The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-07-15

Let us follow that out little. MIR.
Chairman. Here is q manufacture
built up at the expense of the people
The people are taxed for the benefit
of Dubuque. At once it becomes a
good city to live in. Labor finds a
new field of employment and receives
better wages Idle labor seeks the
city OF Dubuque. Others say at once
lit is good place to keep store"
Business begins to revive In that city.
Storekeepers 90 in there and then
there is another gentleman comes
along who makes the discovery that
it is a good place to buy land. Land
values are advancing all the time in
Dubuque and so the town boomer
and the land grabber get there and
buy up all the vacant land.
Then what happens? Prices begin
to go up. Men hold the land out of
use. The rents begin to increase and
the laborer, who was getting fair
profit out of his labor. finds that what
he gets in extra wages he is forced to
pay out in extra rent The merchant
finds his rent going up and is obliged
to raise the price of his goods and
the burden of extra rents and extra
taxes is shifted from shoulder to
shoulder until al last it rests upon the
farmer. and when you figure it all up
at last the lions share of the profits
growing out of this special privilege
goes to the land speculator and to
the protected monopolist and not to
the farmer Or the laborer.
And what is true of Dubuque in this
case is true of every city in the United
States whose industry is built up by a
legalized spoliation. by special priv
ileges secured from the government
by their paid attorneys in congress.
Then an era of speculation sets in.
We continually have these speculative
periods. Prices go up beyond their
normal condition. then reaction ensues
and panics follow. l have listened to
men in this hall who told us how
prosperous we were under a low tariff,
| have heard men say how prosperous
we were under high tariff and
have failed to hear a single member
satisfactorily explain the cause of the
panic Of 1873 under one Of the highest
tariffs we have ever had in this coun-
try The protective tariff stimulates
certain businesses beyond their nor.
NAL condition and the requirements Of
trade. there results apparent over
production. and in order to maintain
prices combinations and trusts are
organized, the output is cut down,
labor Is locked out to become a Grim :
inal or a tramp and all grows out of
what l believe to be an unnatural sys-
TEN of trade which in the last analy-
sis is the distribution of the products
of labor
How does it come. Mr.. Chairman,
that labor needs protection? How
does it come that some men in this
country are in position to grant to
labor protection? What is labor?
Is not labor the factor that produces
all the wealth of the world? Whether
it be on the farm or in the factory. is
not labor the force that produces the
wealth? How is it. then that some
gentlemen are in position to grant
privileges to labor? How does It
come that labor needs protection in
this country?
eDid you ever think of that? In
this country that has but nineceen
people to the square mile. this new
and undeveloped country, not state
in the union that has yet half its land
occupied; with all its inventive genius
and machinery. with all it's great
means of transportation for effecting
the exchange of the products of the
labor. with its untold and unmeasured
resources in every form. how comes it
that labor is insulted by having those
who live upon it offer a tariff law to
protect it. Does it not follow,
gentlemen. that somebody has de-
prived labor of its natural rights?
Does it not follow. gentlemen. that
labor the king; labor the sovereign.
has been pushed from his throne
where capital now reigns. bastard
monarch. in his stead? Does it not
follow that the people have been de-
prived of their natural rights? We
all know that in the first settlement
Of this country it was settled by men
who came here to escape the protec-
ton OF a ruling class people made
criminals by a bad state of society.
not so bad probably as we have to-
day but still bad enough to produce
criminals by law; but coming here
and finding new continent unde-
veloped with land free to all. de-
veloped into a higher state of society
than that of any nation in the world.
developed men of sub genius that
they produced. apparently without
effort a government which will yet
lead to the highest state of individual
liberty.
Again. take the history of Australia
which was originally largely settled
by a criminal class. Those people
going there and having free access to
the natural opportunities-the mines
and forests and streams-for the pro-
duction of wealth. finding no monopo-
lies there. being left free to develop
the resources of the country. to have
their own homes and enjoy the re-
wards of their own industry. they
gradually developed into the most adj