The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-10-28

Cf INNOVATIONS ~ sta amount o. st
least So, oo0. 90 TO make up the amount
OF the lost revenue. u means taking that
amount OF baslnssS from the American
manufacturers and w0rksDgmen. and
handing Il over to foreigners Or. II our
manufacturers and producers make de-
terrninea effort 20 keep cut foreign goods
by meeting the lower prices. il can only
ee made e;fectnai bv cutting down ex-
penscs Of every kind. and reducing the
wages OF the mechanics and laaorers who
are employed ia their establishments.
wAeES MUST rE EKnucER
should this biil become las. the day
on which the president shall athx his = =
nature 10 u Will be she day OF doom Tor
American high wages. That this prospect
of = reduction of wages has 10 ;eFrors Tor
the Democratic ires-srade theorists - EVIL
dent from their expressed opinion on the
subject In speech in another bedy. in
January last. prominent member of that
party said:
II were certain that wages were higher here
would seex % rSpcAI those laws which make
WAGES higher, and would let wsgss have their
natural place al over she world.
! suppose what is meant by 'their
natural place. IL 10 reduce American
wages 10 the European standard. III the
question is asked what IS that standard
will answer 10 from the pages of report
which IL appears has Just been made for
the information OF a commission in Ing
land in relation TO wages in Germany:
Miners in Germany have a maximum wage
where they receive 81 q 1ay, aud large numbers
have no more shan IS cents Wages are lowest
actually where the working day Is longest,
Thus. Tor ID censs men are toi.inK az klaUsthsl
ten hours day The wages in the iron aad
steel asd metal industries generally range from
$50 10 s{s73 per week. with hours ranging froSn
ten TO twelve per day for the lowest wages In
Salesla. On omrih0sas, street and other
public vehicles wages run from 81 50 20 S. per
week n Ga of nj n hat
the driver OF hack wotks afteen and half
hours day for 81 SO week.
Agricultural lahorers receive all over tho EN-
psre from IS cents 70 81 cents day with board
during the summer. aud from IS 20 10 cents
without board Ia winter there Is consider
able reduction OF wages and yet 10 IL the scsson
v hen money Is most needed. Womsu employed
IN the field receive about half the wages OF men.
Some are paid only cents day, and n ceuts
with board is the maximum for permanent
summer employment. Tho laborer who hnds
employment ia the forests is rewarded with the
pitsanee OF % cents TO 30 cents per DAY.
Again il says:
Ia the textile trades wage OF $3.50 per week
y common, with tbs hours twelve per day. In
Mnihausen, however. srinners paid
much s5.s1 Printers la Germany are
much better paid than workers in other
trades and are nearer the English scale
The wages vary from $A75 TO SIS week, and
the average Is about ss.sA In Berlin nxed
wages are paid competitors, ranging from sA7s
10 si2 Ilthgraphers type founders aud ma
chine hands do not earn so much. bat they ara
fairly welt remunerated compared with other
trades. Women, a rule, ars only paid about
half the wages men receive for the same work.
Iii the building trades, including carpentry,
wages on average from Is 10 80 per cent.
below those OF Great Britain, aud the working
day Is considerably longer As rule very long
working days accompany poor wages. n makes
one shudder TO thtak OF lourneymen in ths
building trades working seysnty-eight hours a
week for 81 rs Bat the hardship is far worse in
the case OF mtliers, who are accustomed to work
twelve to tweniy hours q day for 81 a week. Ia
A. per cent. of cases inquired into the custom
was 20 work from seventeen 20 eighteen hours
per day. and Ia large number of instances not
eyen sunday was excepted. The mlliers have
no trade organization worthy OF name, but they
are now agitAting for the boon OF toiltng
twelve hours day. Bakers are scarcely better
of. Their hours average fourteen per day, aud
the WAGES run from si.5o TO ta7s week. with
board. The German shop assistant has tho
ordeal OF fifteen hours a day. ana his creature
comforts are few and inferior.
That Is the statement.
| most sincerely hope that shall not
live to see tho day when American work
ingmen shall be reduced to the necessity OF
attempting to support themselves and
their families on such miserable pittances;
and sooner than cast vote Tn favor OF
measure which would help to bring about
even an approximation 10 such a state OF
affairs. IL it should be proposed by my own
political party, | would renounce that
party. unless l were SO situated as 10 assist
in correcting its mistakes.
PROTECTION DOES NOT INCREASE rHE rRFcE
One Of the stock arguments OF the fres
traders as that customs duty on such
foreign goods az We can manufacture our
selves raises the price 20 the consumer,
and Is therefore a burden on the commu-
nifty. This has been proved over and over
again to be n fallaey. as the competition
among American manufacturers. in very
many instances. has reduced prices 20 as
low q level as similar goods can be bought
Gnr In ~ Tor 4kit tax
ins into account any duty on them.
The great object OF the protective duty
il TO preserve our markets for our own
people, instead of handing them over TO
foreigners: and even il the foreign manu-
facturer INTRODUCES his goods, We mean
that he shall not do so without paying TO
our revenue tue amount which he has
ground out of the bone and sinew of the
workingman. BY these means we prevent
him from obtaining the power 10 reduce
American citizens 10 the level Of the poor
underpaid drudges OF Europe.
No man who will take the trouble 10 ac-
quaint himself with the facts can be blind
10 the truth that the country has pros
pered under the policy of protection, and
that labor has on the average been well
paid aud eontented-
THE COUNTRY WAS PROSPEROUS
Dan's Reriea Of Trade in December. 1907,
contained the following statement as 90
the condition of the country at that time.
The most prosperous year ever known in
business closes tomorrow, with strong favorable
indications for the future. For this year the
volume II settlements through the clearing
houses IL the largest ever known. Tho largest
total of exports and imports ever known la any
year. CnpreeoaeHtea purchases for eonsamp-
ton. Manufacturers have made extraordinary
progress. The year closes with ali woolen. cot-
ton and elk mscs iaery fully employed, ana un-
sold stocks much lighter than usual, while tho
demand for the coming SEASON already exceeds
the capacity OF many mills. shipments OF boots
aud shoes from the East have been 5 per cont.
larger than any pfeyiOus year.
This statement is not inside by n political
partisan, but is a summing up of results
by writer who seeks only for facts. care
less Of what party they may help or hurt.
That similar condition Of prosperity
has always followed the adoption Of .
protective policy in this country is mat
ter Of history. In January, l632, Mr..
Stewart, mem Der OF the house OF repre-.
sentatves from Pennsylvania, in speaking
OF the result Of the tariff then existing.
said.
Has,; Impaired the reveuus9 No. sgr. ~ has
paid OF the national debt at the rate OF twelve
TO afteSn millions year, and we are now told
that The tarsI must 10 repealed, not because IL
hss destroyed, bat 6ecaass IL has produced too
mach revenue Has it injured coFaaerest
Coz merce. Ike the fsye1ne, has increased aud
h5grlshed hsYond al former sxsfnple. Has q
the prices OF all tho manufactures stafRseof
within the range OF IS protection have beea
greatly reduced.
THE BEGINNING or THE pEPErssIoS.
have previously alluded TO the results
Of the free trade policy Of the Democratic
party by extracts from the newspapers 81
$50 and the message Of President BID
chana1 in 1857. I viii aos revert 20 tho
elect Of the publication OF the free trade
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