The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-07-31
THE TARIFF AND WAGES.

Among the many sophistries by whidl
the Republican party expects to leaC
away the people in the next politica
campaign, is the impudent claim that {
high protective tariff means high wages
or its converse, that a decrease in tariff
rates means a decrease in the wages O.
workmen. In fact some of the mos
reckless Republican deceivers put it thi:
way: when the tariff is taken of
wages fall"
The statement is so manifestly un
true, the history of the United States
and the history of England furnish Sc
many positive proofs of its falsity, thai
those who utter it, aware of its weak.
lacking pretended arguments against il
which, as they set. them forth, have nc
existence except in their own magma.
tons.
The advocates of tariff reform, to be.
| gin with, are not free traders. They dc
not contend for free trade. The doc.
! trine of free trade, therefore, need moi
be discussed in connection with present
issues. Tariff reduction for revenue
Wilson bill was framed; it is that on
which the Senate amendments to the
bill were made. 1t is more a question
| of the degree of reduction, in most
cases, than anything else that caused
the dispute between the two Houses OF
Congress. In two or three instances
the placing of an article on the free list
lis the bone of contention
So when it is stated that the tariff re-
form advocates hold that the falling of
wages consequent on taking the tariff
off is mo hardship to the workingman;
that what he needs he buys so much
more cheaply that his profits and his
living amount to just the same" the
statement is false in one particular and
SO misleading and sophistically stated
in another, that it is all in the nature
of untruth
For, those advocates do not admit
that such reduction of the tariff as is
contemplated in the pending legislation
will cause wages to fall" And there
fore they make no such contention as
that pretended. But they do say that
the effects of tariff reform will be to
cause the prices Of many manufactured
articles to decline, and that this will be
Of benefit to the consumer. Also that
the millions of consumers are to be con-
sidered in preference to the handful of
manufacturers if preference has to be
made.
1t will be found, however, that with
the reductions of duty proposed in the
tariff reform bill, the difference be-
tween the foreign price of the articles
and the price with the duty added, is
more than the difference between the
wages paid abroad and the wages paid
at home. Therefore, there is no need
to lower the wages of American work
men engaged in their manufacture.
even on the theory that the duty is
levied TO benefit labor The supply of
raw material without duty, accompan-
led by reduction of the duty on the
article, should enable the
to supply the market at
a decreased price without one cents re-
duction in the wages of the workers.
The reduction of prices in the market
will certainly stimulate trade. More
goods will be bought the demand will
require greater supply. That means
more work, a greater demand for labor.
more people employed, or more continu-
Gus and steady employment for those
engaged in it. There is no need to fab
ricate lot of fictitious figures to mud
die the matter and mislead the multi
tude. The facts are plain, the argument
simple.
The raising of the rates of duty in
the Mckinley law did not cause the
raising of wages correspondingly With
mat patent fact before them, it is the
night OF folly and the depth of duplicity
Tor protectionists to claim that the rails
ing OF the tariff raises the wages of
workmen. 1t was the terrible condition
ot labor, under its full operations, coup
LED with the depression in agriculture,
mat caused the uprising of the people
IN favor of tariff reform.
Arguments that may seem to favor a
legree OF protection for new countries
Utterly fail when those countries have
advanced to different conditions. All
.he so-calied protection needed for ''in-
-ant industries" comes incidentally from
l revenue tariff. Tariff reform. so as to
'educe the enormous duties that have
grown under the Republican system to
burden that weighs down the body
polite, is "a recognized necessity by all |