Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-05-28
FALSE PROTECTION.
TAXATION FOR THE
BENEFIT OF MONoPouES.

IL was benry Clay VINO clearly point
ed out the fact, which modern protec-
tionists seem entirely to have lost sight
of, that low wages did not mean low
cost Of production. AS an instance of
this fact he cited the case of Asia and
Europe. Wages in Europe, he said,
were many times higher than wages in
Asia, but because of the great use of
machinery in Europe and of the greater
intelligence and skill of the workmen,
particularly in Great Britain, manufac-
tured articles which require any con
siderable amount of labor are manufac-
tured infinitely cheaper than they can
be manufactured by the natural exer-
tons" of the countless millions of I'M
skilled, poorly paid and poorly fed la
borers of Asia.
The rapidly increasing use of machin-
cry since Clay's time has made this fact
even more manifest now than it was
then. 1t is the low wage countries of the
globe that supply the agricultural prod
ucts and the raw materials of manu-
facture to the high wage countries, and
it is the high wage countries that manu-
facture these raw materials into all
kinds of ardcles-machinery, clothing.
ships, furniture, farm and household
implements-with which to supply them
selves and to sell back to these high
wage countries. Hence it would seem
that if the tariff on manufactured ar
ticles is needed to protect labor, the
countries most in need of such a tariff
are the low wage countries of the earth.
This, in fact, is the rule. Italy, Russia,
Spain and ether low wage countries of
Europe are heavily protected against
Great Britain, France, Germany, Bel
GUM and the other comparatively high
wage countries of Europe. Great Brit
ain, the United States, France, Germany
and Belgium, the high wage countries of
the earth, are the greatest exporters of
manufactured articles. There can be
but one exIlanation-it is cheaper to
make costly articles where wages are
high than where they are low. This has
been Demonstrated in detail by many
statistical experts.
Edward Atkinson has recently given
ts long list Of articles for which the
labor cost to manufacture is less in the
United States than in any country Of
Europe. 6, pair of SHOES which it
costs thirty Eight cents to make IN
Massachusetts costs from sixty to seven
ty-hve cents to make in foreign conn
tries of Europe. He expresses the opin-
ion that the labor cost in nine-tenths q,
the manufactured articles is less in tue
United States than in Europe. To the
question that may be asked here by pro-
tectionists, why then do we not sup
| ply more of The manufactured articles
of the world than Great Britain" it may
| be replied our failure to do so is rot be
cause of the difference in labor cost 81
| the product, but because of the excessive
taxes levied 10y the United States upon
the raw mate rails and the machinery of
| production. Remove this tax and our
restrictions upon our shipping, and we
will soon be exporting more manufac
tured articles than Great Britain.
| In view of these facts let US notice the
wooden industry in this country.
One of the first effects of this heavy
protection" which we will observe is
| the decline in the number Of wooden
mills in the United States from 1891 in
1870 to 100 n 1880 and to l ,312 in 1859.
The value of the goods manufactured
| increased from $780,. 252 ,913 in 1880 10
$685., 231 ,199 il 1890. 1t is apparent, then,
that the exorbitant duty on raw mate
rails tends to drive ont small capitalists
and to leave the business in the hands of
monopolists. The next effect has been
to make the price of wooden goods in the
United States nearly double what they
would have been without such protection
This addition al cost to the s., 900, 900
of people in the United States is not now
less than $100,000,000 per year. But
even with these high prices the wooden
industry cannot be said to be in flour
ishing condition-the increased value of
the product being only about equal to
the increase in population since 1880.
The weight Of taxation upon the raw
materials is sufficient to prevent the
growth of the industry even with these
exceptionally high prices.
j Another curious effect is that while
the duties have increased the price of
raw material 10 manufacture, it has not
apparently increased the price of domes-
tic woods. As pointed out by John Sher-
man in 1888, the price of domestic woods
has declined from 81 cents in 1867 to
46 cents in 1870; AZ cents in 1875 to sc
cents to 40 cents in 1888.
But that part of the tariff to which we
here wish especially to call attention is
the part levied for the benefit of labor.
Under the Mckinley bill this part varies
from 80 to so Ter cent, and will average
about As per cent. As this duty is levied
to cover the difference of the labor cost
J in this and other countries, it may be
well to inquire what this difference act
ually is.
The Hon. Carroll D. Wright, com,
missioner Of labor, has for some time
been making special investigations in.
to the cost of textiles in Europe and
America. Advanced sheets, showing
this cost, were prepared for and used