Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1892-09-03
IT'S GOOD WORK.
WHAT PROTECTION HAS DONE TO PRO-

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next November is more clearly defined
than it has been since the var. 1t did
not enter into the campaigns of 1868 and
1872. 1t was hardly discussed in 1876.
1t was brought in during the closing
weeks of the campaign in certain To-
calities in 1880, but the appointment of
the Tariff Comm ssion in 1882 shows
that the Republican leaders wanted
more light on the subject. The report
of that Commission did much to
strengthen the protection sentiment of
the country, and had the Tariff Com
mission bill then passed without amend
eut the tin plate industry would now
have been as firmly established and as
gratifying an illustration of the benefits
| In the instance referred TO the Tariff
Commission rate of duty of four cents
per pound was allowed to stay on wire
nails, but Congress defeated the recon.
mendation to increase the duty on tin
| plate. Although the duty on nails
was increased 10 1883 from one to
four cents per pound, the price of
nails went steadily down from 6.35 cents
per pound in 1883 to 2.25 cents per
| pound in 1892, and the production OF
| nails increased from less than 100, 600
kegs to nearly 5000, 900 kegs in 1891.
The knowledge of these and similar
facts, together with revelations to how
European workmen were paid and live
as compared with American workmen,
still further strengthened protectionists,
and the campaign of 1884 was more de-
cidedly fought out on tariff lines, though
the Democrats in strong protection dis
tricts and States kept the question in the
background to considerable extent,
and the record of the late Samuel ].
Randall was extolled and pointed to as a
shining example of tariff Democrat.
The message Of Mr.. Cleveland, the Mills
bill and the overthrow of the little band
! of tariff Democrats in the House of Rep
resentatives, brought the real issue to
! the front in 1888, and the fight was
square one, though the Republicans were
not as well equipped for it as they are
at the present time On that issue the
Republicans won, and unless all signs
fail they will score another victory for
the cause of American industry and labor
in 1892.
THE TARIFF AGAIN THE ISSUE.
The question of tariff for revenue or
tariff for protection is clearly drawn,
both in the platforms and the candidates
of the two parties. In the Mckinley
bill the Repu blican Party has taken the
stand on the tariff question, which its
leaders failed to do in 1888, when a Re-
publican Congress modified the Tariff
Commission bill. In the Waters on plat
form the Democrats have taken the
stand which its leaders failed to do in
1884 and 1888 in the National plat
form. Both parties at least seem to
have the courage of their convictions,
and are ready to win or lose on this
issue. At last it may be truthfully said
that economic questions divide the two
great political partei. Another good
sign is that both parties are getting
nearer than ever to the point of agreeing
as to the facts. The figures of the
Eleventh Census stand unquestioned.
They have been prepared by experts Of
all shades of political iaith, and are ac-
cepted as the most complete and accu-
rate returns thus far obtained. The
elaborate investigation conducted by the
Senate Finance Committee into prices of
commodities and wages before and after
the passage of the Mckinley bill come
to the Senate signed by Senator Aldrich,
of Rhode Island, and Senator Carlisle, of
Kentucky; by Senator Hiscock, of New
York, and Senator Harris, of Tennessee;
by Senator Allison of Iowa, and Senator
Blackburn, of Kentucky.
THE FACTS OF THE QUESTION.
A substantial agreement as to facts.
What are those facts? l shall in this
series of articles endeavor to point out
the most important facts brought to light
by the Eleventh Census and by this Sen
ate investigation, which appears to bear
directly on the present phase of the tariff
question. This question will undoubt-
eddy be debated with more vigor and
more ability during this campaign than
ever before in the history of the country.
Tie keenest minds have been at work on
the question. The facts will be analysed
more thoroughly than ever before. There
will be less personality and more politi.
cal economy; less fustian and more
sensible argument; less theory and more
solid facts. 1t has been truly said that
among honest and intellignent men a
long approach is made to the end of
controversy when the facts underlying
the issue are placed beyond dispute.
And for all this let us be truly thank.
full
1t is not worth while to waste time and
space in comparing the growth and
prosperity of the Nation during periods
of low tariff, OF revenue tariff and periods
of high tariff. have heard that grand
old protectlonist, Judge Kelley, argue
these points with free traders and fooi
them every time. The chapter giving
the history of the tariff IN Mr.. Blaine's
book demonstrates beyond question thai
industrial depressions, low wages and
general distress have invariably followed
periods OF revenue tariff 1t is admitted
on all sides to-day that a days wages
will buy much more food, much more
clothing and much more of the other ne
cessities of life than before the war.
HIGH WAGES UNDER PROTECTION.
1t is not necessary for me
to produce broad-side of tabulated
tables to convince the average
American wage-earner that with a
protective tariff this country offers him
better wages than any other country in
the world. 1t is these increased wages,
these additional comforts, these broader
opportunities, and these happier homes.
tGat have attracted our kin from Deyoud
the seas and which made the gates OF
Castle Garden swing inward and not out
ward. The official figures show that
since 1879, or for nearly twenty years,
the tariff rates of the United States on
total imports have remained substan-
TALLY the same. In that year the aver
age rate of duty was twenty seven per
cent. Since then It has never reached
higher than thirty-one per cent. The
Mckinley law reduced the average to
twenty-five per cent, the present rate.
When it is remembered that the war
tariff reached forty-seveu per cent. it is
easy TO realize the large additions to the
free list aud reductions in duty ma lie by
the Republican Party during this twenty
| years.
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