The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1893-04-07
"a MERIcA FOR AMERICANS"


taken the place of white labor all
along the road, are having some
trouble with indignant citizens of
that place.-Halsey News.
The next legislature should pass
law forbidding any public corpor-
alton employing any but natural
lied American citizens to perform
any services connected with its
existence and performance of its
functions. American government
and American law creates and
maintains its existence. The
American people patronize, sup
port and enrich these corporations
and they should not be allowed to
displace free American labor, sup
porting American institutions and
American families, in the Ameri-
can style of living, to give employ
ment to japanese, Chinese or any
other class that are not compo-
nent element of citizenship.
There should be state and Uni
ted States law forbidding employ
ment by public corporation or
in any public work or public build
ing any other than naturalized
American citizens. There would
be less train wrecEing attempted
on the Southren Pacific if that law
were enforced.
| We pretend 10 protect American
labor, but allow great transconti-
mental transportation corporations
to employ thousands of foreigners
who never can become citizens to
take the bread out of their mouths.
i These corporations were enrich
ed by great grants of public lands,
favored by exemptions from taxa
ton, favored with legislation, and
then they turn around and repay
the voters by Systematically dis
eliminating against American la
borers, and displacing them with
coolies by the thousand, who do
not support homes, schools or
chuches, and not one out of five
hundred ever stays in this coun-
: try.
The above from the Salem Jour
) nal is soundly stated, but it does
not put it strong enough. For the
past so years and more this coun-
try has been maintaining high
: 'protective' tariff: the only posi-
bic excuse for which was
that it was calculated to
: provide and preserve high
l scale of prices for wage earners.
That tariff kept up the prices of
! all merchandise and supplies en-
2 tering into the homes of wage
t earners as we'll as other classes,
1 and it has amounted to no small
E burden that the masses have will
: ingly borne in good cause. The
a Iplan was all right enough had it
] been philosophically carried out.
e But that has not been done. While
] the country was paying these high
Y "protective" prices-these tariff
e ''taxes" levied to secure high wa
: ges oil level with them, the ut
: most ''lree trade'' principles have
t been in operation to transfer the
t I"pauper labor" of the old world to
! American shores.
t This transverse policy has been
: going on all these years until there
sis little difference between the
n condition of labor in America and
that of the ancient hemisphere
land none in favor of the American
Q laborer, which is not assured by
: natural conditions. Our protec
O tive policy was a sound one, but il
n was protection in theory, and moi
in practice. 1t steered away from
0lCharybdis and is in the breakers
y OF Scilla. 1t set up a high plane
Y of citizenship and invited the mass
les Of the world to come
. and become part Of it
{ 1t put out no discriminating bar
IS Iiers. The man of lofty spirit and
= the crawling serf all came upor
e the same footing. So whel
% swarms of abject laborers, with nt
il conception of or aspirations tt
= reach the level which our institu
; tons contemplated, came ani
e brought their abject instincts with
,r them, but one result could be OBJ
# tained. That was the dragging
- down of the whole labor fabric. te
- the lower level. That is about the
e condition of affairs today. There
< ought to be change. The 'spro
is tective" policy is very lopsided
lit burdens the masses to provide