The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-07-23
CAUSE AND EFFECT.
70 the Editor OF the Eagle.

| 70 the Editor OF the Eagle.
One year ago business was buoyant;
labor was employed at wages higher
| than was ever paid before in any coun-
| try beneath the sun; the products of our
mills and factories were cheaper than at
any time in the past, and prosperity
with all its attendent blessings was visi-
bic in every corner of our favored land.
Manufacturing plants were being eniarg-
ed and new ones built, under the foster
ing care of protection. In all evil hour
we voted for change, and we are now
suffering the consequences OF this I'M
reasoning act. The very threat
OF repeating the Mckinley law
caused thousands of factories to suspend
operations. All Republican writers and
speakers last fall predicted this state OF
things. 1t did not require reasoning fac
ulties Of very high order to foresee that
a lowering of the tariff duties would in
crease importations.
Increased importationS OF foreign
goods means less employment for the
American workman: it means the clos
ing of mills and factories IL America,
and 1t also means lessenlng Of the per
capita circulation. These are seif-evi-
dent truths that require no elucidatlon.
We cannot send money abroad to enrich
foreign manufacturers and have it at
home to do business with. 1t cannot be
too often reiterated that it is labor at re-
munerative wages that produces wealth.
The great law Of nature IS nothing for
nothing. Saint Paul was familiar with
this great truth when he asserted ''If you
do not work neither shall you eat
There is school of political econo-
mists who declare that national prosper
ity is not the result of labor, intelligentiy
applied. The cardinal doctrine of their
faith is that paper money issued by the
government of any country. to the ex-
tent of $50 OF more per capita Is all that
is necessary to bring prosperity and con-
sequently happiness to the citizens of
that favored land. The dear bought eX-
perience of all nations that adopted this
erroneous doctrine should be sufficient
to warn us against Its lnsldlous adj
vances.
If the present panic will have the
effect of showing the farmers OF the
west that foreign market for their
products cannot be depended upon. it
will be productive of good. Some years
they want a large proportion of our
products, in other years they require
very little; therefore foreign market is
always unreliable. 1t is home
market that we should encourage
by putting up the bars against
the products of European and Asiatic
factories thereby keeping the American
market for the American mechanic.
To illustrate the beneticent principle |
of protection take manufacturer Of
WOODEN cloth; he pays higher price for |
wool than his competitors III Europe; he |
also has paid in the past 81 per cent |
higher wages to his workmen than his |
English rival pays; now, like the sword |
of Damocles hangs over his head the |
threat of free wool and free WOODEN |
cloth and instantly he dismisses |
his workmen, sells his stock on hand
for what it will bring, and with the |
proverbial timidity or capital he pre-
pares for the storm that threatens to en-
gulf the savings of lifetime. The |
banks will not discount his notes, as they |
well know that he is engaged in an I'M
profitable business, made Improbable |
by the threa. of a tariff for revenue only; |
is leSsened, the products of |
the farm is lowered in price, there is
contraction OF credit which causes "a
contraction Of currency, and we must |
partially bear all these evils, because |
last November we wanted change, and |
voted for it. Very respectfully,
ONE OF THE MACS.
Glen Mary Farm, July Is, 1885,