The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1892-09-16
APPEALS TO WORklNGMEN.
Democrats Charged with Those of u Com
munistic Kind.

Democrats Charged with Those of u Com
munistic Kind.
The appeals of free trader to the workingman
are largely addressed to his prejudices or to
his passions and not infrequently are pro-
nouncedly communistic. The new Democratic
leadership RACES at the employer and seeks to
communicate this rage to the employee. re-
greet that all employers of labor are not just
and considerate and that capital sometimes
takes too large share of the profits. But do
not see that these evils will be ameliorated by
tariff policy the first necessary effect Of
which is a severe wage cut and the second q
large diminution of the aggregate amount Of
work to be done in this country. If the injus-
tice Of his employer tempts the workman to
strike back, he should be very sure that his
blow does not fall upon his own head upon
his wife and children The workmen in our
great industries are as a body remarkably in
telligent and are lovers of home and country.
Claims of the Protectionists.
They may be aroused by injustice, or what
seems to. them to be such, or be led for the
moment by others into acts of passion but
they will settle the tariff contest in the calm
light of their November fresides and with sole
reference to the prosperity of the country Of
which they are citizens and of the homes they
have founded for their wives and children.
No intelligent advocate of a protective tariff
claims that it is able of itself, to maintain a
uniform rate Of wages without regard to
fluctuations In the supply Of and demand for
the products Of labor. But it is confidently
claimed that protective duties strongly tend to
hold up wages and are the only barrier against
a reduction to the European scale.
Southern States Participate.
The southern states have had liberal par
ticipation in the benefits Of the tariff law; and,
though their representatives have generally
opposed the protection policy, / rejoice that
their sugar. rice, coal, ores, iron, fruits, cot
ton cloths and other products have not been
left to the fate which the votes of their repre-
sentatives would have brought upon them. In
the construction of the Nicaragua canal in
the new trade with South and Central America,
in the establishment of American steamship
lines, these states have also special interests,
and all these interests will not always consent
to be without representation at Washington.
Sugar on the Free List.
Shrewdly, but not quite fairly, our adver-
saries speak only Of the increased duties i'm
posed on linen. pearl buttons and other ar
ticles by the Mckinley bill, and omit altogether
any reference to the great and beneficial en-
largement OF the free list. During the last
fiscal year 1853 0OO,772 worth of merchandise or
0535 per cent. of our total imports, came in
free (the largest percentage in our history,
while in 1880 the percentage of importations
was only a.42 per cent. The placing of sugar
upon the free list has saved to the consumer in
fifteen months. after paying the bounties pro-
vided for, SS7,0OOOO0. This relief has been sub
stantially felt in every household upon every
Saturday purchase of the workingman.
The 'rIarkets of the World"
One of the favorite arguments against
protective tariff is that 1t shuts
us out from a participation in what is
called with swelling emphasis "thc markets Of
the world" If this view is not a false one,
how does 1t happen that our commercial com
1N1n
ity our supposed surrender to them of 1.-THE
markets of the world''? and how does it hap
pen that the partial loss of our market closes
foreign tin plate mills and silk plush factories
that still have all other markets? Our natural
advantages, our protective tariff, and the
reciprocity policy make it possible for us to
have large participation In the markets of
the world" without opening our own to a COM
petition that would destroy the comfort and
independence Of our people.