The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-09-17
BURROWS OFu MICHIGAN.

BURROWS OFu MICHIGAN.
Julius c.. Burrows, the congressman
from the Kalamazoo district of Michigan,
made characteristic prot ectionist speech
before the few Republicans Of St. Paul q
few evenings ago. He dilated on the
beauties of the tariff and made the usual
argument about high wages and the re-
duced cost of living. "lhe question to-
day is not the Mckinley bill; We need
not trouble about that" lexclaimed Mr.:
Burrows. eve revised and reduced the
tariff to such an extent that nobody
claims we could take off q single cent
more. We can't revise the tariff for the
purpose of reduction. We have got to
the last point And SO the Mckinley
bill is to remain unchanged il the Re-
publicans. can keep in office. Mr.. Bur-
rows then: turned his attention to the
high wages paid to the American work
man, and the low wages paid to the
European workman, and ascribed the
difference in wages to the tariff. He did
not tell his auditors that the American
workman gets higher wages because he
performs more work in given time than
the foreign workman. The difference in
wages is not due to the tariff but to the
fact that the productive efficiency of the
American workman is greater than that
of the foreign workman. The labor cost
in this country is also less than in
Europe, for here we have more skilled
workmen and better machinery. Mr. Bur
rows said that We have destroyed foreign
monopoly and that competition is bring
ing down the price of manufactured
articles. II challenge any man to 60 into
a hardware store,' said the Michigan
der,' and show me single article that is
not cheaper under protection than it was
under free trade" If things are cheaper
now than ever before, as claimed by MIR.
Burrows, why do the manufacturers favor
high tariff? Could they not do better
under free trade? 1--WE have tried free
trade continued Mr.. Burrows, 1--WE have
had things cheap; farmers burned their
wheat because it did not pay to market
it, and a yoke of oxen sold for one dollar
in Missouri That was upward of fifty
years ago, and the reason why things are
different now When articles are cheaper
than ever before is the protection afforded
by the tariff! Wheat is cheaper now than
it was one year ago, but ls it on account
of the tariff? I'VE had tariff of two
cents pound on sugar, and as soon as
we took it off the price went down" said
the Michigan statesman. But that was
revenue duty, and we produce SO little
sugar that the law OF competition does
not apply at all. BY removing the tariff
on sugar, more than $57 ,000, 900 was lost
for the support of the government, but
to make up for this amount the people
were taxed for the benefit of protected
manufacturers and owners of raw ma
terials. Sugar is cheaper because the
tariff has been taken off the raw material,
but clothing, blankets and other COM
modities have been increased in cost by
the Mckinley tariff. II wages have risen
and the prices of the necessities OF life
have fallen under the tariff system of the
party, why so many strikes
and why so much discomfort among the
laboring classes? Mr.. Burrows, OF course,
did not refer to such matters as that.
He spoke Of tin plate, however, and said
there are more than fifty tin plate fac
tories in operation in this country at the
present time The speaker did not say
where the factories are located. He
spoke on steel rails, and attributed the
reduction in the price Of them to the
tarif. Why did he not explain Why the