The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-09-14
The Crackers OF Free Trade.

ial discussions of the great majority
OF the free trade newspapers of the
United States are mainly noteworthy
for what they do not discuss. When
for any reason whatever, there Is dis
cord between employers and employ.
ees in the American industrial world
the editorial columns ofourv eetses = )
contemporaries who have fallen ia0
the grievouslv evil habit of looking
at American affairs through British
glasses TEEN with flippant philipics
against the protective tariff whia Is
assumed to be the cause of all t'e In
dustrial contests which occur, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific ant from
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico
If a number of workingme In any
branch of business strike because
they have a foreman whom they do
not ike, the Democratic md Mug
wump papers promptly laythe blame
upon the tariff. fla lot Of laborers
In a manufacturing establishment
strike because one of their number is
dismissed for what they regard as an
insufficient cause, or because they
are subjected to rules which they
deem unjust, or because the proprie-
tors of the establishment give en-
ployment to men who are not
knights of Labor or members OF
labor unions, there forthwith arises
from the free trade press a halcyon
and yociferous shout that 1t Is the in
iquitous tariff which has brought all
this trouble about.
If on account of rash speculation,
or bad debts. or unwise management
of any sort, the failure OF firm of
American manufacturers Is announc-
ed, the free traders, little and big, all
point to the case and shrek with
ghoulIsh glee, "See what your wick
ed tariff has DONE" Whenever dis
aster occurs the tariff Is invari$ biy
made to bear the blame. IndesE IL
has been asserted. and with u ~
show of reason. that, In the opinion
of the more rampant of these Auglo-
maniac political economists the tariff
Is really responsible for the confag.
ration at Seattle. the shortage in Da-
kota wheat and the blight OF the
New York apple crop.
We are inclined to think that this
Is slight exaggeration. But there
ia no doubt whatever that the gentle.
men of the free trade press are chron-
ically inclined to predict industrial
and mercantile misfortune under our
tariff system: or that they continu-
ally exaggerate the seriousness and
pervert the meaning of those disas.
tiers which are the inevitable conse-
quence of mistakes 10 business every
where on the globe ana under any
industrial system that can be i'm.
agined.
In regard to the multitude of strik-
ing evidences of industrial prosper
ity under the operation of the tariff,
which are manifest to every careful
student of American business affairs.
they usually have nothing to say. In
respect to the fact that the iron In.
dustry in the Schuylkill Valley Is
experiencing boom on grand scale
the editorial columns of our friends
the enemy are pretty sure to be con.
spicuously silent. They are not
likely to explain to their readers
why 1t is that the rolling mills. pipe
and tube mills and and foundries OF
the Reading Iron Company. after an
idIeness Of six months, have resudies
work. to give steady employment
with high wages, to 1000 men with.
In weeks time.
The free trade journals will moi
exult over the fact that a general adj.
vance of wages is taking placs
through the iron regions of Pennsyl.
vania. They do not care to call ca
pecial attention to the fact that the
ironworkers In the Schuylkill Val
ley .comprehending the Reading Iror
Company, McIlvain's rolling mill
Seyfert's mill, the Pottstown Iron
Company, have all recently increased
the wages of their puddlers from 8;
q ton to from $3.50 to 81 a ton, while
the wages of their other employees
have been increased in like proper
ton. The free traders do not wisf
to make editorial comments on sucl
occurrences as the recent assumption
of work with good wages at the pud
ding mills of J. w, Friend & Co., a
Pittsburg; at the Blair Iron ant
Coal Company's furnaces. at Holt
daysburg at the Ella furnace, a
Middlesex, Pa; at the Cumberlan,
Iron and Nail Company's works, a