Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1892-04-08

'ai rD
f#na 1e ohoe1I
1hat TN = - eyeEy06eNs KNOW
ENany d troe.trador hrs nnW9ttfngly nd
gMiSted Il, and even tha& rabid troform.
%" 0x-C0ibul 8chunh0f, has gwen In.
valuable testimony on this point, when
DO hid that oil substantial articles Of
ssthe Wholesale process OF maflufactUrc"
are cheaper here than In froe.tfade
England, but that things made entirely
by hand are desrer In the United States,
90 We see that while lower wages would
undoubtedly mean lower prices for the
splendid raiments and Injuries of the
rich, il would not make much differ
once in the prices of machine made ar
ticles purchased by our workingmen;
and thus lower wages could only mean
diminished purchasing power, fewer
comforts and q lower standard OF living.
But this is not all. Cannot the work.
singman see that wages have not the
slightest connection with the cost Of the
hundred and one things which 20 to
make mp his expenses? Will the thou
eand dollar mortgage on his home be-
come less than q thousand dollars be-
cause he earns lower wages? Will the
debt he yves be smaller because his in
come is less? Will the 5-cent car fare
be reduced, or the price of q newspa-
per, or the admission fee to the lecture
or entertainment? No, these things
will cost just as much as before, so that
lower wages simply mean more labor to
purchase a smaller amount OF tn an.
The intelligent w%orkingman cannot
but see that higher wages, not lower
prices, must be the watchword in the
I.ntAlx 30 LAke.. IL, A~rl.x.A ass q, lvns,
dell Phillips used to say:
The MAR spring Of our progress is high
w~agSs-waees at such q level that the
over q home, can command leisure, go to
lectures. take a newspaper, and lift him
self from the deaiening level OF mere toll.
That dollar lett after the bills are pad on
Saturday night means education, indie
pendence, seif-resrect, manhood; 1t in
creases the value Of every acre near by,
fills the town with dwellings, opens public
libraries and crowds them, dots the conti-
nent with cities ard cobwebs Il with rail-
The one remaining dollar lnsures
progress and guarantees millions to It's
owner, better than a score OF statutes. 1t
is worth more than a thousand colleges.
and makes armies and police superflnOus.
Question No. u. The American Economist
says that If the tariff on agricultural machin.
err we're abolished TO. morrow. none of ii would
or could be imported. Why then keep Il duty
On it,
This will be recognized as a question
answered in these columns before.
We pointed out that it was a favorite
method of the free trader when con-
fronted with the fact that American
products are actually cheaper and bet
ter IN many lines than similar products
in any other country under the sun,
rather than to admit that the wind has
been let out Of his tariff tax bubble, at
least so far as the products in question
are concerned, to try to avoid the ami
hilating conclusion by failaciously rails
ing the entirely distinct and indepen-
dent question, Why then is tariff neces.
sary. Before answering this second
question, the first, which ls one of fact,
should be disposed Of and the signifi-
cance of it's answer clearly grasped.
DO agricultural implements sell more
cheaply here. quality considered, than
in any other county? No free trader,
if he be self-respecting and at all con-
versant with the facts, will deny that
they do. What follows? That farm
implements are not ''tariff-taxed" by a
single cent; that the keystone of the
free trade arch has fallen out. After
these admissions are wrenched from
the free trader we are in a position to
take up the other question, Why is a
tariff kept on these things?
As a matter of fact, the tariff law does
not say a word about agricultural ma.
chinery from beginning to end. 1t does
say that
Manufactures. articles or wares not emu
merated or provided for in this aet, com
posed wholly or in part Of iron, steel. lead,
copper. nickel, pewter, zinc, gold. silver,
platinum, aluminium, Or any other metal,
and whether partly or wholly manufact-
ured =
shall pay a duty Of As per cent. ad valo-
rem. Farm implements fall under this
classification, or rather they would ii
imported. About - many free trad
ers as protectionists can be found
among manufacturers of farm inn
plements, conclusive proofthatt The tariff
has nothing to do with fixing prices.
II they are mentioned at all, it ls doubt
full If they would bear any duty. But
no one thought 1t worth while to ask
for the removal of the duty on them,
since it Injuries no one. So it remains
As per cent, as it stood in the old law.
1t rests with the free trader to show
IVA VAy ~ aAN Ana
should be picked out from q thousand
other things and made free. Is he will
ing to base his warfare against protec.
ton On the existence of an imperative
tariff rate which has no more to do with
the prices of farm tools than with regu-
lating the phases OF the moon?
Question No. H. Why is the Democratic party
SO opposed to q Protective Tariff
All men and even animals fear and
bate whatever they do not understand.
A horse not broken to the presence of a
grist mill, a buzz-saw, a threshing ma
chine or a locomotive fears and hates
it. He will smash everything to which
he is attached to get away from it. He
does not know that each of these things
is doing more rapid and effective work
toward feeding and sheltering him and
his owner than he can possibly do him
self. The buzz-saw cuts out the boards
which make his stable, the locomo-
tive draws to distant markets the
crops which ne draws only to
the depot, the t%hreshing machine sep
arates the grain he eats from the straw,
and the grist mill furnishes bread to
those who feed him. All are as bene-
ticent to him as his masters most kind
caresses and far more efficiently ser.
| viceable. He hates them simply be-
| cause he does not understand them
and thinks fanciful dangers or cruelties
are connected with them. The FESTIVE
| horse wants the locomotive, the buzz
saw. the grist mill and the threshins
machine all repealed, because he hears
their c~latter, but his reason is too sin.
gle and simple to comprehend theil
utility. AS the Democratic party gets
broke to the tariff it disllkes it less
american Economist.
sharp Answers TO McMiilin's Gross Mis-
statements.
The speech of Congressman McMillin