Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1891-01-28
The Tariff and Wages.

in the past has been their cry of "pro-
lection for American labor" In
every campaign they have ever sought
to create the impression that the in
terest of the workingmen was the one
great object of their existance. A
stranger would naturally suppose that
the entire Republican party, collect
lively and individually, was doing its
utmost to raise the price Of American
labor, and that wages would never go
down while that party was in power.
For many years the Republican
party succeeded in making the work
ingman believe that he was protected |;
that by some peculiar means he was
shielded from cold and hunger and
want by just voting the Republican
ticket; that work would always be
provided and high rate of wages
maintained if he, the workingman,
would always vote to prevent any
competition with his employer. After
working on his fear of poverty, his love
for his wife and children and his need
of work, they would hold up a picture
Of labor in the over-crowded cities Of
Europe, and tell him that the differ
ence was due to the tariff, and the
higher the tariff the higher his wages.
For years this sophistry was believed
and that party prospered, and what
was of greater moment still the few
great leading manufacturers Of the
East grew rich. The schemers be-
hind their tariff wall grew fat, while
wages slowly but surely declined. At
last the millions of laboringmen
throughout the country discovered
that the tariff was no benefit to them
so far as wages were concerned, and
that a high tariff was positive injury
to them in everything they had to
buy. When that discovery was made
the doom of the Republican party
was sealed. 1t was soon discovered
by the workingman that in the most
protected industries of the country
wages were falling; year after year
wages were being reduced while he
was voting for protection. If he
raised any question other men stood
ready to take his place. Soon anoth-
err thing fell upon his ears sounding
strangely at first, but full of evil as he
soon discovered. 1t was the cry of
cover production" The mill, the
factory, the workshop shut down for a
certain length of time, three months,
four months, six months, and the pro-
tected workingman must do the best
he could for bread until his benevo-
lent employer saw fit to start up
again. Men destitute. but protected,
tramped the streets and highways. In
the coal fields of Pennsylvania and
Ohio the price of coal went up from
$3.50 to $3.50 per ton delivered in
Saginaw, while wages went down to
that point where they could barely
keep soul and body together. Thous-
ands of men and women demonstrating
against n reduction of wages were
thrown out of employment and their
places taken by imported labor, and
all the while it was protection pro-
lection Then it was discovered that
another factor was at work. The
brain of man was continually seeking
to employ the forces Of nature in pro-
uction-inventio followed inventions;
the work that would require a certain
of men one year could be
performed by fewer men the next
year, and the men thus displaced by
were thrown out of employ
ment mercilessly, remorsely, thrown
out of work, and, strange as it may
appear, the men retained received less
wages than when it required them all.
Where twenty men were employed
before the invention, ten could now
perform the work. 1t would seem as
if the ten ought to receive double the
pay less the interest on the money in
vested on the machinery, but instead
their wages were lowered because the
ten men thrown out of work were
competing with them for the place
and all the while the employers were
crying protection to labor. While
competition was shut off as far as pos
sible with the manufacturers the ports
Of the whole country were thrown
wide open to labor and every induce
ment held out to bring it here into
competition with American labor. AT
last laboring men discovered that the
cry of protection was
snare and delusion, that it put
money into the pockets of few at
the expense of the many, the protect
ed manufacturer was enabled to keep
up the price of his goods while labor
fell below competition, that the slight
decline in price of manufactured
articles was more than made up by
the constantly increasing protective
ness of machinery and skill, and at
last the great army of labor through
out the country has left the hypocri-
tical party of protection and Joined
the party of equal rights to all and