The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-03-13

the right to exchange wholly denied. man would
once more eed on roots and berries, clothe himself
in skins and Zee for shelter the forest and cave
The Tree right 10 but and 5 II cannot deprive
lahorer OF chance to work 1t can simply add some
thing TO the product of his toll for, whatever the
price Of foreign wares the American Is pOwerless TO
buy them until his genius and labor has produced an
article 10 sell A commodity is not purchased be-
cause the seller make it more cheaply than the
buyer, but because the purchaser produce the
article he sells to better advantage than the one he
buys; he simply exchanges something that he needed
less for something that he needed more.
ever. but having the knowledge Of the way to make
pair OF shoes and access to the tools and material
needed in their construction. sits down at the bench
to produce them as in the oden time In the great
of shoes per day are made for each hand employed,
while the solitary workman is busily engaged from
morn till night ON one In this case can the iso-
lated mechanic bug the shoes more cheaply than ne
can make them at the bench? BY no means. tie
can not purchase them at all. He can only procure
them or another II he hnds some employment ny
which he produce another article 10 exchange
for what he wants; and If he make this article
In q shorter tim than he could have made the SHOES
he will not complain, though by the use of his
wits he has deprived himself of hours of toll.
The fact that any man or nation Is constantly buy
ing goods from others Is Conclusive evidence that
they are also busiiy occupied producing something
which they sell. The ship load OF gran the product
exchanged, directly and indirectly, for load OF
goods that are worth more in the American market
than the grain thus, by exchange, the merchant has
added 70 the product of the farmer on our western
prairie. and to his nations wealth; but to the
Engishman across the the grain is of more value
than the goods, so he, too, has prohted by the
trade. We do not come to the workingman and
urge upon him the high ethical doctrine
that il is his duty to do what other
nation wished him not TO do; we do not say destroy
protection that you may harm your brethren across
the sea, but we say that in nature is all-per-
vadng law Of Justice which renders il impossible to
harm your neighb0rs unless you also harm Yourself
And likewise, you cannot improve the condi ton of
aud reacts upon all humanity and does something
TO lift the whole mass TO higher plane. The I'M
trammcled right to buy and sell is like THE quality
OF mercy; sit is twice blessed :; sit blesseth him
who gives and him who takes"
Commerce has been the greatest civilizer OF the
earth; il MS called into existence the ship, with her
white wings and throbbing heart aud sent her laden
with her freight of human souls to penetrate the
miStS and darkness hanging over unknown lands.
II has made chart Of the trackless sea-, and over
h its pioneers have travelled 10 the darkest
OF the globe with the hrst glad tidings OF the coming
morn. IL has given US the railroads, which binds
with cords OF unity and steel all nations In COM
mon cause. IL has carried the civilization, tera-
ture art and religion OF one land and showered these
the flowers OF light aud life from the moldy and
deCaying superstilons OF the past Ii has as if by
magic, touched the enmlty and hatred between
foreign lands, and, pointing to common cause.
opened the heart OF to feel the first faint thrOb
OF that universal brotherhood which In iuture time
is to unite the word in bonls OF love- and he the
unborn.
II then the proposition be accepted that tree eI-
change produces wealth it ought at least to be pre-
suned that it adds 20 wages, too. IL certainly de
tenn thai aids production can decrease the toilers
share
A tariflaVs can add anything to the remunera-
tion OF labor, it cannot be because OF production,
but OF distribution. Let us then discover, if
possible, whether tariff taxes change natural dis
tributiOn. and If So do they divert greater portion
10 labor than il otherwise could claim
protective tariff is tax levied on foreign goods
high enough 70 either keep them out at least en-
able the home producer TO obtain more for his arti-
ces than ii he sold them in the open markets OF
he world The theory of the ad vocate of protection
50 ier as he degns to the1rize IS that II the law Is
50 shaped as 10 allow the manufaetureT to receive
more for his goods than would be possible without
the tax, be viii paw higher wages to those whom he
employs. II VIII DC observed that the question 10
be settled is not, the employer pay higher wages
because of protection but does he pay them. 1t is
scarcely necessary to observe that employers do not
paw high wages because they can, but only because
they must. In view OF this fact let see how
tart diverts any extra portion TO the tolers share
suppose the gentleman at my right is believer in
protection, and that labor may be better paid, he
purchases stove for SIS, which under free trade he
becomes OF the extra price the consumer is compelled
to pay? great many people have yet never been
able to discover where il wcat.
