Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1892-05-18
Light Thrown Upon Tariff Questions.

Light Thrown Upon Tariff Questions.
Does not Great Great Britain forbid, under
penalty, the production of certain articles on
which she levtes revenue duty?
Yes; the cultivation Of tobacco in En-
gland and Scotland is criminal ofense.
This is the logical outcome Of the policy
of free trade or revenue tariff, the theO-
ry of which is to place duties on nom
competing articles. When, therefore,
the number of such articles is not great
enough to Weld the needed revenue,
the next step. under the Cobdenite
regime, is 10 absolutely prohibit the es-
Enlistment Of certain industries How
ever attractive this policy may appear
to the enlightened eyes of our Mug
wump "reiormers," to call 1T free trade
is surely anomalous! With American
ideas of freedom it certainly does not
harmonic.
Which country is the wealthiest, the one
that imports the more wealth or the one that
exports the more wealth!
The foreign trade of any country is q
very poor index of its wealth. Ii our
ports were completely biOckaded to-
morrow, SO that we could neither I'M
port nor export a cents worth ever
after, we would still remain the wealth
lest nation IN the world. When the
Irish people were starving by the hun
dred thousand ireland was exporting
immense quantities Of beef, pork, NUT
ton, butter and grain. It is the wealth
produced and kept at home that makes
us the richest nation IN the world.
Judging by foreign trade returns alone
we would be put down as having less
than half the wealth of the United
Kingdom, tWO-thirds that of Germany,
and about the same as that OF France.
AS matter OF fact, none Of these COun-
tries even approaches us in the point Of
wealth. Our internal commerce is
many times more important than our
foreign trade.
Why is it that since the Mckinley tariff has
been i'll operation, the wages of the workmen III
the protected industries have been reduced
from time ;otime?
Wages will be reduced and advanced
from time to time in obedience to laws
beyond the power of man to control,
no matter what kind Of tariff we may
have, Just as the price OF wheat or beef
will be high one year and low the next.
But it is a mistake to suppose that
wages have tended downward under
the new tariff. There have been q few
reductions here and there, notably in
iron mills, because Of the low price o,
iron, and the tree traders have made a
great hurrah about it and tried to create
the i'm preston that wages generally are
falling. They never mention the thou
sands of cases Of increased wages that
have been mentioned in these columns
from time to time. Wages, as a rule,
have been advancing under the Mckin-
ley tariff.
Why is the cost of living cheaper in England
than il the United States?
Food, the principal item of expense
in Il workingman's family, is cheaper in
this country than in England. In gem
eTal, rents and manufactured articles
are cheaper in England because Of low
wages there. Carroll D. Wright, who,
as an authority, is unapproached by any
other living American, demonstrated
in 1888 that while wages were Il per
cent. higher in Massachusetts than in
England, 1.-The prices ofarticles entering
into the cost Of living are on the average
1929 per cent. higher in Massachusetts
than IN Great Britain; that of this fig
u1e 11.49 per cent. was due to higher
rents in Massachusetts,, leaving $50 per
cent. as indicative of the higher cost of
livingin Massa chusetts as compared with
Great Britain, as regards the remaining
element of cost. "-Anlerjcd2 Economist