The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-09-03
ARE w0RkINGMEN BLIND?

Reference was made yesterday to the
strike of the employees of the American
Tool and Axe Co., on account Of the hostil-
ity of the company to labor unions, and
this is but one of numerous instances Of
the same sort. Wherever workmen can be
imported from abroad to cheaper labor, or
wherever an excuse can be made to reduce
wages, the protected manufacturers are
sure to take advantage of the chance. A
few days ago a manufacturer in Germany,
in view of the high prices of bread and
meat, voluntarily in creased the pay of his
hands and added to the amount ne regu-
larly pays sUperannuated employees in
pensions. Where do we see instances of
| this kind of generosity among American
capitalists working bodies Of men in pro
tected industries:
Instead of the condition Of the laboriug
man being ameliorated by the policy of pro-
lection, it is gradually but surely being
made worse. Syndlcates and trusts are the
landmarks of protection, and by means OF
these the monopolists attempt TO regulate
the times and conditions under which labor
shall be performed. They shut down or
start UP at pleasure their furnaces, their
looms, their machinery, because, having
full control of the supply of manufactured
goods in the, market, with neither foreign
nor domestic competition, they can make as
much money by running their establish
ments part of the time as they would by
running constantly.
There never was a graater fallacy than
that the protection now enjoyed by the
eastern manufacturers would raise the
wages of their employees. The protected
) manufacturers pocket every cent of the
, bonus that protection gives them. The
tariff rate is added to the price of their
) goods, and they get their labor where they
can get it the cheapest. The wages paid to
the men is less than half per capita of the
} product of their labor-less than half their
; earnings.
3 The pretencc that high tariff is neces-
D sary on foreign manufactures in order to
protect American workmen is fraudulent.
i Statistics show that 1t costs s1.5S worth of
| labor in England to make ton Of steel.
j and $1.52 worth in the United States: So. "a
worth for a ton of steel rails in England
Y and $l.54 worth in the United States; 81
r cents worth in England to make ton OF
{ pig iron, and in the United States, rs. cents
. worth. Thus in two great products the
l labor is cheaper in the United States thar
! in Great Britain, and in only one is i,
higher. The explanation of this is in ths
L greater efficiency of American labor One
fourth more wages will be earned by al
, American workman than by British work
: man, for he will do third more work
n His services are estimated by the amount
of product he turns out. There is no othe,
= country in the world where manufac-
: turer takes as much profit out of the earn.
i iugs of his employees as in the northeast
ern part of the United States.
9 But there is another side to this questio,
: the cost of living under a protectiv,
/ tariff. The working classes have hat
n ample time to discover the difference il
% their grocery, shoe and dry goods bills q
o compared with those rendered believe tn
1t MCKINLEY tariff law went into eifect
u This tariff levies almest 90 per cent. OF
t. nearly all the necessaries Of life consume,
by family. The lumber, window-glass
% nails and other hardware in the house
e they live in are so taxed. The carpets, tn
y looking glass, the dishes, the sheets, blan
y kets, Shoes clothing, tlnware. tools, stoves
y CRATES. needles, buttons, thread, Irvine
d and many other such articles, the loves