The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-10-17
sourD SENSE.
WHY Americans sholid Earnestly Favor
the Proteetive Policy.

WY Amerlce1S cSoltd EafASstiy tafOi
the Protective Policy.
Thomas H. Reed. n New York.
Education is the necessity ofthe human
race not book education, but education in
the workings OF human aff;iirs. My best
consolation in these times is that some !
lessons are being learned not out OF books, I
but in more solid fashion, out OF cxpe- |
ricncc. Nor il the lesson 10 be learned !
only by those who voted wrong. some
Of Us vino voted right have much TO un-
ders;and rs to the foundation of things.
Perhaps the knowledge comes 10 us fast |
enough for practical life. When years
ago we defended protection on the grounds |
of infant industries, we stated good |
grounds for the establishment of manu- |
factures, but to-day protection is founded, |
like the prosperity of the country, upon |
wages. Ii did not believe that protec-
tiOn, which is not taxation of the many
for the one, but merely a method of secur- |
ing To everybody in America the markets
of the country, is the best method of dis |
tributing among the people the God-giv-
en- gifts to enterprise of which our coun-
try is so full, should not be for il. If
did not believe that protection was only
method of making this country, in the
admirable language Ex-senator Jones, do
all of its own work. / should not de-
mand its retention. Ii is perfectly true
that prosperity ofany kind leads To large
fortunes for those who have the genius to
organize great enterprises, but this il the
ease everywhere. Sir Joseph Whitworth,
the great steel manufacturer of England
did not die "a pauper, and Lord Armstrong
and the Rothchilds hardly seem in the
way Of impoyerishment- My consolation
when see great riches-for L own up To
the same envy that afflicts my brethren
ofthOse who are better off than myself
is that all these riches are of no profit to
the owners unless they buhd railroads, or
mills, or dig illumination for the poorest
of us out of the bowels of the earth. The
more prosperity there is the more there is
to distribute, and there il the chance that
the worker, whether with brain or muscle,
has To wrest from his employer his share. i
am not the author of this idea; it came
from Pennsylvania workingman, who
declared before the committee on ways
and means that if congress would only
pass laws which would enable enterprise
to make profits, the workingmen would
sec that they got their share. And this
very day in the strike which il, or was,
going on in Massachusetts, the very basis
of the argument on both sides is the price
of goods, and the consequent profits.
al. Il
ways declared that strikes would cease
when they had power, but they have not
passed away yet. On the contrary, more
loom in the future than we have ever had
in the past. Strikes are always unfortu-
nate things, hut not always bad things.
Their success consists not i'll their victo-
ries, but in their existence. Men who see
their way clear TO profits will not refuse
recompense TO those they employ when
the great disOrganiZation OF a strike is
possible under sense Of injustice on the
part of organized labor. To borrow again
Mr.. Evarts's illustration, the wit ofw hich
is only equalled by its wisdom, the only
way thus far discovered to distribute con-
sumable and enjoyable wealth is first to
each side struggle for its share. | do not
say that this is ali there ever will be.
| hope not. No one will more gladly well
| come than / any method for fair and
peaceful distribution. But there is one
thing certain, until you have profits they
cannot be divided.
Why do / desire fair distribution of
1 Ic u I 10. h. na
special friend OF those who labor? Any
body who does that from political plat
form had better he watched. | have no
such motive. My motive is the good old
selfish one that such distribution leads to
| general prosperity, of which hope To get
my share
What is the motive power that lets on
| the water and feeds in the coal and sets
the machinery in motion? 1t is the mark
| ct, the capacity for buying, the power of
| purchase. w hence comes that From the
rich and the poor from the rich little,
from the poor much. IfyOu were to give
me alone for myselfa million dollars, l
should not spend ten thousand of il in con-
sumable wealth, though might put il in
to plants, into works or railroads but if
We're 10 give you million dollars distrib-
uted among you all, every cent of it would
| be spent not in looms and machinery, but
| in the products of looms and machinery
| This il what makes the market the motive
! power of production, not the large contri-
| buttons of the few, but the small contribu
tions of the many. This large market
/ al so makes LEGITIMATE I Sav
legitimate cheapness, for a cheapness with
no money To buy is i mOckery to the soul,
while cheapnesS with good wages is the
| delight of life. The broader and richer
| the market the more of each article will
he consumed, and the more there are COR
sgImed the cheaper such will lie made.
Machinery has its foundation on this.
lou would not build "A machine to make
a single axe handle. You could make il
infinitely cheaper by hand. 4 machine
means a half million axe handles. Most
manufacturers realize these things and
the great fact that good wages 80 far from
being hostile to their progress, is its very
/ foundation. When manufacturers all see
their interest that way we shall witness
the happy death, for this country AT least,
of that old political economy doctrine
that profits are dependent on low wages.
Business prosperity will then come from
extension of business and no, from the
diminution of wages.
Readers of the HERALD should not for
get that J. y. Snyder, the druggist, can
tittheir eyes with glasses.