Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1894-01-19
than to the overlooker in Texas by IS or
81 q month";

than to the overlooker in Texas by IS or
81 q month"
Then he spoke OF the iron and steel in
dustry, using this argument:
III there is any one great industry to
which we could throw down today the
tariff laws and defy the world and march
forth to acquire new fields, It is the great
iron and steel industries of this country.
So true is this that but for the timidity
and selishnees that come from 80 years
OF leaning, or supposed leaning, upon a
tariff for protection, the great iron mas
tiers OF this country might today boldly
say: Throw down the wall; we will not
supply this country, but We will 20 out
and build up other great countries In this
respect Five years ago q great iron
master-Andrew Carnegie used this Ian.
gusge:"
Speaking Of his trip through California,
he said:
with such grapes and climate it must
surely be a question of only few years
before the true American maker makes
his appearance, and then what shall we
have to import? Silks and linens are
going. Watches and jewelry have gone,
and in this connection l think may ven.
ture to say good-by to foreign iron and
steel. There has been 40 more striking ex.
hibition Of monopoly in this country than
that of the makers Of steel rails. Under
the tariff system which gave them first
$2S ton, then 81 ton, and now $l3. A
ton, the great rolling. mills combine to
keep up the prices to the American PEG.
pie far beyond the cost of production
at point just little lower than that
at which foreign rails could be imported
with the tariff added. And now, when
We have reached the point where II
seems possible that we can make steel
rails as cheaply as they can be made
anywhere else in the world, they are
raising their cry Of denunciation against
tariff that proposes to give them still
25 per cent of protection"
johnson, of Ohio, q free-trade demo
crat, here interrupted the speaker to ash
why the proposed bill still gave the "steel
industries" Is per cent Of protection
Wilson replied that the only anewer he
could give was that 1t could not very well
be reduced lower according to the general
scheme Of taxation on the iron and steel
industries Of the country. After this he
took up the coal industry, saying:
I'm the coal industry tariff tax OF 70
cents ton was put or maintained upon
coal by the Mckinley bill, when it is moi
contended that at any point in these
United States the cost Of mining ton oil
coal ever goes beyond 80 cents. In the
testimony before the committee on ways
and means 1t was proven that in McKin.
ley's own district the cost of mining wal
from 40.to 80 cents ton. 1t was proven
that in the Pocahontas region the cost Of
mining ton of coal was from % to 81
cents. That is what ia paid to the miner
yet under tariff which proposed simply
to equalize the difference between labor
in this country and labor In foreign coun
tries there is tax of rs cents on ton o.
coal. The country has reached such ar
extreme OF protection that any pro
Queer anywhere in the United Statei
thinks that tariff is not protective tar
if to him unless it gives him all the coun
try from the Atlantic to the Pacific for hi
own market without foreign competitor
and 10 left high enough to pay the trans
portatiob to the remotest parts Of thu
United States. But We are today export
ers of COAL"
As to lumber, another of the articles
on the free list, he spoke briefly, saying
Logs, as everyone kpows, have beer
on the free list for years. Logs arr
brought from any country that has then
to this country, free of charge. Unde
the tariff, az it now exists, we are dimin
ishing our forests and destroying rapid,
the most valuable part of our timber
1t is not pretended that the cost OF lum
herring in this country is higher than it i
in any other country that might seek on
market. Along the Canadian horde
this business is largely done by the sam
labor that does the numbering on tn
other side of the line and presume a
The same wages. The workingman'
wages depend on the products of hi
labor. Whatever goes into that labor a
a tax on the material he uses is 80 mucl
diminution of the wages of the laborin
man. As you cheaper his material yo
widen the field for the products b
makes"
He closed his great speech with thi
paragraph on wages:
eff protection increased wages, mad
work for the laboring class and improves
the well-being of the American laborer,
will hereafter be protectionist, bu
maintenance to any such idea. TIL
wages OF labor are paid from the product
OF labor. The general productiveness c
every country determines the wages G
the laboring people OF the country. TIL
general intelligence of the laboring pee
pie OF country also, in an equal measure
| dot the <>f h. bo~ :
ple of that country. We have highe
nominal daily wages in this country tina
elsewhere, first, because we are gree
| new country, in an era Of development
and secondly, because we have the mot
intelligent, self-respecting laboring pee
pie in all the world, and any industr
that cannot maintain itself, except b
taxation of the people Of the country, il
stead OF increasing the rate of wages
the extent of the protection, diminishs
the wage-rate OF all the laboring poop
of the country. Every industry tn,
leans upon taxation for its support, tn,
calls upon the law to make the consun
ers of its products paw more than the
would otherwise be obliged to pay fl
them, whatever we may call it, is q pal
per industry supported by the self-sul
porting industries Of the country"
The speech throughout was attentivel
listened to and applauded at interval
heartily, much Of this sign of sppreci
ton coming from the galleries. Its sty
of deliverance, the earnestness of II
sneaker and his arguments were plain
effective, carrying deserved weight wit
the audience.
Murder In san Francisco.