The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-07-09
THE OLD THING WORKS.

this paper was in a republican school
and among the earliest memories OF
political controversies he recalls thai
OF the tariff. The republican papers of
that time held aloest the beauties of a
"p~rOteCtive" tariff, while with equal
vlgor came back the reply from the
democracy to the effect that the tariff
was a tax. Republican stumpers pro-
claimed from every rostrum that free
trade would cripple the government
and destroy oar industries, and the
democratic orators returned the fire
with the charge that the republican
system of protection was such as to
foster and encourage the organization
OF trusts and combines for the purpose
of p%lundering the people,
Campaigns came and vent and these
arguments were rehashed over and
over again. The phrase-''protection
to American industries'-sounded
nice. That was re~publicanism. But
all this time consumed by the people
in fighting and pulling hair over the
tariff, the money power was s%tealthily
aud noiselessly taking away the rights
OF the common people, Tightening it's
grip on the government and establish
ing itself firmly for a long reign of
public plumber. Tie national banking
system was saddled onto the country.
silver was denonetized and gradually
the bulk of the circulating medium
passed into the control of practically a
few men. Other legislative acts
strengthened the bulwark of protec-
ton for the moueyed interests of the
east and gave the trusts and corpora
tions permission to further pursu.
their robbing methods. Wages fell
gradually and surely. Prices on farm
products fell, as did every other pro-
duct of human toll.
W. have present conditions as a re-
suit, with the republican party still
preaching its system of ']'protection"
and engaged in enacting the final
scenes for its re-establishment, Pro-
lection for who: You aud l? No,
The manufacturing interests of the
east? Yes. Why? So as to encour-
age the building up OF industries here
at home and to shut out the COMPETE
ton OF cheap labor made goods of the
old world, proudly answers my repub-
lican friend. And then he tells me
how "protection" protects labor bv
giving it employment. So far so good
but what has come as a result of such
a policy? The republican policy of
"protection" places a wall around the
product OF American manufacturing
enterprises and shuts out the foreign
manufactured product. My republican
friend smiles as l admit this, but let
US see. The American market is al
most entirely in the hands of tie
American manufacturer. What then?
Now my republican friend begins to
get uneasy. The American mauufac-
turers get together, form an '~'associa-
tiOn"-plainly, a trust-fx such a price
on the commodities they produce as
they think the people will submit to,
and the government, in the hands Of
these "protectionists,' stands behind
them, pats them on the back and saws:
go in, boys. We believe in protec-
ting these infant INDUSTRIES" Thus
the government in the hands of the
republican party protects tie trusts in
their robbery OF the people. But my
republican friend refers to the great
number Of men employed in these fac
tories and says that this employment