Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-08-13


cAlisd MS home. IL VAS wseitng III
he found IA las dwellings, Of the
poorest OF hls class. SAID sprinklFd
Oh the floor did duty as a carpet
there WAS no glass on hs table;
tnsfe vas no china IN his cupboard;
there were no prints on the wal over
are or fasots, when he III
with sparks struck from = hint. ar
i've Goals brought from the neignboFs
hearth. bis VIE cooked up . rude meal
and served II ia pewter dishes. tie
rarely tasted meat a. often IS once .
week and paid for IL much higher
price than his prosperity. Everything.
indeed. which ranked A. . staple of
lie Vas very costly.
Necessities chsapea~d.
Under our policy of protection neces-
stiles Of life have been eheapened and
the ordinary capacity of our labor
largely increased. l would not for the
moment contend that tariff l. the
originating force Ia raising wages. bot
| do believe that IL was the means OF
lsolating the field of our national in
dustries from European competition
TO an extent that enabled us 10 carry
our ideals into practice. Remove this
restriction and you throw the Ameri-
can isborer into competition with the
unpaid labor of Europe and force his
employer TO pay him at substantially
European rates. We Are aware that the
rate could not fall so low a. in Europe,
IS decades Of high wages IN America
have lifted American labor in most de-
partments to level Of efficiency which
gives IL soma permanent advantages,
but this higher efficiency il not enough
10 achieve IT'S independence of protec-
ton. but 10 due to the better spirit, IN
fused into the workman by wages,
that enables him To feel that ne could
live ike human being and educate
MS children. Any decline Is to be
deprecated on account of It's social and
neral. IN we'll - its uneconomic effects.
There could be nothing more touching
IN the literature OF labor than the pro-
test made some years ago against q To-
duction of wages in the coal mining
districts Of Pennsylvania, the authors
OF the protest saying that it was the
social status OF their class that WAS at
stake. They dreaded going back to
the wages Of the years before the war
because they feared that il would take
them down to the level Of their life In
general at that time.
Labor IL Protected.
In considering the results of the last
twenty-five years in tins country, it is
but fair TO bear In mind under what
special disadvantages these have been
achieved. The burdens, Losses and raw
ages If civil war began this period.
The pressure of a national debt greater
than the country had ever known aud
the avails OF . deprecated and fluctu-
atlng currency prolonged the mlschiefs
OF the war into the years OF peace. The
rapid readjustment of industry to new
lsbor-ssving inventions has game on at
q rate supposed 70 be impossible aud
has disturbed the labor market to an
extent which has hardly been appre-
Grated. But 1t IS said that We protect
everything but labor and permit Its free
importation IN any quantity. aud 1t has
been urged by our free trade friends
that to be consistent we should put a
protective duty on such importations.
believe that we shorid do better than
that. We should and have put an alb
s,lute prohibition upon tho importation
OF labor. We have done so with the
imported coolis labor Of China and il
Is right, for he comes here without his
family, strikes no root in our soil, is n
virtual slave until he has earned
enough To pay ms passage money and
only wants to save pittsnce to spend
at home. His class and any labor i'm
ported as such should not be permitted
to come. but the free emigrant, who
comes to cast his lot and that of his
prosperity with that OF the American
people. to accept their standard of liv-
ing and to make . home here for his
wife and children. him we do want al
ways.
Our Worknen Intelligent
II is true he is q competitor in one
particular line of protection with the
worknen who are here already, but
true also that be is . fresh customer
for those in every other line of protec-
ton that administer to general wants.
Higher wages have made the Ameri--
can laborer more effective as q work.
man; they have put reader spirit
INTO him. They have made him willing
- turn his hand TO anything there Is
to- he done in workshop or factory;
they have gwen him . promptness OF
attention which il of incalculable value
to his employer. 1t 10 stated that at
the centennial an English capitalist
bought . machine which worked on the
principle OF q stamp. IL was worked
by an American who never lost
stroke. When Is went TO England it
Was found that IN English work
man with boy TO help him
IN getting his work ready
lost from twenty to thirty strokes out
of every hundred. High wages have
gwen the American workman genuine
interest in the success Of the business
1T which he 10 NJ work. An employer
once wrote to . friend Of mine that
he had found that one of mis- men had
been lying swake ~ night trying 10
devise an Improvement which would
overcome 4 defect IN the machine he
was using and that without any ex-
pectation Of reward for 90 doing. In
many Of our workshops there is stand
ing remuneration for the invention of
such improvements, aud the remark
able ACHIEVEMENTS of our inventors are
but the summit peaks of the general
high level of intelligence IN our work.
men. High wages have made possible
to the great body Of our laborers diff
fereut kind Of home life than that
which is usual in Europe.
The democratic party IS wrong when
il asserts that she loss bv tariff reduc-
ton will fall upon the capitalist. When
ever there Is shrinksge the tendency
OF the average man 10 to unload upon
his neighhor. We all endesvor to get
rid OF our i',sses oy passing along TO the
NEXT man, but finally the man least
able to bear II must take the RESPONSE