The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1894-02-16

ur''7, wife our population ~ equivalent to
II TINS Is our comparison with England,
wha' Is thecompariSon with the rest Of the
world whose markets our committee are
so eager 10 have in exchange for our own
Mulhall gives certain statistics which win
serve 20 make the comparison clear On
page 5v5 of his Dictionary al Statistic he
says the total yearly produces Of tlA mann
factures OF the world are 81 iItOQ0c0o of
which the United states produces 81 ,4l3.-
100000
America Produces a ghird.
do not vouch nor can anytndy vouch
Tor these figures, but the proportion Of one
third TO twO-thiras nobody can fairly dis
pute. We produce one-third. ana the rest
OF the world, England Included, two-thirds.
The population Of the world is 1900. COO.
600, of which we have 50OC0.OOD. which
leaves ,43o 00Q, 600 for the rest of mankind.
We use oil our manufactures or Che equiv
alent Of them Hence we are equal to one
half the whole globe outside of ourselves.
England Included, and compared as a mar
ket with the rest of the world our popula-
ton is equal to 7l5,00o,00O.
lrepeat, as compared with England her
SELF as market, our people are equivalent
: TO 2O0OO0,0O0. AS compared with the rest
OF the world, England included, we are
equal as a market to 7l5,0O0,0O0.
But all these questions of wages are to
be met, says the gentleman from New York
(Mr. Cockran), by our superior civilization,
and he accuses me of "confessing that ciyili-
zation at the highest level is incapable of
meeting the competition of civilization at
its lowest level" k
Now, it is great truth that civilization
can successfully meet barbarism, but it
must do 1t with brains and not with rhet-
oric. How often have heard this and sim
liar eloquent outbursts about our SUPERIOR.
ty and therefore inevitable conquest of the
inferior! Survival of the superiorl That is
not the way the great naturalist put it.
Survival of the fittest" was his expression.
Survival of the fittest to survive; not the
superior, not the loveliest, not the most in
tellectnal,b but the one who fitted best into
the surroundings.
The Bull and the SmeIt.
Compare the strong bull of Bashan with
"a salt water smelt Who doubts the SUI
periority of the bull? Yet if You drop them
both into the Atlantic ocean, will take
my chances with the smelt. A little tom
tit, Insignificant as a bit of dust in the bal
ance, cannot compare with the domestic
swan either in grace, beauty or power. Yet
if both were dropped from a balloon hung
In air, would rather be the insignificant
tomtit than the graceful swan. If had a
job TO dig on the railway, the competitor Tor
that job whom should fear would not be
my friend from New York, but some child
Of sunny Italy, so newly imported that he
had not grown up to the wages of his adopt
ed country.
But is not it dreadful business to tax
people? Not necessarily. Taxes raised for
good purpose-like a schoolhouse- a road,
an army, for payment of pensions, for the
public debt and indeed for all the purposes
of free people-are not only not bad, but
very good Taxes to build "a palace for the
kings mistress or to place barbarian
queen on u deserted throne would be dread
full, but we are not likely, owing to series
of fortunate accidents, to be called upon to
do even the last. &
But can you accomplish anything but OPP
preston by taxes? Oh, yesi Tie gentle
man from Missouri (Mr. Hatch) will tell
you that taxation has regulated oleomar-
garine and can regulate stock sales At least
NO he thinks.
On the question of the constitutionality
of tariff taxation / shall spend no time
have not been here as long as have with
out learning that "constitutionality" and
the chamber are mere phrases, and that
when gentleman of the other side, with
swelling voice, denounces the tariff as I'M
constitutional he merely means that he
does not like it.
Inasmuch as nobody in a hundred years
has even asked the supreme court to pass
ON that question, it seems hardly worth
while 60 discuss IT, III the Father of His
Country, fresh from the convention. in sign
ing the fis5 tariff tax bill, signed an un-
constitutional act, the gentleman from
Georgia (Ir Turner) and the whole Demo
cratic party are better than George Wash
ington--a thing not hitherto charged upon
them.
who Pays the Tax"
Butdo NOT the people pay the tariff taxes
and do they not 80 into the pockets of mo-
nopolistss Do you believe the consumer
pays the tax or the forcignery Well, aui
going TO be perfectly frank about that and
answer sometimes one, and sometimes the
other, and sometimes both The first thing
the foreigner does when a tariff tax is laid
is to see il he can get into our market with
out paying anything. if so, then he will
not reduce his prices. If he cannot, he looks
over his margin of profit and sees il he can,
by abating some part of these profits, get
his goods in. SO far rs he does abate them
he pays the tax. So far as he does not, the
rest OF the tax is paid by the consumer.
If the foreigner pays all the tax, then
within the limit where his goods can circu-
late there may be protection or there may
not. IL after paying the whole tax he still
bias a margin of profit to sacrifice in the in
dustrial war, there will be no protection
OF very limites. protection. But IL there be
only slight margin which he cannot sac
rifice without rendering the market worth
less, then there will be competition the
same as If he manufactured here. In the
latter case &c at least cannot shut up our
factories
In these cases the price will not be raised.
But where the consumer pays any part of
the tax by 80 much Is the price raised. This
Is the general rule, but often it does not
work so. After the act of 1890 large i'm
portations in anticipation of large profits.
anticipations frustrated by the Barring fail
ure panic. made great changes in the case.
Many prices did not rise at all, and yet
manufacturers, knowing that there would
be certainty at least that they could not