The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1891-09-26
SUPERIOR. MS. SATURDAY. SEPT. 2a. 1891.
Georg" Al. Ely on Protection.

fishes the reasons Why Hon George III.
lily. of that state, is protectionist,
IS given By Mr.. Ely himself as fol
lDwo:
advocate our protective policy be-
cause 1t is an American policy 1t
looks first to the welfare of our own
people. Starting with that PROPOSE
ion. it declares that all taxation,
modes of taxation and expeditures of
public money shall be in the interest of
of home production and for the deytl
opment of our own country instead
of some other country. This is the
principle on which all Cur revenue and
economic legislation Should be framed
1t intends that, on carrying Oh a gov
rrnment like ours, charged with the
welfare of 65, 90, Ooo of self governing
people, home interest shall be the first
object That golden thread rms
through every line of every schedule
of every Protective Tariff act. Be
cause it is there, the record Of the
advance of the great Republic the last
20 wears, including four years of desc
l,ting war, is the marvel Of the world.
>. Under this policy, the Republic,
toa larger extent than ever before,
has been doing Its own work, getting
thereby not only ell the profits bat i'm
mense accumulations of wealth, from
the application Of its Own labor and
u ~, l,n at q
unutiiiZed natural resources Of the
country.
s. American labour ana capital have
under the policy, entered almost every
department of industry from which
they have not been excluded by natural
conditions. This has been rendered
possible because Protective duties de
fend the American producer from the
deadly competition Of the. lpw-wage
level Of Free Trade countries. The
duty is intended to be high enough to
encourage home production, bat never
high enough to entirely exclude for
elGn competition. Unler both do
;, mestic and foreign competition there
can never be monopoly, and so all com
modities come to the consumer at
The lowest prices possible with fair
wages to the American wage worker.
1. But protection has another object
The higher wage level means the Gle
vltion Of manhood ana the womanhood
Of the nation. Grinding toll for daily
bread is not lifa-man is something
above a producing machine Body,
mind and spirit must all be fed and
nourished. Our free institutions can
not long survive the ignorance and de-
basement which are inseparable from
struggle for mere existence.
D But Free-Trade says that rate
of difference i'll the labor cost of pro-
siuction at home and abroad, is 4 tax
on the consumer" This is beautiful
theory. Is it not supported by the
great army whose business depends on
handling foreign products, and who
represent foreign capital? Does not
the Golden Club, that comes 10 our
colleges with prizes for our Young mon
and to our public men with Its petty
bride of honorary membership, solemn
ly announce it
g. Whatever the result of this theory
in other lands, it does not work here,
where, under Protection, our indust-
ries are greatly diversified: where the
farm, the shop, the factory and the
oh nj in no ~. ],n,. VI at
Where labour aud capital, interlocked
in mutual dependence, in a thousand
different pursuits. ana employed in
the DEVELOPMENT Of our natural re
sourses, have reached Il higher produc-
tiveneSS than in any other country.
No. this theory is absolutely shattered
by facts, notorious facts. The range
of wages i'll every Protected industry,
and pricelists along the whole range
of commodities III common use by the
mass of our people, published in every
newspaper, utter the final word on
thu. subject. \ days wages brings to
the ll5orer here more of the necesSar-
les and the comforts of Life than in
any otiltl Cbuitly III ZIG W "a III. HIT
ana the capacity to raise sufficient rev
cnue for the needs of the Government,
about which there is no controversy, is
the supreme test Of an econ omic policy.
Can any one dispute the living facts of
more abundant and better food. better
clothing, better housing and shorter
hours of hbour-in fact, far superior
social conditions here about those eX-
listing IN any FreeTrade country?
Why, in the language of President
Harrison, do The GafeS of CtS'lf card
"lrnns cpCa iarur9, nercr o,;twartI.
! The answer to these great facts,
,azoned on the SKY, and read by the
toiier in every land, ana which bechon
linn hitler, is arrays, a&d only, the old
refrain: Tie tx is dufy IN ths con
Sunlcr' THIS sunshine foods the
world, but the eyes Of the Tariff re
former seem not to be adjusted TO
the excess of its light. The attempt
TO put the American citizen on the
same wage level with the ALLEN has
lalltt every lllHe illneIto. 1t was tfi-
cd seventy years ago; again between
1883 and 1910; once more between 1876
and 1861. Every time it brought to
him and his country poverty and dis
aSter. TwothirdS of the last sixty five
years we have had the Protective pol
icy: one third, the revenue Tariff poll
cy. At the beginning Of this period
the aggregate wealth OF the United
States was estimated to be 81 900 600
Ano 1t is now about So. 900 n0g. a3a
1t really looks as If this policy could be
trusted while longer.