The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-07-23
LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT.

. AASiS "a "a tlCuh
ing men who, in the absence of sufficient
data, have not been able to comprehend
the real inwardness of the Homestead
affair, and who cannot understand just
how a republican tariff, supplemented by
republican declarations and promises
may be held responsible for the lockout
and subsequent bloodshed at that 10Y
famous home of Carnegie. Light on
this subject is thrown by Mr.. W. L. Will
son, the we'll known tariff writer in the
st. Louis Republic.
Mr., Wilson introduces a little tariff
history which bears dir ly upon the
great strike and makes quite clear a
point or two heretofore unexplained to
the genera reading public. His state
mcnts are verified by the records and
therefore will command careful and SER
ious consideration. Says the gentleman:
When the conference report on the Nc
Kinlcy bill was presented to the house
Mr.. Mckinley said Sept. 81, 1890: The
metal schedule, which occupies twenty
five pages of the bill, has received ear
nest consideration because of the impor-
lance of the great industries it repre-
sents. Nothing has been done in the
metal schedule that can result in loss of
business or prestige, and nothing that
can cal for u reduction of ardgeS on q
elimination Of the number of WOrking-
men emptOyed."
That schedule was really made up for
the bill by the American Iron and Steel
n.-1..%.e, ,- ,-o al =, %Lo ,~-,-l -.
port of its secretary, Mr.. Swank, dated
period in which this measure received
the consideration of congress, the views
of this association concerning the proper
framing of the metal schedule were fire.
quently solicited and were prompt
ly given. The schedule as it was
finally adopted is, in my judgment. the
most harmonious and most completely
p1otectire of all the metal schedules That
hare erer formed part of orr tdriG
tegisldtiOn." "Our iron and steel manu-
facturers have reason to be thankful
that the new tariff d~dequdtely protects
their interests from injurious foreign
competition. X \ Il 1t is working adj
mirably."
About the same time that this report
of the admirable working" of the
Mckinley bill was made, the patron of
that bill, believing or affecting to believe
that he had scattered plenty over a smil-
ing land, exclaimed to an %applauding
company of representatives of the trusts
and protected industries at the Tariff
League banquet at New York: "Now
go on and prosper" assuring them there
was to be mo monkeying with the tariff"
and that his bill was good for ten years
at least.
Now let the protectionist closely read
the above and let the w%orkingmen look
at the promises made at the time the
Mckinley bill was in process of forma-
ton. Then let him turn to the list of
mills closed since the passage of the Nc
Kinley tariff and see what has been done
toward fulfilling the promises made by
the author of the tariff and how far from
the truth are his declarations. If ever a
tariff schedule could bring good wages
and steady employment to labor here is
the schedule that should bring them. 1t
received earnest consideration" from
the house committee, said Mr.. Mckinley.
The views of u association (of employ
ers), said Mr.. Swank, were frequently
solicited and promptly given" 1t will
mutton of hands" said Mckinley. 1t is
the 'most harmonious and completely
protective of all the metal schedules
ever framed, said Mr.. Swank, and "ade
quately protects" our interests.
In conclusion Mr.. Wilson says: Its
rates were dictated by the eager selfish
ness of home producers. These rates are
high enough to shut out foreign compe-
tition and to put the home market at
the mercy of the American Iron and
Steel association. They are high enough
to compel the American consumer to
buy from the home producer at prices
dictated by trusts and pools. What
more could protection demand? What
was lacking to give the tariff fair field
to work out it beneficent results and to
shower its promised blessings upon the
American laborer:
yet the great iron and steel industries
have been in distress for months. They
have Knocked at Major McKiniey's com
mand to go on and prosper and now
their doors are locked against their en-
ployes. Their Enclosures are pierced with
port holes. They are prepared for siege
with hot-water pipes and barbed wires
and walls that cannot be scaled or faced.
Their thousands of workingmen are eat
ing the bread of idleness. But from
Cluny Castle, across the sea, comes the
congratulatlon of it's master to President
Harrison on his denomination as the
candidate of McKinleyism and "Protec-
tion." "The people," said Mr.. Carnegie,
know a good thing when they see it."
"The people," in Mr.. Carnegie's vocabu-
larry. means himself and his associate