Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1889-02-15
Two Pictures


American laborer staggering uulef'
pyramid of burdens. while a capt.
carefully poiscs on the top Of the
one more brick labelled tin plate duts
The I,ictu has one great slsrit 4
pa into intelligibIc form lie ne
which many men honestly have Of Z
existing trriT aud the Senate's am,r
ncn'-
But tie picture is fraud. fit e
the truth il would represent the ~
can liborcr walking erect. utterly \
conscious ofany burdens whatsoever. B
ward the dosr "a savings bank 10 Abb
he has deposited 81 900. 900 600 r.
more than The entire bonded debt cfte
/ United States It would represent 40
the hcme Of the American laborer. su-
! Piled with comforts such rs are founia
/ the homes of workiHgmen nowhere ris
in the world The house. the table
the clothing fer self, wife and chil,lret
bear testimony that the mans earning
enable him to share with others in +
larger consumption for 1000. 900 10
hibitautI than can be found eIsewher
on earth Tor any 100, 900, 900. In III
distance. the same picture would repre-
scut the laying of foundations for ne,
rolling mills aud factories. in whic
American labor is to m Ike the tin plate
which it now has to buy from Euglis
nunopolists.
1t is hundred to one that at least or
Of the workers engaged in preparing
engraving or printing this free trad
cartoon landed not very long ago, hup
cry, dirty and ragged. glad refuge
from some country where a high pro
,eciive tariff" is unknown. lie Ha
from that "untaxed' land because Their
he had no chance to better his condition
After Il few months or years in this hor
ribly taxed country, behold him decent
y fell, decently clothed. and with de
cent home, all the fruit of 'iniolcrably
burdened" labor, and yet he spends liz
time in reyling and slan1ering the sys-
tenn which has made a man of him.
He is not always satisfied, this Amer
lean laborer; he has not always reason to
be satisfied Much as he receives he
might in many cases justly claim a larg-
er share of the benefits Of protection. -
But at the worst estate be is infinitely
better off than when he landed. flyinc
rom untaxed lands. Compare the new
men who gladly offer to drive the horse
cars at wages which 5000 workers in
this city have refused. The hours arc
hard and the wages are low, for this pro
tected country, but they would be good
wages for skilled mechanic in any
uniaxed" land The men who come
forward to take these places are presnm
ably worse off than any body of Ameri-
cans who have had employment, and
yet compare them with the ,nanmnsu
land at tho Battery, before they nave
enjoyed any Of the benefits of the Amer
can system. Is there not a difference
Shicir even the stupidest of all free
Traders can see at glance?
In this country, as in every other,
ome fall by the wayside. or meet with
disaster. or attempt something for which
hey have not accessory qualities, or by
he failure of employers are thrown GU
f work. Here congregate many of the
ialf million yearly who come from other
ands to seek work, and they have to be
in where they can until something bet
er offers. Aud yet even in this great
,ity, the very doorway of foreign immi-
grafton. and in an occupation for which
IS necessary neither training, nor ejuca-
ion, nor acquaintance, nor establish
I'd character. the workers get better
wages than are given in that free trade
paradise, England, by employers to
skilled mechanics in thirty-nine different
smployments. What a ch-burdened
country this is. to be sure. N. Y
rribanc.