Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-06-23

advised dealers to import sanitary ware
from England until workmen would &C
cept reduction. In April, 1891, the
combine raised the prices of its wares.
Some of the finest mansions in Trenton
are owned by the manufacturers of pot
terry who have grown wealthy in few
| years.
| Can't Mr.. Murray see that the reduc-
ton proposed would reduce the prices of
| pottery? That much more would be de-
manded at the lower prices? That while
we might make less of some kinds we
would make much moro of other kinds
than at present? That this would cause
demand for potters and probable in
crease in wages? That the reduced du-
ties, prices and profits would probably
break the combine which now has the
| potters at its mercy? That there is no
connection between tariffs andswages?
That duties are on goods-what work
ingmen must buy, and not en- labor-an
| they have to sell? The same kind of rea-
soning applies to the glass, wooden, iron
and steel and silk industries, which Mr..
Murray mentions.
| He breads to return to 1.-The terrible
poverty and starvation of the last free
trade period which Immediately preced-
| ed the civil war;" just as if statistics did
not show, what Blaine is compelled to
| admit in his Twenty Years Of Con-
| gress," that the IA years previous to 1861
were, as regards farming, manufactures
| and wages, the most prosperous in our
| history.
| Mr.. Murray S i>icas on wages appear to
be slightly muddled.
| He says THAT labor organizations
make the price at which labor may be
sold, and in that way benefit all by keep
| ing rates far above anything in Europe"
| He says:
Mature in her generosity has placed
in her storehouse (the earth) all that man
requires for his comfort, and in no place
has she been SO generous as in America"
| He says:
"With the spirit of equality implant-
ed in the heart Of every American work
| ingman it is easy to account for the high
| plane to which he aspires, being far in
advance of anything hoped for in any
foreign country. This has not been
reached without contention and loss
of wages to the workingmen. For the
| past 30 years the annual strike and lock-
| out occurs in some trades or callings,
and in order to protect themselves from
the pauper labor of foreigners the
knights of Labor succeeded in having
passed the contract labor law" He says:
1.-THE government would protect the
product of its peoples labor in the same
way as the trades unions protect their
membership, the government, by plac-
ing protective tariff on competing i'm
| ports, says to the importer, You shall
not sell this or that article below a fair
price The trades union says to the I'M
fair employer, You shall not pay this
man less than the minimum rate Of wa
| ges.'"
Here are four or five different causes
for the high wages in this country. The
first three may be rar causes, but we
are unable to see how tariff on the
products Of labor, when these products
are not in the hands of labor, can pro-
| tect the laborer. It looks as if it would
lower his wages by compelling him to
pay more for what he has to purchase
perhaps the very articles he has pro-
duced. If he could put duty of 81 900
or more on each immigrant who lands
to compete with him, his labor would
then be protected. 1t would also be pro-
tected to some extent if the contract la
Dor law which he mentions was not con-
stantly violated by the protected manu-
facturers. II laborers would object to the
duty on goods half as strongly as the
manufacturers object to the contract la
Dor law or to duty ON labor, there
would soon be as little obstruction to the
| importation Of goods as there is to the
| importation of labor.
Mr.. Murray says that in no case care
the duties proposed equal to the differ
ence in wages between this and foreign
countries" The duties proposed average
25 per cent. According to the census of
1880, the average total labor cost in all
manufactures was about 20 per cent. It
is expected that the new census will
show it to be less than 20 per cent;
hence, if there were no labor cost at all
in European goods, this duty would still
more than cover the difference AS
matter of fact, there is very little diff
| ference in wages between this and other
countries when the amount and quality
Of the product are considered. This was
| the opinion of William M. Evarts and of
James G. Blaine as expressed in their re-
ports when secretary of state and is the
opinion of many Republican authori-
ties. If our So day labor We're not
cheaper than Europe's 81 labor, we
could not, as we do, sell nearly 81 ,0GO,-
0O0,0 900 worth of our products in compe-
tition with the products of foreign cheap
| labor.
We hope Mr.. Murray will begin anew
and go over all of the arguments for and
against protection. We think he will
reach different conclusions.
| BYRON w. HOLT.
| business at Stake.