Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-08-09
Mr.. CAMPBELL On HIGHLY PIkO-
TkCTEp GERMANY.

MAkt1 NA AuNNA iA Wv - A-tN~~ N~NN--~
pend upon the tariff.
Mr.. CAMPBELL Is out Of the sphere OF
American party politics. The turmoil
and heat aud partisan spirit does not
affect his flow Of thought and utterance
nor bias his judgment, as it might were
he in the midst Of it here instead Of qui-
city soiourning in far-away pleasant
peaceful Germany. Consequently ne
looks at things as they are and writes
about them as he honestly sees them
and knows them to be.
Tariff reformers hold that the tariff
has nothing whatever TO do with the
fact that wages are higher in this couu-
try than they are in Europe. The col
umns Of Democratic and independent
newspapers have been filed with the ar
eument that there is no way in which
the wages of labor in any country in the
world can possibly be affected other
than by the memorable law Of supply
and demand; and that wages are higher
in the United States because Of our great
and innumerable natural advantages
and the scarcity of labor in the United
States as compared with the Oyer-popu-
lated countries Of Europe.
Mr.. CAMPBELL gives this argument
his unqualified endorsement. He not
only in effect repeats this very argu-
ment but goes into detail quoting his
careful observation in Germany, to
prove its truth. In his interesting let
ter he says:
Ihave asked myself more than once since
/ have been here what West Virginia VIII
be like when she comes 10 have as many peO-
ule per square mile as Germany lsay Z0O),
Instead Of ner present population OF about
80 For, instance. what Will the Pan-tlan-
ole counties be like when that day arrives,
the Panhandle VIII then be as pop
ulOus as the Rhine provinces OF Germany
ana will have, as they have, $50 10 400 10
the souare mile. Brooke has about
$500 people to-day, or say 20 TO the square
mile. In the year nineteen hundred and
she VIII have quite possibly as
dense "a population as Hessen-N assau LOT
Of course an Europe will continue 10 dock
TO our shores). and tho conditions Of life an
nat cent ir.B BE much the same as tleg are
here.
Again, speaking of America, Mr..
CAMPBELL says:
As population increases with US the till
ace OF the soil must become more and more
minute thorough and exhaustive. Large
holdings OF land must give place 10 small
aud stiu smaller holdings, ana five acres or
three acres or two or even one acre must
become holdings OF Importance. Hand IN
hand rjth this pressure " population upon
the SOIL for subsistence SCCcrc economies ana
universal labor must be tho rule. The
thing that hath been is that which shall
be.0 So we are told on high authority
even If experience did not teach US the
same thing, and the application OF the text
is simply this, that 'tbe thing that hdth
bsenn and u0ir ts) in Germany is crdctlU the
thiug that lril Do tH the United states, and
part fcgl1rlp Ga the desirable parts Of the c0un-
trg-stch as the Onto TdlcB. In
imagination L try 70 look forward and
picture q parallel between what 1 see here
today and what some person, perchauce
as vet unborn. will see in the Panhandle
of West virginia Each cOttager
win tin his few acres, and he and his wife,
his bows and his girls will work long hours
on these acres, and wtU lico substantially IN
the some DIB iR m1nU respects, ln ROOD ana
dress, as they are fCiHO here, l'H GTmdnN,
to-dIU Why note What's TO hinder IL:
WHAT'S 70 help it3 Germany is highly
civilized country in fact is famous Tor
her high civilization: and yet the toll and
the life of the masses is Just as L have sug-
Cestcd IT, The condition Of agricultural
work especially, and Of work generally, Is
tong hours and poor pIU
No mention of the tariff here, by Mr..
CAMPBELL. He does not take the tariff
into the calculation for a moment
how could he when Germany is as high
ly protected by tariff laws as the United
States arel He says that when the
United states are as populous as Eu-
rope 1.-THE condition of things in that
event will be much the same as they are
here Gin Germany"
Mr.. CAMPBELL might have quoted
Free Trade England-where wages are
far higher than they are in High Pro-
lection Germany-as a further example
of the fact that the tariff can have no
effect on wages, except as regards their
purchasing power, and, hence, the
effect upon the cost Of living.
Mr.. CAaPBEIL's excellent letter is
complete vindication Of the Democratic
argument that the tariff can have no
effect upon the rate Of wages. Wages
in the United States averaged more
than II per cent. higher than in Europe
before any tariff had been adopted here,
and under the lowest tariffs we have
had. Wages in the same protected in
dustries show as wide range in differ
ent States of our Union as is the range
between average wages here and in
Great Britain. Did the tariff produce
our wide domain, our boundless oppor-
tunities and resources, our free inStiJu-
tious, the equality of men before the
law, and all that makes America at
tractiye and great?
The IBteltigalcer must give the lie to
itself the next time it talks about
protection TO labor" through the
tariff.
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