Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-07-27
TARIFF EXPOUNDE,D
Aldrich Delivers Long Speech
to the Senate.
DEFENSE OF THE MKINLEY BILL.

The Subject Treated Exhaustively from
That the Cost of Living Has Been
Reduced, Wages Increased and the
Farmer Made More Prosperous-vest
Makes Some Criticisms and Carlisle
Promises n Reply at Length-Brief
Remarks by Palmer.
WASHINGTON, July 27.-Forty senators
constituted the audience that listened yes
terday to one of the most exhaustive
speeches on the tariff ever delivered in
the senate. Aldrich was the speaker and
he opened with the statement that the
radical declaration of the Democratic
platform on the subject of the tariff had
made but one prominent question before
the people and that was the tariff. The
Democratic platform was a radical depart
ure from previous utterances Of that
party. Not since the notification move
ment had the Democracy declared the
doctrine of protection unconstitutional,
and made that assertion the essential ele-
ment OF a political creed. 1t meant
antagoiusm to any tariff scheme that con-
tanned the element Of protection
Cost Of Living Under Protection.
Referring to the report Of the finance
committee on this ubject the senator said
that the cost of living, based on the ex-
penditures of a family in ordinary circum-
stances, had declined 8 per cent. in May,
1892, as compared with the period prior
to the adoption of the tariff act of 1890.
The advance in wages, as shown by the
same report, was rs of l per cent. This
makes an average advance in the pur-
chasing power of wages of AIS per cent.
Assuming 5000 as the average income of
the families of the country this would be
equivalent to SIS per family, or an aggre-
gate saving for 1900 900 families of 1925,
600 900 for each year.
Cost of Living in England.
He then said that it was very significant
that while the cost OF living in the United
States declined for the period covered by
the investigation of the finance commit
tee, the cost of living in England increased
1.9 per cent. If the conditions had been
reversed our Democratic friends would
have insisted that this was the direct and
logical result of the rival revenue systems.
At no time in our history have the earn
ings of the American people been as great,
measured by their power to purchase the
comforts and necessaries OF life, as they
are to-day. Measured by the same stand
ard they are vastly greater than those of
any people in the world"
Labor Cost of Production.
The labor cost of production is taken up
and the relation of wages to the tariff is
considered. II is of course impossible to
determine the proper rates of duty TO be
levied upon any article by comparison of
the single element of wages, or even the
relative earnings OF labor in different
countries. The rule that should apply in
fixing the rates of protective duties is that
they should in all cases equal the differ
ence between the cost of production and
distribution, under normal conditions,
of the article in question in our own and
in the competing country where the cost
of production is lowest. This was the
rule which was followed in the prepara-
tion of the act of 1920
Claim as to Effect on Wages
Aldrich continued as follows: while it
is not claimed that protective tariffs guar
antee any particular scale of wages in a
particular country, and while tariff rates
cannot be based directly on the difference
in ascertained wages or even in the rela-
tive earnings of people in competing coun-
tries, it will be readily seen that by the
rule have laid down this difference be-
comes indirectly the basis upon which all
duties are levied, as tariff rates are fixed
by the difference in the cost of production
between competing countries, and the
difference in the cost of production
in the final analysis consists of a differ
ence in wages or earnings"