St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-04-09

what we want i'm this country is to
produce for ourselves. What you want
in Minnesota is not more farmS and
mare farmers, but you want more fact
or1es.s What you want here III Mime.
sofa IS n0t'sMOre producers. but more
consumers Of your products. The way
to get consumers is to getfactories. and
the way TO get factories is to protect the
men WHO build factories"
Let us analyZe these alleged "epi-
grams" have already shown that the
fsasaf nature cenipcl saS1o produce tor
ouTselveSEunlesST Gu steal from
other producers. AS to the second prop
! ositioE-there never can be too many
| farmers in any country while land lies
untitled. Agriculture is the primary.
| or eXtractlve industry, upon which all
| other industries rest. and it IS only after
| it has attained q certain degree, after Il
country has been settled TO certain eX-
tent, that manufacturing industries be.
come possible. But, do we wait fac
tories? Most of us want more manu-
featured goods. but it is lmmaterial
where the factories which make them
are situated. We want the goods, and
we want our labor to secure for US the
largest possible quantity of them. None
OF us wage-earners, l dare say,
would object to becoming great
or consumers. Would the building
of factories in the state by encouraging
them at the expense of labor in general
add to our consumptive capacity? Quite
the contrary. Getting factories here
Which are enabled to stand on their own
D0ttom-Or to exist without "prOtec-
tiOn"-would require that the COM
munity be taxed for their support. The
factory owners and operatives would in
measure become charges upon the
community. OF course. they would be
CONSUMERS" but so are the inmates of
our jails, our warehouses, and our aims
houses. This class of consumers is
already too large, and adds nothing to
the general prosperity.
Is it necessary, by class legislation, to
protect the men vino build factories in
order to secure factories? BY no means.
The assertion is simply campaign
lie" Capital will embark in manufact
urlng enterprises whenever the pros
poets of returns warrant it. Density of
population, facility Of transportation,
accessibility of raw material and fuel
and numerous other matters determine
the opening of manufacturing enter
prtses. Any industry that cannot sus-
tain itself without governmental en-
enlargement is unfit to live-should
never Ue sent OH 1901.
A protective tariff may have the re-
suit of causing few industries to be
started in the United States sooner than
they would have been started without
SUCH encouragement; but, however
much we might desire them in MinnesC-
Ia, how are we going to get them to
locate here? The federal constitution
provides that commerce between the
states must be free. Protected indus
tries" then, within the limits Of the
United States. may and will locate
where it best pays them to conduct their
business. If Minnesota wants them,
upon protective theories. she must pro
tect herself against Wisconsin and the
Dakotas and Iowa, and all reighboring
states and provinces. Ii St. Paul wants
them, she must protect herself against
Minneapolis and all other cities. And
SO each county, ami township. and vii.
lage. and family must likewise PRO
-tect' itself against every section and
everybody else. Social laws, like
physical laws, must apply to the mole
Guile as well as to the aggregate. But a
social condition in which the principle
of protection was thus fully carried out
would be a condition of utter barbar.
ISM" Happily, the constitution f0rbids
this, the powerful logic of MIR. Mckinley
10 the contrary Notwithstanding.
CHARLES Ii. KoHLMAN.