The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1892-07-02
WILL SOMEONE nNSW FIR:

make the people believe, o may he
bought over Boston and New York
counters cheaper than like goods can be
purchased in London, why should atariif
he levied upon them? Will someone
answer?
Would any sane Englishman ship his
goods to this country and pay a duty
upon them to get them 10y our customs
houses and load them upon "a market in
which the same goods sell at less price
than they do at his home! Will some
one answer?
If he did, would he make money by
the transaction: Will someone answer:
If a high protective tariff cheaper
cloths in this country, why should free
trade cheaper the price of sugar! Will
someone answer!
If a high protective tariff bring the
cost of woolens below the market price
of like goods in English stores, does not
the same tariff lower the price of .Ameri-
can-grown woods? Will someone an
swcr?
If high protection lower the cost of
the necessaries of life, how does it raise
wages! Will someone answer?
II the manufacturers get less for his
goods, how can he pay high wages? Will
omcOne answer?
IT protection and high wages go hand
in hand. how does it happen that low
wool and low woolcns are SO closely at
their heels? Will some one answer:
II high protection reduce the cost Of
home produced articles how high a rate
of duty must be imposed in order that
they may be got for aothing: Will
some one answer.
lcs. Every fool republican editor in
the country will answer that protection
lowers the cost of production in this
country: that it raises the price Of labor;
that it gives the sheep grower a better
price for his wool; that it gives the farm
er 4 better price for his wheat; that pro-
lection gives the laboring nan and his
family cheaper coats and pants II un-
der clothing and dresses and boots and
shoes and blankets and tinwarc and
crockery and cutlery and sugar no free
trade does that and all the other ncccs-
sarics of life. And when he thus IN
swcrs ne knows he lies if he knows any
thing about the matter.
Now the fact is protection does not
raise wages; protection has not raised
the wages of a man IN America; protcc
tons fails to keep wages up to the stand
ard. Labor organizations do all this.
Protection protects capital; it does not
protect labor and hence we see in the
strikes and lockouts which have pre-
vailed all over the country during tine
existence of the war tariff AN irrcpre5si
bic, irrcconcilablc conflict between cap
ital and labor protected capital and un.
protected labor.
Again when Il man says that prOtcc-
ton reduces the price of the necessaries
of life to the workingman set him down
as a fool or a liar. lie is one or the
other. The idea of protection is to keep
out foreign productions and keep up
the price of the products of American
f%acturers pocket the profits, and the
wages of laborers is scaled down so as to
make the profits as large as possible.
The American Wool and Cotton Re
porter stated a simple condition of the
present market when it said: ~ notable
feature Of the wooden goods market is
the low price Of goods, and it is very
probable that goods are selling today on
a basis of prices lower than ever before
The Reporter quotes the market; il dOes
not ascribe it's condition to protection or
free trade. 1t does, however, say that:
The price Of raw material has. Of course.
been al assistant in bringing about this
result. but to competition is due the
larger share of credit" Here you have
it. Cheap wool and competition in it's
manufactures have brought the price Of
wooden goods down upon Il lower basis
tluH my WIZ 'N'I l'I :" III INV
name Of all that is sensible where does
protection come in to help the American
wool grower or to raise the price Of
American labor! VIII some one answer?
Let us see what protection has done
10 this matter. 1t has thrown IA wall
around the country and We must con
gun,n mr. protpctrI uroIucte nr they will
rot upon our hands. 1t has encouraged
the manufacture Of protected shoddy
and last year w produced l5i,OOO,ND
pounds Of it, which took the place Of
54,OOO,OOO pounds Of American grown
secured wool. 1t has forced this shoddy
into Our SO called wOolens and brought
in the long woods Of Australia to hold
the stuff together. 1t has forced the
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