The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1893-11-24

Men Are on the Free Lat aud 4 mer1can
Labor IL Not Protected by Duties on
Goods = Cansdians Moving Bsck ana
Forth st WILL
Zone effect Of the Temporary shut
ting down Of the many New England
cotton mills during the past two
months and the subsequent reduction
In the wages OF the opera tives. has been
the stimulus given emigration from this
and other New England states To Cam
ada
Few factories but have felt the ef-
fects of this exodus of the French
Canadians back To the farms from which
the promise OF high wages and speedy
enrichment enticed them. and for
weeks past the depot platforms at the
village railway stations have been piled
high with their trunks and huge boxes.
filled with clothing and household
goods, billed for points beyond the
Canadian border.
There is no more reliable indicator
Of the industrial situation in the cotton
manufacturing centers than the period
zeal move ment of the migratory portion
of the French Canadian population
When the tide of Industrial prosperity
is on the rise, and with il the wages of
the cotton operatives the French Cam
adian. taking il at the flood, hics him
from the farm to the factory and gain
take alarm, and with the accumulated
savings of his sojourn in the states fly
back to the farm
The above. from the Providence
Journal, is quoted by the Manufacture
er. of Philadelphia. one of the staunch-
est, not to say the most bitter, of
protectionist Journals. 1t is assumed
that this furnishes clinching argu-
ment for protection TO American wage
earners by means Of tariff duties
But does it? Does ii not rather stamp
the whole system as farce and "a
fraud? Does it not make clear that
trade in labor is free and that when
the reward for la Dor is higher in this
than in other countries there is no OBJ
structon TO its migration and importa-
ton, except the trouble of moving and
the expense Of transportation?
Not more certainly does the liquid in
n spirit level flow toward the lower end
of the tube than does the tide of immi-
grafton flow toward the country Of
greatest natural and actual advantages
for the employment Of labor. Labor.
like water. is constantly seeking its
level Men being on the free list they
can and do sell their labor in the high
est market Hence wages the world
over are bout as nearly level as are
the waters OF the seas and Of the great
bodies Of water closely connected with
them. II day wages are much higher
in one country than in another il is be-
cause labor is more efficient in the for
mer than in the latter country. This
theory is in accord not only with com
mon sense but with all well-authenti-
Gated facts obtained by democrats or
republicans
When James g. blaine was secretary
of state. in 1851, he made report on
wages in the cotton industry, in this
and other countries ba sed upon sta
tistics obtained 10y foreign consuls- He
was forced to come to the conclusion
that undoubtedly the inequalities in
the wages Of English and American
operatives are more than equalized by
the greater efiic iency Of the latter and
their longer hours of la Dor" The pre-
vious secretary of state. William NJ.
Evarts made similar report and came
To "A similar conclusion. lie said: 'Onc
workman in the United States. as will
be seen from the foregoing extracts,
does as much as two workmen in most
of the countries in Europe"
That la Dor is more efficient in this
country is demonstrated every day Of
the year by our exports of goods TO all
parts of the globe. Our shoemakers.
carpet and cloth weavers, piano. car
rage and wagon makers, and me-
chanics and worlingmen OF all kinds
receive double the day wages paid in
Europe and yet their products are cx-
ported - Europe aud sold in COMPETE
ton with the products OF Europe's
cheapest labor. Many large manufact-
urers have declared that labor is cheap
cr in this than in any other country
all things considered
No. duty on goods gives no protcc-
ton TO la Dor that makes the goods As
Hon. Ben Butterworth frankly admit
ted. ''thc manufa cturers and the trusts
get the protection and the profits of
the tariff" The American working
man sees the effect Of protection in the
increased prices of what he purchases.
His labor is constantly in competition
with the labor of all other countries
both in our own and in foreign coun-
tries.
This fallacy exploded. protection will
have no other leg upon which tn stand
But anyway. IL has twice been knocked
completely of its pins i'm this country
and the last obscquics are now being
performed. No humbug ever deserved
to bc buried deeper than this one.
BYRON w Hour