. 1t is essential, therefore, that
the best possible wages attainable shall
be secured and maintained. This is
vital and fundamental. We cannot
without grave danger and serious dis
turbance-we ought not under any cir
cumstances- adopt a policy which would
scale down the wages and diminish the
comforts of the American workingmen.
Their welfare and independence, their
progress and elevation, are closely re-
lated to the welfare and independence
and progress of the Republic. We have
got no pampered class in this country,
and we want none. We want the field
kept open. No narrowing of the ave-
nues; no lowering of our standard. We
want no barriers raised against a higher
and better civilization. The gateway
of opportunity must be open to all, to
the end that they may be the first who
deserve to be first, whether born in pow
erty or reared in luxury. We do not
want the masses excluded from compet-
ing for the first rank among their coun-
trymen and for the Nations greatest
honOrs, and we do not mean they shall
be.
Free trade or a revenue tariff, will of
shut them out. 1t has no re-
spect for labor 1t holds it as the mere
machinery of capital. 1t would have
cheap men that it might have cheap
With all of its boasted
love for the struggling millions it is in
fnitely more interested in cutting down
the wages of labor than in saving twen-
ty-five cents on blanket; more intent
in reducing the purchasing power of a
mans labor than the cost of his coat.
Things are not always dearest when their
price is nOminally the highest. The
pllOC 10 IoG GIlC OlllJ unCdouI6, DuU uut
wherewith to buy it is an essential fac
tor. Few men before me but have
found in the course of their lives more
than once that that which was cheapest
when measured by mere price was the
dearest when they were without money
or employment, or when their products
could find no market, and, finding it,
no price at all commensu-
rate with the labor required to produce
them. Primarily, it is labor which is in
terested most in this question of protec-
ton. The man with money can seek
other avenues of profit and investment,
or can wait for his dividends, but the
labOrer cannot wait for his dinner, and
the United States does not want the cit
iZens who make Presidents and Senates
and the House of Representatives to be
in condition of dependence and desti-
tuition. This is not the sort of citizen
ship we want.