Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-14

"itJer ten gears the tariff rate had gone W
f6 per cent, bit acageS had gone doicn. !"
duta bic imports was 4 per cent, while i
is 60 per cent now. Ii we don't put q stol
to it they will soon want seven times q
much protection. After 80 years of pro
lection it is not hard to pick out working
man. You are all millionaires now, boys.
Laughter I have been asked to explain
how workmen will be benefited bv tariff
reform. l am not an advocate of free trade
to begin with, but L can soon tell these
men what they will gain by a modi
fcation of the tariff. Not one o.
them has had his wages raised
bv the Mckinley bill. Applause. dis
cnssed that question in Ohio last fall. Nc.
Kinley and 1 had an alleged debate at Ada.
He boastfully said that his bill was on the
day OF the debate year old. 1 said to the
| Major: 4 can name you 300 establishments,
employing over 10000 men. on whose
products the tariff was increased, and in all
of them during the year the baby law was
growing the wages were reduced The Re-
| publicans couldn't name a man whose wages
had been increased, and for four weeks I
| challenged them to do it, at least ten times
a day.
The Difference in One Decade.
s'In 1870, under the Republicans, the av-
erage tariff was 81 per cent, but the amount
of wages paid in proportion to the goods
| produced is growing less all the time, on
| account of improvements In machinery, so
that wages in 1870 had dropped % per cent.
Notice the scale. Alter ten years the tariff
rate mas gone up 46 per cent, but wages had
| gone down. In 1880 the average wage cost
was % per cent. In 1890. under Mckinley,
| the rate of protection is 80 per cent, while
the mechanics wages have dropped II per
| cent. How long. if this scale were kept up,
would it take before the manufacturer got
everything ami the mechanic nothing?
[Applause.
1.-THE Mckinley bill was made by the
men who are getting the dollars out of the
tariff The woolen manufacturers wrote out
their schedule, and 1t went in at first as he
prepared it. The wool growers made a
schedule, but the manufacturers were too
slick Tor them, and it was modified. And
so it was with the glass, pottery and other
industries In the case of pearl buttons, the
man niacthrers, after they got the tariff,
formed a trust and cut down wages. Then
the workers organized a union and COM
PEELED the makers to give them the old
wages. That teaches the lesson. 1t isn't
tariff, but organization, that keep up wages
[Applause.1
Capital as Opposed to Labor.
"There is no subject that calls tor more
craftsmanship, more humanity and skill
than the management of capital and labor
Nobody has anything against capital. Cap
ital takes care of itself 1t goes to Con-
gress and has the tariffs raised, but nothing
is done at the custom houses to protect
workingmen from labor that comes In free
of duty.
sin the United States the labor cost of a
ton of steel rails is S11 80 per ton, accord
ing to the Labor Commissioner, while in
England the cost is S11 80, difference of
q cents. But the manufacturer, to protect
that 81 cents, has duty of S13 "A put on a
ton of rails. The carpet maker pays q per
cent more for labor here than abroad but
the tariff on carpets is 80 per cent If tar
lfis are intended to help workmen, why is
1t that duties are from two to ten times the
difference of the cost of production?
''In New England it is shown by the
Labor Bureau that workmen earn 5000 for
their employers while they only get $40 |
themselves. Who gets the benefit of the
duty-the mechanic or the manufacturer? |
Tariffs do not maintain wages. I will |
admit wages are higher in America than |
England. They are higher in Colorado |
than Pennsylvania. We can't account for |
it on the ground of tariff. Then why? Be-
cause there is more labor here in proportion |
to the demand than in Colorado. If YOU
all go out there then wages will be higher |
in Pennsylvania
The Cause OF the Best Wages.
''It is the supply and demand, first, that
make wages, and the second thing is the |
absence of protective tariffs. In Germany
and France wages are only one-half as much
as in England. These two countries have
built Chinese wall around them, while
In England free trade prevails. In Ger
many blacksmith gets So 81 per week.
They have protective tariff And when
our population is as dense as in Germany
we will come to these wages in this country.
Carpenters get "a even per week to So in
England. In Germany a tinsmith gets
So 05 per week against IS 80 to 81 20 in
Great Britain. We are last drifting to-
ward GERMANY, under protection.
Labor should have a tariff. [Cheers.
Every workman coming should be COM
PEELED to pay duty in the Custom House.
Applause Let us prohibit the Drawn
and muscle from abroad, and give your men
a chance. What we pay out for tin duties
this year would clothe and feed our tin
workers at the best hotels in the land
Every cents worth of tin in the world he
longs to the English Then it is British
money, and not American labor, that ia
being protected. Laughter
A Surprising Prediction to Make.
"Now, this has been quiet campaign.
put think you will all bear me out that
here was never a time when the peonle
we're thinking and reading more about no.
itical issues than at present. Applause.
believe the people will come nearer vot-
ng their honest convictions this year than
,ver before.
81 think the voters have in store a sur- !
,rising decree to make. 1t will be q reyolu.
ion like the one OF 40 years ago when the
Whig party was wiped out from tine face of
he earth. The Wings wanted higher pro-
ection, but nothing like what we have now.
The Whig party never rallied. History re-
'eats itself, and the time is ripe for the
epetItlon OF the performance of 1852. The
Republicans will only get the proportion of
lectoral votes that the Whig party got 40
ears ago. The people are going to mold t
his election themselves, and we Democrats i