The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-09-02
WHAT DEMOCRATS AIM AT.

hAA AIM Al.
Local Republicans are working the
old trick Of 1892 and 1894 in reference to
the question of home industries. They
are using it now for the special de-
I ception of the women voters of Utah.
! To hear them talk, a credulous mind
would be led to believe that it is the
desire of Democrats that goods of for
eign manufacture should be purchased
by the American people in preference
| to those made in this country.
a little reflection ought to show that
this cannot be true, because it is ut
terly absurd. Every Democrat in the
United States is just as much con-
cerned in the building up Of his coun-
try and the welfare of it's people as
! any person of another political faith
can possibly be. What Democrats aim
at in the establishment of tariff for
| revenue, in contradistinction from a
tariff for protection, is the welfare of
the entire people of the United States
instead of the special enrichment of
a few.
All the figures which are cited by.
Republican editors and stump speak
ers as to the costs of manufacturing
goods abroad and importing them into
this country, are presented for the
purpose of befogging the whole sub
ject. 1t has already been demonstra-
ted, since the passage of the Wilson
law, that American manufacturers in
obtaining raw materials free of duty
are able to compete with foreign man
ufacturers, and thus sell American
goods as cheaply as they can be laid
down here from foreign parts. Not
only that, but in several lines they
are able to export their goods and
compete with the European dealers in
their own markets. That being the
case, what necessity is there for the
high protective tariff which is the
great delight of our Republican oppo-
nents?
The purpose of a high duty upon for
eign goods is to enable the American
dealer to obtain high prices for
American wares. 1t is the consumer
who pays for this excess. It is the
masses of the people who are made
to contribute to the wealth of the cap
italists and moneyed corporations sup
ported by the protective policy Pro-
lection is not for the good of the whole,
but for the fostering of the few. The
theory that high tariffs cause high
wages has been entirely knocked to
pieces by the logic of facts. Protec-
ton places power in the hands of mo-
nopolists and the employers, and the
employed remain entirely at their |
mercy. Wages declined under the Nc
Kinley law, which imposed in many !
respects the highest duties ever placed |
on imports.
Let it be understood that the Dem
ocrats are as anxious for the promotion !
of home industries as Republicans pre-
tend to be. In Utah they put their /
own money, when they have any, into
enterprises for the public welfare. |
They do not ask that their private bus
mess ventures shall receive support
out of the public treasury. They do |
not want to impose needless and i'm
proper burdens upon the taxpayers.
For. if public money is diverted to a
private use, not only is the principle
in violation of justice and equity, but
the masses of the people pay through
the nose in their purchases of the
goods produced under the protected or
bounty aided enterprise They pay
just as much for those goods as they
would from an unassisted firm or fac
tory, and at the same time pay the
taxes out Of which the bounty comes
or the aid is impaired
Democrats, neither in Utah nor else
where, desire to increase imports from
abroad of articles which can he pro-
duced in this country. They do want
the people Of the United States to be
able to obtain what they purchase at
fair and living prices. If a duty of
from eight to fifteen per cent was suf-
fcient a hundred years ago, why
should from forty to two hundred per
cent be imposed at the present time?
Home industries should be encouraged
in every lawful and reasonable way,
but the masses OF consumers ought
not to be plundered under the guise of
aw, for the benefit of the plutocrats
who are the controlling forces in Amer
can politics.
Republican protection is humbug.
-t defrauds the many for the enrich
nent of the few, and while it pretends
o be working for American interests
t is really operating for the enslave-
nent and oppression of the common
people, that "the rich and the well
oorn'' may hold control of the nation
Ind keep in power the party that
leeds and fattens it.