Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-07-31

1
| procity. OF our SLOO0. 900. 900 exporis that
yearss31, 900. 900 were in agricultural products
The demand increased with the large vol
| ume OF exports and the prices went up cor
| respondingly. But want to impress one
| TACT 1ndelibly on your minds that notwt th-
standing that the corn crop of last year was
the largest We have ever known it was not
| worth as much as that of 1881, when we had
| reciprocity. If last years corn crop had
| been sold at the price of 1881 the farm
e's would have had s1,a7o,oo1,o0o more
| in their pockets than tn have
| to- day. Applause. Think what that
| amount of money would have done for the
American farmers. Why it would have paid
| of a lot of these mortgages. 1t would not
| only have enabled them to pay off many OF
| their debts. but it would have enabled them
| to have many things of which they have
| been obliged to deprive themselves. Mans
| wants increase just in proportion as he has
| wealth to satisfy those wants. Instead of
| having his wife mend his old coat for the
| fourth or fifth time the farmer would have
| had a new coat He would have had more
on his table and would have given his chill
| dren better opportunities, The man who
| has inventive genius, who can not only con-
struct but produce, makes wealth rapidly;
but he is not sat SIZED with his old way. He
| must have his horses and his carriages. All
| these new wants require new labor, this new
labor gives new employment, and so we see
| that the great secret of the success and pros
| pe~ity OF the people is the greatest possible
J pro duct at the greatest possible price.
| But what has brought our prices down!
| say protection. Applause When this
| country had enforced this system for time
| France, Germany, SpaiH, England and some
| other countries said: IF that is a good
| thing for you it is for u.s." We will protect
our h 1me industries. We will protect our
farmers Germany increased the duty on
wheat three times France imposed a duty
| on corn and potatoes; Spain took similar
| ton. What is the result? In 1889 we export
| ed $50 900 900 worth of wheat and flour; in
| 1889 We exported S90.000,O00 worth. These
| people are trying the virtue of tariff as
well as you.
But when you talk about free trade or
comparative free trade our friends imme-
diately sound the alarm of pauper labor In
this land Of the free and the brave, in the
midst of people who never suffered fear on
the fields of battle, who have met and faced
every kind of danger incident to a govern
ment like ours, you cry pauper and they i'm
mediately look under the bed Tn ~ are
scared at once. Laughter 1t costs about
| the same to produce in one country as an
other. When they make comparisons be-
tween the prices paid in other lands for
labor and those paid for the same kind of
labor in this country you will find that the
people of other lands are paid as much else
where as here. American labor is skilled
and should be paid more for much more is
accomplished. 1 firmly believe that the
American laborer in proportion to the work
most poorly paid workman in the
world. Applause But you say: you are
talkin g tree trade" Well, Pm free man.
too, Applause. When our fathers found
ed this government they intended it to be
free land and they dedicated it to free
speech, to tree latOr, yes and to free trade
The greatest of all the colonial difficulties
could be traced to the violation of the rights
to the free exchange of produce. They were
continually hampered by those taxes, in
Guiding at time n individuals az
they passed from one colony to another
But after those difficulties were over there
was established almost absolute free trade
This government was made for the masses,
not ter the classes. Applause Do not
forget the old Jeffersonian doctrine: Equal
rights to all men and exclusive rights to
none" [Applause.l
1t is strange how intelligent men will talk
about the advantages of protection. 1t
means nothing more than a protection of
the few against the masses. This should
not be- Commerce should be free as the
wind. Let it go on its way. Let it seek it's
own ports and harbors It's Gods way.
You ask: Gam my brothers. keeperT' 1
answer yes. Cain was his brothers keeper
to a certain extent. say that Carnegie and
all such are in great measure the keepers
of the laboring men of this country and that
they have no right to rob them. Cheers |
If the tanners had the 1870 900 ,0O0 which
they should have had for their crops last
year it would have benefited not only the
farmers. but the hostler, the milkmaid, the
mechanic. the rich the poor. But when
you strike the farm you strike the great
vital energy of country. When
L see those philanthropfsts at Washing
ton-those elect who are looking after
the good people of the country, who are
protecting American industries and partcu-
larry the American farmers in their Jealous
efforts, wonder in my heart some times
why the good Lord allows them to live
among US poor, simple minded Democrats.
[Laughter.l / wonder that he does not catch
them up in clouds. like he did Elijah of old,
and take them away where the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary are at rest.
Continuous laughter.
lean remember when I used to watch my
mother and my sister spin. How tedious
the process seems now. The average pro-
ductiOn was one pound per day Or six
pounds per week This labor was worth so
cents per day. or So per week. Now by the
Improvement in machinery IL is poss ible for
one laborer with one little assistant to han
die 2,201 threads and each thread runs three
times as fast as by the old method. The pro-
portion of the present expense to that of
former days is as to 5000. or it is now one
third of a cent per pound. The greatest
triumph of production is to produce the
greatest possible amount in the least posi-
BILE time
1 asked one of these high tariff fellows
once about this protective business 1 asked
him about the tariff on lumber. He said it
"Was it nece ssary to have that tariff?'
'Yes, SIR"
"To protect your laborS'
"Yes, sir; get that 81. 1t is paid to me-"
"What do you do with i.?'
II put it in my pocket"
"What about the laborer?"
II am the only laborer. will tell you the
truth. lam the laborer. go and hire the
other fellow. If he don't suit me will hire |
another fellow-any kind can get, Hungar-
ian. Italian, Scandinavian or who please |
am the fellow that gets the other fellow to |
labor"
Not long since I went through a watch |
mandatory in Connecticut There |
watched the finest watches or some OF the |
finest watches in the land manufactured |
There was not a single touch of the hand in |
any part of the manufacturing save to put |
the pieces together when they had been fin |
ished. There was machine for cutting out |
each separate pi-ce. Then 1 realized what |
American ingenuity and skill had done for |
the manufacturing interests. Afterward l |
saw Waterbury watches manufactured In |
that town you know they give you |
Waterbury watch with every suit |
of clothes You wear. 1t is the boast |
of the manufacturers that their watches |
are used in every country of the globe |
much interested in a product /
that could find it's way into every mart of
the world. I had a conversation with one |
of the leading men in the factory. told |
him that 1 was a Democrat and of course |
took him to be Republican. "Now,' said |
], "how is it that you need to be protected |
against the manufacturers in other coun-
tries and yet you can go into their countries I
and undersell their OrOductS at their own |