New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-05
WHY A HIGH TARIFF PAYS.
WAGEswORKER. FARMER AND EMPLoYE
ALI. RECEIVE A BENEFIT.
A DISCUSSION OF THE EXACT AMOUNT OF DUTY
REQUIRED TO MAKE TARIFF
REALLY EFFECTIVE.

REQUIRED TO MAKE TARIFF
REALLY EFFECTIVE.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: have read with the article by Mr. IL q.
Horr upon the subject of Protection not a Tax ana
would be glad If he win do me the favor. through Your
columns of answering few questions which his arueie
has suggested.
First-He says that the tariff is for the benefit OF
the American working man and not for the benefit oil
the employer. Then, let me ask; In any INDUSTRY
already established should the tariff on any gwen
article be higher to cover the difference
in the cost Of foreign and home labor when enters
into that articlel
seconds it not fact that the only article which
laboring man has 10 sell and from the sale OF winch
he makes his living is his labor, and that he must
sell IL upon a free markets Or, is not the American
aborer Obliged to sell his labor in direct competition
with any foreigner who desires to offer his upon the
same market
Third-Now that the tariff makes it possible for the
employer TO pay better wages here than are paid IN
foreign countries and since this is purely for the
benefit of the laborer, would you object 10 law which
would guarantee that the laborng men should receive
the beneftq say, put tariff upon all foreign labor
offered in market, as TO give the home MARKET
10 American working men at least to the extent Oh
the margin allowed by the tariff on manufacwleu
articles for fear that employers may receive the
benefits intended for laborer and be selfish enough
10 GO out upon the American market which Is ao
sohtely free, and employ his laborers (Amerlcah
though they be- who must offer their services III I'll
rect competition with the foreign labor3
Fourtl-Is there not more tariff upon coal than the
whole amount of labor required to q hssHWoRr.
Meadow View, Va, Sept. 5, 1891.
In reply to this correspondent would repeat
nv former statement that the main OBJECT oil inc
protective tariff is to enable the producers Oh
all kinds of manufactured goods and products OIL
the soil to pay good wages to the people VINO 40
their work / do not think that L nave stated
that a duty which would enable our producers 10
nav such wages was not also IN the interest," oi
men who employed labor. The producers of the
country would Of course be benefited by any
law which gives them control of the markets OF
this country as against the producers OF the same
kind of goods which come in from abroad. Inc
advantage to any person manufacturing goods
to know that ne can find sale for his wares
which will enable him TO run his factory con-
tinuously is very great. He might pay out lor
labor every dollar represented by the tarlh on
his goods, and yet, if the DUTY is SO hlgh as 10
enable him to control the market, nc can theh
afford to place price on his goods which Will only
cover this difference in labor, so long as ne mas
the sure sale for his goods and he will prosper
On a small margin of profit because OF the ready
sale for his articles To put the tarlh duty aV
inst exactly the point indicated by the dlner-
zee between labor in this country ana LABOR
in the Old World would be simple offer to the
foreign manufacturers to reduce the wages Oh
their already poorly paid workmen still lower,
and that would enable them to break down the
markets of this country at the expense of our
own worl<ingmen. Consequently the tariff duty
should always he placed somewhat higher than inns
labor margin and then we must trust 10 Vhe
great law OF competition among our own nianu-
tacturers TO reduce the price to as low point as
IL can be reduced to and still permit the payment
Of the good wages actually paid i'll this country
1t is owing TO this fact that there IS hardly an
article produced in the United States to-day winch
sells in this country as high as those goods Wouiu
be selling if we paid the price of the same goods
in the foreign market and added the amount OF
the tariff duty to the foreign price. For example.
the tariff on steel rails is 81 so per ton. When
rbav were bringing S22 80 in England they brought
only sos in the United States which is dl1er
oDoe af .nly-sso 90 wnlIe tne tarlH Is I'll o.
douht if an article can be found in markets
which will not show similar condition as TO
nrce Another thing which should always be
borne in mind is this: the labor which enters
into the finishing of any article is seldom any
where near the amount of labor which actually
EXISTS in the article. 70 get the exact statement
the labor expended in the production of every
item which enters into any given article. The
raw material SO much talked of by our Free
Traders is mostly q myth. Nearly everything IN
this world is made up of labor. 30 that great
care in estimating the labor in any given article
should always be taken.
Second-It is true that that which worklngmen
have to sell is almost entirely their labor But.
saws our correspondent, He must sell that upon q
free market" as not the American laDOrer,
he asks. Obliged TO sell his labor in direct COM
petition with any foreigner who desires TO oner
his upon the same market?" BY no means
That would be true if the Free Traders were given
their way. If they could import the products OF
foreign labor into this country free then our own
workingmen would be compelled at once to COM
pete with the cheap labor Of foreign WORKING
men. But does this writer intend 10 lhcluoe III
his term foreign laborers" both those who Work
in the Old World and those who come TO TINS
country? The moment man comes TO tnls
country and labors in America he becomes an
American laborer and my observation Is that nc Is
the first man TO demand the American price Ior
his work He comes to this country for the SIM
pie purpose of getting better pay for his WORK
That is not all-he always succeeds in getting IL.
Iahoring men in the United States are all hv-
ing under a higher rate of wages than are The
neople who work in the Old World. The only
conceivable way to bring about the condition oil
affairs intimated by this correspondent wouIo
be TO repeal our tariff laws, and then labor ABROAD
would at once come into direct competition WIN
labor on this side of the ocean III foreign manu-
facturers pick up their industrial plants ana move
them over to this side of the ocean ana BRING WIN
them their workingmen, they at once become
part Of this Republic Whatever they do is done ior
the building up Of this Nation. Why not give
them the benefits Of our laws, the same as your
f0refather enjoyed when they landed III THIS
country?
This man asks if / am not in favor of a law