Los Angeles herald., 1892-07-11

cost of labor in this country being
greater than elsewhere, there should be
levied upon all imports, coming into
competition with American labor, dnties
equal to the difference between wages
abroad and at home. The Minneapolis
platform states the policy in these
words: "That on all imports coming
into competition with the products of
American labor there should be levied
duties equal to the difference between
wages abroad and at home." And it is not
attempted to justify the imposition of
tariff duties, except for purposes of
revenue, upon any other ground. Pre-
Stunning that wages can be regulated
and kept up in any such manner-al-
though such an assumption is as viol-
ent as would be the assumption that a
union owner who is paying his men 81
aday for taking out ore worth 81 ton
will increase their wages If tomorrow
they should strike one worth $1,000 a
ton-still we learn from the figures Of
the commissioner of labor that the
amount paid for labor by Mr.. Carnegie
and his associates, over and above that
paid for similar labor in Great Britain,
is about one-fourth of the amount of the
protective tax. The labor employed in
making ton of steel rails costs on an
average $1461 in the United States,
1888 in Great Britain, and $2454 on the
continent of Europe. Therefore, while
Mr.. Carnegie is allowed bonus of
$l3, "a for the purpose of enabling him
to pay more for his labor than his for.
eign rivals, the facts actually show that
he pays for labor 1872 less per ton than
is paid in Great Britain, and 1898 less
per ton than is paid on the continent of
Europe.
But it may be said that, az Mr.. Car
negie has to buy raw material, and as
the cost of the labor in the raw material
here may be greater than abroad, we
should, in fairness, take into account
the cost of all the labor employed in
the various processes by which the
materials that enter into the manufac-
ture of steel rails. are made, instead of
combining our attention to the final step.
Labor Commissioner Wright has en-
the total cost of all the labor entering
rails, beginning with the iron ore, coal
and limestone in the ground and rum
ming through the conversion of
biiG hidlCtAhio 4AbO CohOtH CluOOi3
pig iron, steel ingots and rails.
is Sill, ,597 in the United States
and $7.8l7 in Great Britain. Therefore
the cost of all the labor represented by
a ton OF steel rails manufactured in the
United States, beginning with the labor
in the iron ore, the initial end of the
series, exceeds the cost of all the labor
represented by ton of steel rails manu-
fnctured in Great Britain by 1878. AS
the protective duty as bonus allowed to
Mr.. Carnegie is 1914 per ton Of steel
rails, we see that the duty which the
Minneapolis convention says should be
equal to the difference between Ameri-
can and foreign wages is thus more than
three and half times that difference
The figures may be translated thus
Protective ddty. 49,. ..,...... $13 "A
OF which labor may possibly get ... 8 rs
Balance for Mr.. Carnegies pocket sc
Is it not apparent, from the foregoing
figures, that protective tariff benefits
not the wage-worker, but the capitalist
into whose pockets the bonus arising
from the tariff duties, is kindly placed
by q generous government under the
! deluded impression that he will give tt
his laborers the increase OF profit aris
ing from the tariff tax? Is it not appar
ent that protective tariff, so-called
/ Dies not protect, and that wages arr
! ultimately regulated by the law Of sup