Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-01

none. Her coal and iron, and the invention
Of the steam engine had developed her
manufactures so out Of proportion to the
wages Of her workmen that she must have
larger market At that time the only
Idea OF a larger market was one that had
mere nc. consumers The notion that the mar
ket could be enlarged by those who were
already consumers had not entered into the
Popular thought, yet her workmen were
ciamor1ng for more pay Tariff had really
ceased to be protection except on corn and
not on that in any true protective sense
IT was only tax like that on sugar 1t
made food dear. Repeal OF the corn laws
meant an increase of real wages. Repeal
OF tarfH on manufactures meant nothing
The whole crusade of 1S40 was for free food
and Golden nowhere says anything else
Protection, in our modern sense is never
mentioned In any Of his free-trade speeches
AFTER this review of the story of Eng
lands change, will any man dare to say
that he finds therein any justification for
the present deed OF violence which is called
the Wilson bill?"
Suppose England instead of being a lit
tie Island in the sea, had been the half of
q great continent full OF raw material can
able OF an internal commerce which would
rival the commerce of all the rest of the
world.
Suppose every year new millions were
focking to her shores and every one of
those new millions in few years, as soon
as they tasted the delights of a broader life
would become as great a consumer as any
one Of her own people.
Suppose that these millions and the 20
100000 already gathered under the folds Of
her nag were every year demanding and
receiving a higher wage and therefore
broadening her market as fast as her ma
chine-y could furnish production. Suppose
she had produced cheap food beyond all her
wants. and that her iaborers spent SO much
money that whether wheat was 90 cents a
bushel or twice that sum hardly entered the
thoughts of one of them except when some
"a re ID h rx.1x =.
business.
Suppose that she was not only but a can
non shot from France, but that every coun-
try In Europe had been brought as near to
what cheap ocean freights mean between
us and European producers. Suppose all
those countries had her machinery, her
skilled workmen. her industrial system, and
labor forty per cent cheaper. Suppose un-
der that state of facts, with all her manu-
facturers p-oclaiming against II, frantic in
their disapproval. England had been called
upon by Golden to make the plunge into
free trade, would she have done it7 Not II
Golden had been Backed by the Angelic
Host History gives England credit for
After quoting statistics to show the great
rise in wages since 1860, Mr.. Reed con-
tfnued: The truth is, that this very aues-
ton OF rising wages Is what makes a good
many men free traders. People with fixed
incomes think that anything which raises
wages is nimical to them, and manufac-
turers who have foreign markets are natur-
ally anxious to have wages On the foreign
Wages . Vital Question.
II confess to YOU that this question of
wages is to me the vital question To in
sure our growth In civilization and wealth.
We must not only have wages as high as
they are now. but constantly and steadily
increasing. This desire OF mine for con-
stantly increasing wages does not have its
origin In love for the individual, but in
love for the whole nation"
MIR. Reed eulogized the American market
as being the best in the world, owing to the
nigh wages paid here. enabling working
| men to purchase largely Of the comforts
ot life.
Instead of increasing this market, he
said. by leaving 1t to the steady increa Sc
OF wages which the figures of the Aldrich
report 50 conclusively show, and which
have not only received the sanction OF the
member from New York, the Secretary Of
the Treasury. and the democratic bureau
Oh statistics. but the sanction Of everybody
VINO hears me, our committee propose 10
lower wages. and so lessen the market, and
tnen divide that market with somebody
else, and all on the chance of getting tfs
markets Of the world
TO add to the interesting impossibilities of
@ .n,s contention. the orators on the other
sioe say they are going to maintain wages.
HOW can that be possible? All things sell
Al the cost OF production II the difference
between cost OF production here and cost
OF production In England be not eoualized
py tne DUTY, then our cost of production
must go down or We must 70 out
our laws have invited money and man
an ano we nave grown great and rich thereby.
Inc gentleman from Illinois, Mr.. Black
mas noticed that men come here and he
ooes not want them to come; hence he is
wiinng tnat our wages shall be lowered 20
keep people away. Well, this is not the
ume TO discuss immigration; but while the
people are coming i am glad they have not
YET imoiped the gen;lsman's ideas aud have
not yet begun to clamor for lower wages
To sum II up, II this protection gives us
money and men, and our vast country needs
both, 1t may show why we have SO wonder
fully prospered- IL Ii does, 1 am inclined
TO think that the way to have two iobs
hunting one man is to keep on making Lew
mills and try and prevent the committee
on ways and means from pulling down old
ones.
As to the Farmer.
But what do you say as to the farmer?
Well on that subject do not profess airy
special learning. but there is one simple
statement wish to make and leave TIE
question there. II with cities growing up like
magic. manufacturing villages dotting
every eligible site, each and all swarmins