The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-09-16
"CAEAP AND Nasty

The manufacturing lords Of the country,
who have grown rich and imperious
through their tariff exactions, are in the
habit of putting up their noses when the
victimized begin TO talk of things being
dearer than they used to be. They affect
TO despise cheap goods, and some of their
champions and defenders have imbibed this
spirit. ''Cheapln exclaimed Major Nc
hINLEY last spring; 81 never liked the
word. Cheap and nasty go together. The
whole system of cheap things" SAID he, sis
a badge of poverty, for cheap merchandise
means cheap men, and cheap men make q
cheap country CABOT LODGE, the colleg-
late politician, another bright and shining
light Of Republicsnism, the author of the
force bill, declared that 'the cry for cheap
ness is un-American." There is" said
he, ''such thing as too much cheapness. u
And President HARRISON, who rides
around the country in free Pullman
palaces, echoed the same sentiment when
he said: 81 am one of those uninstructed
political economists who have an impress
sion that some things may be too cheap;
that l cannot find myself in full sympathy
with this demand for cheaper coats, which
seems TO me necessarily to involve a
cheaper man and woman under the coats.
The American people will not be de-
ceived by any such defense of the robber
tariff as this. As LINCOLN said: "You
may fool some of them all the time, and
su Of them some Of the time, but you can
not fool all of them all the time" The
people instead aof indorsing MCKINLEY,
LODGE and HARRISON in their aversion to
cheapness, will rather affirm the doctrine
Of eX-President CLEVELAND when he said
Our government in its natural integrity
is exactly suited to frugal and economi-
cal people, and believe it is safest in the
hands of those who have been made strong
aud self-reliant in their citizenship by the
surroundings of sn enforced economy"
The necessarieS of life which the masses
are required to pay for with their labor can
never be too cheap. It is very important
consideration to the poor man whether be
pays IS or $3.50 for a lot of these neces-
saries, and he cannot be made to have faith
In scheme devised to make things arti-
ficially dear that are naturally cheap, as
the MCKINLEY tariff does. The tired,
ries tsrif-taxed dinner bucket will not
object to q big, warm overcoat, or q sub
stantial suit of clothes because it is cheap.
Nor viii he object to seeing his wife and
children clad so as to keep the blood warm
in their veins with comfortable clothing.
because some rich northern manufacturer
does not make profit out of il.
One Of the stock arguments Of Republi-
can newspapers and stump orators on the
tariff question has been that, If il were not
for it, English manufacturers would simply
deluge this country with cheap goods. The
last number of the Standard, Mr.. HENRY
GEORGES paper, illustrates this forcibly.
lie supposes that ROBINSON CRUsoR, alone
on on his island, is visited by protection
Est who tells him of the danger to which be
is liable to be exposed from the deluge of
cheap goods that passing ships will want to
exchange for goats and fruit, and warns
him, so cheaply can everything he wants be
produced abroad, that he must make IL hard
TO land them or ne will not be able to en-
ploy bis own industry at all. The STANDARD
goes on with the conversation:
"But don't want to find employment for nv
labor" CRUSoE would naturally reply. II did
not spend months in digging out my canoe and
weeks in tanning and sewing these goat skins
because wanted employment for my labor. but
because wanted the things. If can get what
want with less labor, so much the better, and
the more get and the less give in the trade
you tell me am to carry on-or, as you phrase
IT, the more my imports exceed my exports-the
easier can live and the richer shall be. am
not afraid OF being overwhelmed with goods.
The more they bring the better il will suit me. 4"
This is the whole story of protection in a
nutshell Take the case of the American
farmer. What he wants is cheap clothing
and agricultural implements, seed planters.
haryesters, plows. twine, etc.. and what he
does not want is his surplus produce. Eu-
ropean manufacturers and wage-workers
want farm produce. The American farmer
is anxious TO trade, but customs officer
stands between him and the transaction
with demand for duty payable in gold
almost equal to the value OF the goods he
wishes to exchange for. And to what end
So the American manufacturer can add
that much more to the price of the goods
which he sells.
No GRANp-JURY ever had an easier Job
hat g. A.