Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-07-10
AND EVEN philadelphia

R0using Meetings I'm the Quaker CITY Tn Ds,-
nounce the Mckinley Bni-Republiean
Basiness Men and Workingmen Unite in
| Uttsring . Mighty Protest Against It
Protection Tottering to Its Fan In One OF
| Its Own Str0ngh0lds-Ffee Raw Materials
tho Watchword.
Pennsylvania is the great stronghold
of protection in the United States.
Philadelphia is its chief city, and has
for years been the citadel of protection
in high tariff Pennsylvania For years
Philadelphia has rolled protection as a
sweet morse1 under its tongue.
| But now times are changing, and
now Philadelphia's sweet morsel is
| turning to gall in her mouth. Her
workingmen have been diligently
schooled in the doctrine that wages are
dependent on protection-that without
protection, in fact, there could be no
wages worth having. But, all the same,
and Notwithstanding the present high
protection that Philadelphia has and
| the prospects of still higher in the flu
ture, her workingmen have seen their
wages falling lower and lower, and
| many of them are out of employment
| through the closing down of the mills
in which they work. The Philadelphia
Times recently said that NEARLY seventy
have occurred in this city and vicinity
| since the election of 1888, when the
| tariff question was proclaimed as set
| tied, and each failure told the same
story. viz: that the cost of raw mate
rails drove our wooden industries into
bankruptcy"
Thus it is not Philadelphia's working
men alone who are tasting the tariff
| gall-her manufacturers also are weary
of the bitter draught- When both the
manufacturers and their men feel sc
strongly the evil that protection is do
ing for them, it is no wonder that they
| should make themselves heard in oppo-
| sition to the Mckinley bill, which would
only aggravate their troubles.
| And they have made themselves
| heard.
Philadelphia has just held two meet
ings in the same day-one for the m anu
facturers and merchants and one for the
workingmen, and these meetings re.
sembled in their attendance and en-.
thusiasm the great gatherings just be-
fore Presidential election.
The meeting of the business men was
held in the afternoon in the Walnut
Street Theater, which was filled tc
overlooking with the substantial mer.
| chants and manufacturers of the CITY,
representing many million dollars OF
capital. Of the fifty vice-presidents OF
the meeting about half were Repub
| licans, which shows that the opposition
to the Mckinley bill in Philadelphia is
| by no means confined to one party, and
that this opposition is based on the
simple and solid fact of business in
| terest.
The speakers 1T this meeting were
Congressman Springer, Bynum, McAdoo
and W. P. c. Breckenridge. Mr.. Springer
discussed the wool question with special
reference to Philadelphia He showed
that Philadelphia was the greatest
manufacturing center for wooden goods
in the United States. there being ass
establishments in the city interested in
free wool. These establishments have
a capital of $35, 600, 900 and turn out $685.
600, 900 worth of goods every year.
Mr.. Springer said that it was the
States east of the Mississippi which had
clamored for the wool tariff of 1867, and
it was at their demand that it was
passed. That was twenty years ago,
and these twenty years of protection
had utterly failed in the very States
which demanded it. In Pennsylvania
there are now only 80 sheep where there
were 100 in 1868; in New Jersey the loss
is about the same. and in Ohio there are
but so where there were 100 then. In
the States east of the Mississippi there
were in 1857 over 81, 0OO 900 sheep; in
1883 the number had fallen to Is, 900, 900.
The tariff had failed to encourage wool
growing; and yet the remedy which has
failed once is now to be applied again in
stronger doses.
Besides this failure to encourage the
production of wool, what has been the
state of things in the wool manufacture
ing industry? The manufacturers them
selves have made the admission in their
Bulletin-the ofici IL organ of their as
sociation-that ''since 1883 nearly one
third of the wooden machinery of this
country has been idle, and the other
two-thirds has been run with lit
tie or no profit" And yet the cry
is for more protection. The aver
age duty paid last year on all the
first and second class wool imported
was 4S.1S per cent. According to the
Mckinley bill this average will be 1874
per cent. On third class wools-carpet
woods, which are not grown in this coun-
try-the increase is still greater,
amounting to 40 per cent on the i'm
ports of 1889.
On wooden manufactures there is a
still more striking increase. For ex-
ample:
Present Average
average NICK nley
duty. under
bill.
Wooden and worsted cloths,
knit goods, etc. GIL 1882
Blankets, wool hats, fan
nels, etc ........... 6s7o 11osa
Women's and children's
dress goods Observation-Disclosures. 81 S837
Mr.. Springer predicted that if the Nc
Kinley bill were passed half of the
wooden mills of Philadelphia would be
driven to the wall in ten years
Mr.. McAdoo, of New Jersey, pointed
out some of the inconsistencies of the
bill. He pointed out the effect of put
ling tax of 50 and So. Is on Sumatra
leaf tobacco which is used as wrappers
in making cigars out of native Ameri-
can tobacco. Coverings of the grade re-
quired can not be grown here, and for
this reason the wrappers are all brought
from the island Of Sumatra- The result
will be to raise the price of the poor
mans cigars and to make him smoke