Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-09-09
.wAeEwoRkERs DECEIVED.
High Tariff spoils DO Not Reach /,

High Tariff Spells Do Not Reach the
Workingman'ssPocke
The workingman, who is not an unreas-
enable being, will submit to a reduction Of
his wages when he sees the necessity Of 1t.
But he will be the more unwilling to ad-
NIT such a necessity under any circum-
stances the more reason he has been given
to look upon himself as at least one of the
intended benefciaries of the laws which
have done SO much to make his employer
rich. He will be rather inclined to argue
that under these laws he had hardly had
the full share of the benefit that was
promised to him, and that somebody else
had unlawfully made off with large por
ton of what was the workingman's due.
And if upon this view Of the case the la
boring man works out for himself a theory
of rights far beyond this, we must not be
altogether astonished to find that the
tariff, with all those promises with which
it has been commended to the favor Of the
workingman, has become one of the most
effective propagators Of socialistic ideas.
The workingmen will gradually open
their eyes to the fact that those fair
speeches have most cruelty deceived them.
They have only to look at the rates Of
wages in the different countries Of the
world to satisfy themselves that high
wages are not caused by high protective
tariff, and that low wages are not caused
by the absence of high tariff. We are
constantly told, when comparing Ameri-
can wages with English wages, that wages
in the United States are much higher than
wages in England because we are blessed
with a protective system while England
Is not. But it Is a notorious fact that
L. Nh,
higher than wages in Germany and in
other European countries blessed with a
protective tariff. Now, if In one high
tariff country wages are higher than in
one free trade country, and if at the same
time wages in that free trade country are
higher than in several high tariff coun-
tries, then it cannot possibly be that the
high tariff makes a high rate of wages and
the absence of the tariff a low one.
If the workingman pursues his inquiries
further he will find that during that IA
nous period when the United States had
low tariff, from 1916 to 1861, wages here
were as much higher than those in any
European country as they are now, and
that during that low tariff period they
were steadily rising. He will find that
wages in this country have always been
higher than European wages, not on ac-
count of any tariff, but on account of the
circumstances surrounding us-the large
quantity of cheap, fertile and easily access
ible land; the almost inexhaustible abun-
dance and variety of natural resources in
viting enterprise the numberless opportu-
mites for fruitful activity; the exceptional
energy and productiveness of labor in this
country, and SO on.
He will find that the wages of persons
engaged in such labor as is not protected
by any tariff at all-such as employees of
transportation companies, house servants
bricklayers, carpenters, bakers, longshore-
men, plasterers and many others-are
among the highest compared with cor
responding wages in Europe. Finally he
will find that employment and wages are
as dependent on the labor market and the
state of business in high tariff America as
in free trade England, and no less; that
labor organizations have as much influ-
ence upon such things here as in England,
and no more and that the promises with
which the protective policy is commended
to the favor of the laboring men cannot
possibly be fulfilled by any tariff law, and
are therefore a delusion and a snare
Harper's Weekly.