This added cost j. first paid to the retail dealer
from whom the stove was bought; but the price be
gets il based on what the wholesale dealer charged
10 him Who 10 turn Is governed by what he paid the
manufacturer who made the stove This 6ve-dOlars'
worth OF protection, then, less the profit, which the
dealers charge Tor the money invested in the tax
goes back ~ The manufacturer who made the goods.
Does il stop here, or further vet? II all those
engaged in the manufacture of stoves pool their
made 50 thew may charge the price they wish. re-
gardess of the cost No other way ex lists to increase
price, except to place limit on production and
bring about that penacea which Is the protectoniss
cure Tor all social lls-Scarcity and want. When the
bounty paid by friend on the article he bought
has ben safely lodged IN the pocket OF the man who
made the stove, what power is there TO get il out?
The cost OF this commodity TO the manufacturer is
largely covered by two items: the amount he paws
To labor and the OF the material from which the
article was made Most OF the other expenses may
in their ultimate analysis be charged to these items
N-h4..a Flnf
combination with all Of those who toll, nc
only obtain from bis employer the amount his COM
modify viii bring in the free, unprotected market of
the world But those who own the mines, from
which the ore aud coal aud other raw material Is
drawn, can make a combination more perfect even
than the Manufacturers OF the goods. As between
these two conflict might arise with the odds in Ia
vor Of those who own the EARTH but for the mutual
forbeargnc OF the recipient OF the bounty bestowed
b. their teilow-man, doubtless brought about by
the lear that any controversy between the two might
result in harm To both.
insist that, If my kind friend the right feels
hi duty 70 take from his earnings Tor the purpose
oil giving a bonus to the laborers in the mills and
mines he should give himself the trouble to person.
ally deliver the money where he intends 1t should
go. lie has right "a put the toiler's money ia
the employers pocket. and showing well the greed
OF man, especially Pr0ecief man, trust him 70 freely
give 10 ~; well might he place his dinner within
the custody of q lean and half-starved dog.
hat Is the law OF wages Every man who has
laboge for another every toiler who has united with
his fellows in on, for the purpose OF doing Tor
himself what the tariff has promised but failed 10
perform; every striker who has been commanded to
work for wages offered however small, others
take his piace-ail these know full we'll that under
our present industrial SYSTEM labor is a COM
mOdity-nothing more less They understand
that its price Is as much governed by the law of
supply aud demand Is the value Of a COW or
yard OF cloth. over aud they have taught this
principle their wives and children by the cruel
object lesson OF an empty larder and aeheerless
home; over and over. by combinations generally
hopeless and strikes, often righteous, but seldom
successful, they have sought to increase the
Grafton OF labor by controlling the supply; they
have sought by this 10 counteract the efforts
oil employers through the agency OF pool and trust,
TO decrease wages by limiting the demand and thus
increasing the supply.
Let if the effect of the tariff taxes cannot be
illustrated 50 plainly thai wayaring man, though
protectonist, cannot fail to it. Imagine line
drawn through the center Of this represent
the Atlantic ocean. On the right hand is England !;
the lett is the United states. We will say that
the labOring the right, because of the dens
ity OF population and the scarcity OF land,
PEELED to work more cheaply than those the left.
Let suppose, for instance that there 600 peO
pie on the lett, in the United states, 500 OF whom
are farmers, SO aboring men and twenty-five en-
ploying manufacturers, engaged. for instance, in
making clothes, in their various stages of compile
| ton. In some mysterious way the twenty-five men
control the election and the egisatiOn OF the c0un
! try. They engaged in making clothes, which
they could sell At profit OF s. per suit. They
/ will cross this line and buy them over here. The
plan of putting tax of so per cent. clothing in
/ it, various forms. The consumer, who then goes
across the lines. paying IS for suit must give the
government a more when he reaches the tax gath
erer the border. This will enable manufac-
1 turer % sell his clothes at tl2 for each