Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-09-23
For Whose Protection Is the Tariff 2

For Whose Protection Is the Tariff
Under the above caption. the following
article appeared in that staunch projection
organ, the Philadelphia Ledger, OF last
Friday
There was common belief, which was
generally declared in the speeches of the
makers of the new tariff, in the leading
articles of newspapers and in the contri-
buttons to the discussion of the subject by
the prominent protectionist writers of the
country, that the Dingley act was in.
tended, first, to provide adequate revenue
for the Government, economically adj
ministered, and, second, that it was TO se-
cure prosperity, By fostering industry and
trade, to the whole body of the people
through the necessary protection it would
afford to American capital and labor from
foreign competition.
That belief the Association of Knit
Goods Manufacturers of the United States
may have held at the time the measure was
being considered but, evidently, does not
now hold it. The common understanding
that the tariff is vehicle for the general
advantage and accommodation the Asso-
citation evidently THINKS erroneous; the
evidence supplied by itself is that the tariff
is not that sort of a carry-all but a one
horse buggy, constructed to accommodate
and carry only the manufacturers; that
capital alone is to enjoy its advantages;
that labor is to have no share nor part in
its benefits and is not to be protected to
any degree by it.
The Association recently issued a circu-
lar letter inviting all operators engaged In
the making of knit goods TO meet in New
York on the 18th instant in order to con-
slider revision of prices. Upwards of 300
of them responded to the call and unani-
mously adopted the following resolution
'iResolved That according to the relative
amount of wool and cotton used, an immediate
advance is necessary OF from 10 to 40 per cent.
to cover the increased cost Of knit goods; and
"Resolve, That, if it is necessary to carry out
the above resolutions, we W i'll curtail production
even to the stoppage Of our mills"
"There are possibly 5OO great and small
manufacturers of knit goods in the United,
States; assuming that each of them en-
ploys 100 operatives, they have in the ag-
gregate $4,000 employees dependent upon
them for work and wages; there are from
70, 900 900 to 100000 consumers of the
manufacturers products.
"The first resolution adopted DEGREES an
increase of the prices ofall knit goods OF
from 15 to 40 per cent, and the second is
an agreement that if this new combination
for fleeing consumers and in restraint OF
trade cannot otherwise effect it's purpose Of
imposing on consumers additions to the
present prices of knit goods, it will shut
down the mills. thereby interfering with
that wholesome competition in trade which
public policy demands shall not be re-
strained, and depriying of work and wages
the fifty thousand, hundred Thousand OF
whatever the number may be, working
men or women employed in the mills.
That is to say that the 100000 oil
rs 900 900 people of the United States must
pay the manufacturers from Is to 40 pei
cent. more for the knit goods they wear
and if they should prove tardy about yield
ing to the demands of the manufacturers
the poor working men and women employ.
ed by them are to pay the penalty by the
loss of their means OF livelihood.
1T appears from the resolutions adopted
that the makers OF knit goods do not con.
slider that the new tariff was meant te
benefit the country or to protect the labor
employed by them. On the contrary, the
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ONAOCht1y OutAA tndD ~ WcAc
made to benefit themselves alone, and tC
iDjure the entire body of consumers and
| the working men and women engaged in
the knitting mills of the United States
1t is needless to say that the makers of the
tariff did not mean that it should b, used
for any such purpose, and that they did
mean that it should accrue to the advan-
tage of the people, and especially to the
advantage of the wage earners. That thai
is not the view OF it taken by the manu-.
facturers is proved by brief paragraph in
the call of the Association for the conven-
ton, part of which is as follows:-"The
consumer (of knitted goods) is naked
stocks depleted, and the pockets of the
agricultural classes full" Winter coming
on, the consumer being naked, the ware.
houses emptied of clothing and the pockets
of the farmers well filed, the latter are to
be compelled, resolve the manufacturers
by the necessity to clothe themselves, to
pay an additional price of from Is to AZ
| per cent. for their clothing, and if they
show any indisposition to yield to this ex-
action they are to be brought to terms by
non-production, the chief sufferers from
which will be the poor wage earners now
| employed in the mills which are to be shut
down.
when Congress meets in December il
should reimpose the duties of the late
tariff on knit goods, as under them the
prices yielded satisfactory returns to the
manufacturers, kept the cost to consumers
fair and gave the working people of the
mills wages not lower than they now re-
ceive. The contention of the authors of the
resolution yesterday adopted appears to be,
from the light thrown on it by the call for
the convention, that, the wheat crop being
good and the farmers prosperous for the
first time in years, the knit goods manu-
facturers intend to use the tariff as a
ineans to the end OF compelling the farmer,
in common with the whole mass of con-
sumers to pay an extortionate tribute. Ii
they refuse to pay it the combination of
knit goods makers is to close the mills and
shut out the operatives"
The Ledger has discovered Just what
Democrats have known and contended for
The tariff is tax, and when the schedules
are placed beyond the revenue limit, and
made protective, the manufacturers levy a
personal tax on consumers for their own
benefit; and what is worse even, they cur
tail the output, depriving labor of employ
ment, and rob consumers, a. at one opera
ton.
And not only is the Knit Goods Associa-
ton doing this, but the Glass Manufactur-
ers Association is doing the same thing
This year the output is to be reduced IS
per cent. in order that manufacturers may
increase prices This means that thirty
FIVE ont of every one hundred blowers who
had employment last year, will this year
be idle. There will be no increase in
wages OF the 65 per cent who work, but
consumers will pay the tax just the same
The people are getting light
A 4 I !