Middletown transcript., 1891-03-26
LETTER FROM J. B. STEWART.
1890, - Tur TRANscRIpT

ties to the discussion Of the question
whether protective tariff is a benent
to the laboring classes are honest 10
endeavoring to find the truth OF the
matter. there is little encourage
ment TO those who would use this
method of gaining knowledge. Per,
haps more time, atmosphere anu
paoer have been consumed IN the as
cussion of this than any other econ
omic question, For seventy years
our leading men have been at varl-
ance on the subject and it is no
nearer settlement apparently than
ever.
History shows that when other
great questions could only be settled
l,y recourse to arms it was because
one of the parties was so blinded by
selfish interest as to be unable or un-s
willing to ses The-trut when present
ed. and while this one can hardly be
settled in that way we are forced TO
give a similar reason for its non-set-
clement, and it is not hard to deter
mine which party in this case is thus
blinded, for while the advocates OF a
low tariff would gain nothing honor
ably by an adoption of their views,
the advocates Of high tariff would
gain much by an adoption of theirs.
don't propose to attempt the i'm.
possibility of saying anything new on
on this subject, but since coming to
this new State have seen, and may
be able to present some old ideas In
new light. I have often, wondered
why it is that experiments seem Of as
little value as discussion in this matter,
but now begin to realize why it is. The
true results of the experiments have
been always attributed to some entire.
ly foreign influence. Delaware en-
joys CD the same protection as Wssh-
ington and the condition of the labor
ing classes should therefore be the
same in the two states, but a COM
paratlve table of wages will show that
it is not by any means.
Del. Wash.
Wages mech'n'cs per day sl25 2so-ss e. GO CO. CO.
laborers :. :. SIS, l.25-ss;o %, 800
domestics per week 80
with board sl.50, 3.00-$5.OO, 500.
This shows the actual scale of
wages TO be over 100 per cent. high
er here, while the cost of living is not
more than Is per cent. greater and is
more than counterbalanced by the
fact that not more than so days in a
year need be lost by those whose work
is exposed to the weather. Of course
this can be accounted for by saying
that this being a new country there
| is much more to be done here, and
| that tt til the distance from the centres OF
population prevent laborers from
coming in to supply the demand
Very well, but can we not account for
all the blessings the United States
have enjoyed under protective tariff
in the same way2 No one will deny
that the moneyed value of wages paid
for similar work is greater in the
United States than in Europe, but
would it be so if the Atlantic ocean
and the cost of crossing it were re-
movedf
| Why is it that the thousands Of
men in Delaware who are barely
making enough each year to pay the
previous years store bills do not come
out here and fill this industrial
vacuum /? Simply because the cost of
travel is so great that they could not
if they would, and if protected
laborers' can not afford to cross theil
own country how can the poor un-
protected Europeans cross the ocean
. Many have done so to be sure, but
when we read Of 10000 unemployed
men being present at one meeting In
London, we realize what compara-
lively small number have. If the
protectionists want to test their theory
let them put tariff wall as high as
Hamans gallows around Massachu
sets. but leave the gates open to labor
ers from adjoining states, there could
be but one result: the manufactur-
ers would become rich and the scale
of wages remain the same. One. o
the richest and most prominent nef
in Seattle, who has been here twenty
| five years, is protectionist, and ht
told me that he became so when hi
lumber business in Cauada. just ovel
the Maine boundary was ruined b.
the tariff imposed by this governmen
which stopped Importation. He say
the lumbermen in Maine become ricl
and reasoned that they could afford tt
pay their men better wages, and tina
protection must be good thing fo
those on the right side of the liHe
Whether they did pay their me-
more he could not say.
All we know is that they do not a
present. This same gentleman lent
coal miner last spring the sum of 500
(secured by first mortgage at 10 pc
cent? to enable him to go back to Eng
land to find work, leaving his wifi
and large family here. he had bee
out of work two months and could et
tain none when there was not enoug
coal in the market to supply the de
mand at $500 per ton. This mine
told me that their wages we're les
here than in Pennsylvania or Ems
land, and the gentleman admitted tha
> the tariff on coal did not seem t
benefit him much. I am convince,
that the Chinese exclusion bill AMI
: the Contract labor bill are the onl
laws ever enacted which have prs
tected the laborers of the country.
JAMES B. STEWART.
Sumner, Washington, March 221