The sun., 1893-08-17
Tho Curse of Cheanness.

In 1890 the Republicans were telling
ns that cheap coats make cheap men, H.
that cheap and nasty go together" and
that "the cry for cheapne5s Is un-Amer.
ican." From such statements 1t would
naturally be inferred that goods would
be cheaper under some other system
than protection. The Republicans did
not like effect of this cry against
cheapness upon the election in 1890,
and in 1892 they were prepared to tell
us that protection lowers prices. The
tariff pictures" of the New York Press
and of the American Economist were
devoted to this idea for many months.
The Senate Report ON Prices was fixed
up SO that it was claimed that it showed
this resu1t-but it didn't. Well, the
result Of the election in 1892 was no
more satisfactory than in 1890, and the
Republicans have concluded that they
might as well throw off their mask and
tell the truth again. Hence they are
everywhere asserting that the country
Is about to be ruined by the low prices
which free trade will inaugurate.
They say that it is because the. country
Is afraid of itself on this point that we
are now In the midst of panic. Of
course, by country they mean manu-.
facturers. Hear what the New York
Press of Aug. 2, now says: ........-
To obtain cheapness for commodities is the
first and last purpose of the British policy Of
free trade which has been forced upon this
eQuptry. To reach this end British agrichll-
ture has been deliberately sacrificed by the
rulers Of England. That Commodities might
be cheapened in the United States many
Americans went to the polls in Novembef last
tn of w 10 r.
man earned vastly higher wages with which to
purchase the slightly dearer coat. The result
IonEed for by the Democratic voters and prom
leed by Democratic Journals and politicians
has been speedily seelred. Bef6Fe Mr.. Cleve:
land had been month in office the era of
cheapness had begun A nation which was at
been plunged into condition Of severe de-
preston. Cheapness has come, but with 1t
sands Of men, the cessation Of wage paymeats
to great masses and consumers, the stagnation
of trade and the substitution of apprehension,
an a9d oT ne " 6Ss
son ffom WHICH It may learn by bitter expert:
encs the nature OF the Dement'S That are oIfefed
pr55duosrs 5 81 wealth.
This statement should convince the
most skeptical that eheapness is o
curse and that our only salvation lies
in return to protection and high
prices. To make certain that we will
miss none of the possible benefits OF
protection and that we will not be
cursed by cheap oranges, lemons, han-
anas and other tropical fruits. let us
put duties on these articles so high
that all such products will be grown
on Our own soil. II hot houses are
necessary to do this so much the bet
ter. Think of the business booms,
the valuable home markets and the
extra wages for American workingmen,
to come from the building of several
thousand acres of hot-houses-brick-
yards, lumber-yards, glass factories,
sash and door factories, carpenters,
masons, glaciers and painters, would
be more prosperous by such law.
This prosperity would spread and diff
fuse itself until it had extended to the
humblest farmer in the, sod-house on
the prairie-for such are the blessings
of protection and high prices. If then
we could induce our inventors to re-
verse their processes and invent ma
chimes to make goods dearer, we would
be on the verge of q millennium. 1t
just now occurs to us, however, that
we are still living under laws made by
the great Mckinley himself-laws
which were to guarantee high wages
and prosperity to all. Before we de-
eide to outdo Mckinley will the Press
kindly inform lis what has upset the
workings of this benefcent plan al
least one year In advance of its proba-
BILE abolition? Was its hold on our in
dustries so weak after thirty years OF
continual grip that 1t could be shaken
by look from the unregenerate free.
trade Democrats? II this be SO, might
II not be well to intrnst our prosperity