The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-08-28
THE TARIFF AND WAGES.

men. Ii Is the one refrain ever sung b.
them. 1t matters not whether you read
speech made in Congress by projections
Republican senator or representative, o
whether You read an editorial in Repub
! lican organ, q magazine article by Repub
lican, or listen to Republican stuml
orator, you viii catch the refrain ere 70,
get through that we must have high pro
tective tariff in order to pay American
workmen high wages. The American man
ufscturers must be protected from thu
competition of the foreign manufacturer
or they cannot pay the high wages to tht
men they employ. The claim is made
that the higher wages paid to Ameri
can workmen so increases the price
OF production to American man
ufacturers that unless they shall be pro-
tected by q very high tariff they must
really go out of business-their mill wheels
must stop running, the fires in the furnaces
must be put out-and periodically we are
threatened with such calamity, or else
the American workmen must be reduced
TO the condition OF the pauper laborer OF
free trade Euglandi Indeed, such is the
noise made about the American workmen
by the protectionist party that one would
think the only purpose Tor existence that
the protectionist party has is that it may
secure high wages for American workmen.
''Shall our stalwart laborers in America
be reduced to the level Of the pauper
Iaborer of Europe2" they ask ia shrill
tones; and then reply in shriller tones,
mo- never; no, neverlu ard really the
cry is so vigorous that even some intelii-
gent people are half inclined to think there
must be something in it. A little refiec-
tion on just few facts, however. will cure
them Of any such inclination.
Let US close our ears to the noise and
open our eyes TO the facts. What is the
claim of the manufacturers? They must
have high tariffs in order TO keep in bust
ness; because the cost of labor is so much
greater in America than elsewhere that
they cannot pay the increased cost of pro-
duction and compete with foreign manu-
facturers who obtain their labor so much
cheaper than the American manufacturers
can. Then the object Of high tariff is not
10 give a monopoly TO the American manu-
factnrers! No. And they have never in
fiuenced legislation Tor that purposes No.
The American manufacturer is the most
unselfsh person in the world. He merely
wants high tariffs to enable him TO pay the
difference in the cost of production occa-
stoned by American high wages The
high tariff is not demanded in the interest
of the manufacturers; bnt in behalf of
their employees. Such is the claim Now
IL it be an honest claim then there must be
some just proportion between the average
tariff Cd manufactures and the average
difference Of the wage factor. That is. if
the object OF the tariff be only TO enable
the manufacturer to pay the higher
American wages, then the average
tariff should be just what the
difference is between the price of foreign
and American labor For example: The
difference in the cost of producing ton OF
steel rails between England and the United
States is said to be 1918. Suppose sill this
difference arises from the higher wages the
to pay his workmen; and further suppose,
as is claimed, that the only purpose for
which a high tariff is demanded is to enable
the American manufacturer to pay the
higher wages to his workmen; then the
tariff on steel rails should be Just S3.18 per
ton, the difference in the cost OF produc-
ton But the tariff on steel rails is Sl3.44
per ton. instead OF So. as, enough to pay the
difference in the cost of production and
So Grover. Who gets that. Is it not clear
that whoever had the fixing Of the tariff on
steel rails spoke once for the workingman
and twice for the manufacturers? So
the average tariff bears 30
proportion even to the whole average Of
the labor factor ia our products, TO say
nothing of merely the difference between
the cost of labor in the United States and
tariff on manufactures was % per cent.
the average wage factor in products was 25
per cent. In 1870 the average tariff on
was 81 per cent the average
wage factor in products was 90 per cent.
In 1880 the average tariff on manu-
features was 46 per cent; the average
wage factor % per cent. All of which
shows that while tariffs have steadily in |
creased the wage factor in products has |
decreased. fact which proves at least |
that our high tariffs have not been ar
ranged in the main for the benefit of work
ngmen.
But the whole cry about the difference |
n the cost of production arising from |
American high wages is fraud, founded |
n absolute falsehood When the extra |
,roductiveness of American labor is taken I
y 70 ooooun, Tho lohor 70 otor- N ,,rod,,.;o~
Toes not cost our American manufacturers
IS much Rs does the labor factor in foreign
production. Mr.. CHARLES S. HILL, sta
lstician of the state department, and a
prcteciionist, by the way, in
n argument before the tariff commission,
aid that our manufactures in 1882
to S, 600, 100000, and were made
" 5,250,000 hands. In the same year the
of England were worth
9, OO0, 900, 900, made by $4,000 hands,
lie followed the presentation of these
cures with this statement: There
} the positive proof that American
aechanics in the aggregate accomplish
xactly double the result of the same num-
er ofBritish mechanics. "In round numbers
hat is true. Then why should the Ameri-
an manufacturers want high protective
ariffsz They could well afford to pay
ouble the wages English employers
ay without any tariff at all, since they get
ouble the results in production from their
7orkmen that English employers get from
heirs. But they don't pay double the
ages; and where the extra hours that
merican workmen are employed, together
18th the purchasing power Of the wages
re taken into account the difference be- ,
veen American and English skilled labor ,
, IA wages is not 40 very great after all