The Republican., 1894-04-19
Communicated,

UnaJ Ouey uIu nOJ IuFulSu ugufeS
which were fayorable to the Demo-
cratic party Gen. Robert P. Porter
committed an unpardonable sin
and many times since then howls
have gone up from the Democratic
press against him, but it remains
for the N0asntajn Democrat (the
paper that prides itself upon being
correctin its statements) in the issue
Of this week to charge him with
peeferring ''to deal with the general
summary rather than in the detail
in giving out his latest bulletins
covering the manufacturing and
mechanical industries of the wage
workers.
Until we read the editorial from
which the above quotation is made
we were under the impression that
Gen. Porter had resigned some
months since and that Hon. Carroll
d. Wright, Commissioner of Labor,
one Of the best statisticians in the
country, was in charge of the Cen
sus Office. We also thought that
the eleventh census went into de-
tail more than any former census
made, and in the bulletin in ques-
ton in the comparative summary
of totals for the U. S. 1890 and
$780," in which thirteen items are
gwen, there are four items not
given in the census of 1880 and on
which were not reported sepa-
ratelY in the census Of 1880, max
ing difference in favor of the CEN
sus Of 1890 of five items out of thir-
teen. More the quotations from
the bulletin are not correctly made.
The Dem0crat says, "while he
shows quite cleverly thatin 325, ,4Ol
concerns the employees average
$475 year for their labor" etc.
The report, extra Census bull
letln No. g." says "Number of
establishments reporting 355, ,40l ;"
difference between the Census
report and the figures of the Demo-
cr0t of 10000 concerns. Only
thirty thousand, yet Gen. Porter,
who had nothing to do with the
report; only Summarized" while
the Democrat went into "details"
and makes a charge against a man
who did not get up the bulletin and
is in no way connected with the
office and then makes a mistake of
$4,000 in the number of concerns
given. There is also a mistake of
more than 50 in the average of each
employee. While the Democrat
gives as the profit the amount re-
ceived by the average concerns and
the capitalists after deducting the
cost Of materials, which Mr.. Wright
plainly says that ''the difference
between the apparent cost and the
value Of manufactured product can
not be taken as indicating the profit
or earnings of capital because many
items of expense enter into the mer-
camille portion of the business,
which branch is not within the
Scope.of the Census inquiry" etc.
But then a manufacturer who
receives the benefit of protective
tariff has about the same effect upon
the average Democratic editor that
a red rag has on a mad bull. Al
though | believe that they do have
a little more respect for Mr.. Carna-
gle since he wrote a letter in favor
of the Wilson bill (of which we no
doubt will hear more in the future).
Then we are told that under the
high tariff protective subsidy system
the wages average $3.50 per day in
the manufacturing and mechanical
industries, but the Democrat does
not tell us that in that average
there are included S45, 428 females
above Is years of age and 121, 1914
but we find by the figures
given that under this blighting per-
system of protection this
tariff which sis unconstitutional |
and a fraud" this tariff framed for |
the American people and not for the
benefit of Europe, that there were
2, 1881, 439 males above 16 years of |
age, (skilled and unskilled) en-
ployed, and that their wages were
81 ,436, ,317, 7,55S, an average of less
than two cents of being $500 per
day instead of $3.50
We defy the Democrat or any
Free Trade advocate to show us a
time in the history of the country
during period of Free Trade or
tariff for revenue only, or tell us of
any country under the sun where
5he wages of the working man was
near equal to what they
nave been under the maligned Pro
5ective policy of the Republican
party, or a time under Democratic
rule when a working man could
purchase more for his days labor
han under Protection. Ifit can be
named let us hear it.
HooSIER.