The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-08-26
WAGES AND PRICES.
Favorite Falsehcods OF the Free Trad,
Campaign Liars.


ing good deal of vigorous lying in ref
ereuce to the effects of the Mckinley
bill Their favorite falsehood is that
/ the bill has reduced wages, while it
has increased the cost of living. 1t is
somewhat unfortunate for these cam
paign liars that all the facts in the case
20 to show the utter falsity of their as
sertions. The tariff act has neither
reduced wages nor increased the cost
of the necessaries of living to any class
of our people. AS to this subject we
| have evidence which is absolutely un-
| impeachable. The subcommittee of
, the senate finance committee, which
has been engaged for sixteen months in
investigating the effect of tariff iegis-
lation upon prices and wages, supplies
in its report, only recently presented, 4
mass of testimony which refutes in
every particular the allegations with
which these partisan falsifers are flood
/ ing the country.
The inquiry of this committee, it is
| proper to state, was conducted along
lines unanimously agreed to by all its
members. 1t was wholly free from
4 partisan bias. The sole desire was to
\ obtain facts in such a way as TO create
universal confidence in their accuracy.
/ The conclusions arrived at in accord
ance with this plan are unanimous.
| 1.-The period covered by the investiga-
: ton was twenty-eight months before
/ and after the passage Of the Mckinley
| tariff law, namely, from the 1st OF
- TcA .F 1,r,,.
| 1891. With a view of ascertaining what
changes, if any, had taken place with
| in that period, isquiry was made as to
/ the price of two hundred and fifty arti-
! clcs Of general consumption in seventy
| cities and towns in different parts OF
| the country. The results show that,
| comparing theltwo extreme dates Ci
| the inquiry, the average retail prices OF
/ the necessaries of life in these cities
! had declined sixty-fOur hundrcdths Of
I one per cent; that wholesale prices foI
/ the same article had declined thirty
: three huudredths of one per cent: that
/ the price of agricultural products had
/ advanced thirteen and siXtT-seven hun
| dfedths per cent, and that the average
/ Of wages had advanced three-quarters
| Of one per cent. As supplementary tc
! these figures, statement is given
/ showing 4 further decline in the cost OF
/ living in May, 1892, as compared with
/ September, 1891, of one and two-tenths
| per cent, and as compared with June,
1 July and August, of 1889, Of three and
( four-tenths per cent. This supple
/ mental inquiry was made by tie com
missioner OF labor IN the three cities OF
! Fall River, Chicago and Dubuque. 1t
( IS Invaluable IS showing that the
! tendency Of lower prices and to lower
! cost OF living IS still maintained The
! statistics ObtailaE,c from Great britain
showed that during the same period
/ the cost OF living had increased nearly
two per cent. 1t also appears that in
the occupations covered by the inquiry
wages in the United States averaged
seventy-seven per cent greater than in
Great Britain.
The significance of the figures thus
supplied cannot be oVerrated. They
| destroy the whole cdifice of partisan
! Misrepresentation, AID sweep away ut
terly the lying preterses upon which
the supporters of Mr.. Cleveland had
hoped to conduct successful cam
paign. Prices have not increased;
wages have not declined. The in
fuence of the so-called Mckinley legis-
lation has been in every respect
bcnefcent, and its advantages will be-
come more and more conspicuous as its
operation reaches more widely diversi-
fed interests, and the business of the
country adjusts itself to the permanent
conditions which 1t tends to establish.
The republicans lost the country two
years ago because 4 lying partisan
press succeeded in deceiving the people
as TO the significance and purpose of
this act. They will carry the country
this time because, having discovered
the fallacv of the democratic argument
and the falsity of their statements, the
great mass of the people will act in
obedience to the obvious suggestions of
experience, no less than the dictates of
patriotism, and give their votes for the
utilization of our own resOuSces and
the promotion of the interests Of our
own labor.-Frank Leslic's Weekly.