The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-01-16
DODGING THE ISSUE.

I
That is the opening sentence in a
lodging article from the worst dodger
in modern journalism. We do not
think the Tribune was a born dod-
ger" because in its beginning it was
straight, outspoken and direct in it's
utterances and position. But it ac-
quired the habit in later years, and
has become a confirmed dodger. dart
ing from pillar to post, evading what it
cannot meet fairly, and dropping into
abuse and invective whenever pushed
into a corner.
The editorial of which the above
quotation is the commencement, is in
tended as a reply to some facts and
figures given by The Herald in relation
to the duty on wool and wooden cloth
We showed that with the duty re-
moved from foreign wool the Ameri-
can manufacturers would have the
same opportunities and facilities as the
English, manufacturer to make the
very best of goods. and thus compete
with the latter in the markets of the
world; that England has now the ad-
vantage of all the varieties of wool
that the world produces and is able
to export much of her own product.
The Tribune answers that with this
profound argument:
"Of course it is all rot"
We took up a statement containing
number of errors of fact and falla-
cies in argument, published in the Tri-
bune, and gave figures and quotations
from the Mckinley law that entirely
disproved them; and the reply of the
Tribune is:
NOW this contemporary wabbles and
twists through a column and more
We gave the relative costs of wool
en- goods and wooden cloths in Eng
land and the United States, and the
prices paid for labor, to show that
the great increase of cost in clothing
to the purchaser was not, as claimed
in the Tribune, the difference in wages
in the two countries; to which the
Tribune responds:
"Of course it means simply that the
intention is to compel American manu-
facturers to buy their material of for
eign countries"
We showed that the statement of the
Tribune that the difference in the cost
of material in suit of wooden clothes
because of the tariff was only $3.50,
was great mistake. by giving the
weight of the cloth and the rates of
duty under the Mckinley bill. This
made the duty range from $4.S5 to
S11.65, according to the weight and
quality of the cloth. To this the Trib-
une makes answer:
They want to bring the squalor. and
the degradation that attaches to Eng
lish factories to America
We argued that with the duty taken
off foreign wool there would be a de-
mand for our domestic wool to mix
and make up with it That with the
great varieties of the raw material at
the command of our manufacturers
free of duty, the price of woolens
could be made less to the consumer
without reducing wages, and that
more genuine class of goods would be
the consequence. And the Tribune re-
plies:
What really is in their thought is,
if possible, to kill manufacturing in
the United States and make us a ma
ton simply like Egypt or the other
colonies of Great Britain, which have
not yet in self protection put on a
tariff"
We showed that it is not proposed
to put woolens on the free list, but
only to reduce the tariff on the manu-
factured article. but make the raw
material free. The results would be,
we said: Better classes of manufac-
lures. More genuine wool goods and at
a lower price. Wages need not be re-
duced to effect this. Wooden cloths and
wooden suits may be placed on the home
market at reasonable rates. There will
be enough duty on the foreign article to
more than make the difference in
wages in the two hemispheres. Native
woods will be wanted to mix with the
foreign. Improvements will be made
in all textile fabrics and the United
States be able to compete with other
nations for the markets of the world
What is the argument the Tribune
offers to that? Why an attack on the
Democratic party. 1t says:
1T is a lawless party. 1t does not
believe in emigration: 1t does not be-
lieve in progress; it does not be-
lieve in skilled labor"
After such tactics as that we might
echo the Tribune's words: ct is hard
to carry on an argument with CON
firned dodger." But. after all, it is
easy enough to expose its lodgings
and let daylight through its fiimsy
subterfuges. The Tribune can spin
pretty sentences as eulogies of the dead,
but when it comes to solid reasoning
or living issues, its warp and wool are