The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1898-03-06

presidentisl election a great deal was
said about return of conhdei
and | even heard it stated that ~
eral train loads Of confidence Lao
been shipped South for distribut. ':'
But it seems that the people were '
poor they could not raise the mo ''
10 pay freight rates on il and :" y
has never been delivered, except to
those who were so fortunate as to &c
the beneficiaries of Federal patr .'t
age and secured fat appointment.
! Friend Redfield attempts to corr Ct
nv statement as to the wages p.
to operatives in England and 4.
United States, and asserts that sl'ei
operatives receive from forty to fiftT
per cent more in the United Sta.
than they do in England. The lat s.
| official data which / have is the =
port of the commissioner of labor o.
the United States for 1896. On pag
221 he gives the average daily wage
received by employees in cotton fac
tories. The average daily wage
paid in England are SLY per day;
the average daily wages paid in tha
United States for the same work are
only a fraction over ten per cent
greater than the wages paid in Eng
land. They vary in different states.
In Massac husetts, from which
made the illustration, the &c
daily wages are s1.37 per day.
If the protective tariff makes
wages better, how does it happe?
that the same wages are not paid all
over the country? The answer is
obvious.
The wage question is not depend
enL upon the tariff at all, but is de-
pendent upon local conditions. The
very reason which friend Redfield
gives for the reduction of wages in
Massachusetts admits my proposition
and shows that the tariff has nothing
at all to do with the wages paid To
labor in this country.
Friend Redfield still insists that
the tariff imposed by the govern
ment does not aeffct the price which
the people must pay for the goods
upon which it is imposed. With all
due respect to him, he occupies a
contrary position.
In the first place, he says that we
must rely upon the protective tariff
to collect from importers the money
necessary to defray the expenses of
the government. In the second
place, he asserts that the effect of
the tariff is to shut out foreign com
petition and give control of the home
market to home manufacturers and
that competition among them re-
duces the prices of goods to the peo-
; pie lower than they would have been
had it not been for the tariff. The
idea of anything like fair competi-
tion among the protected manufac-
turers of this country with their
pools, trusts and syndicates is re-
freshing.
| will quote him: sin 1890 no tin
was manufactured here. A tariff
was placed on it and as soon as the
, infant began to waddle tin took a
tumble and sold for 81 20 less per box
than under free trade. On castor oil
the tariff was s1.2O per gallon. mt il
could be bought in our markets for
sixty-five cents, and so on, With
thousands of other articles. Instead
of increasing the prices, sharp com
petition at home, stimulated by the
tariff, tends to reduce Them"
] The two ideas, of tariff for reve-
1 nue. only, by means of which the
government collects the money to
defray its expenses, and a tariff for
protection, by means of which for
eign goods are shut out and control
of the home market is given to the
> home manufacturer, are not only
distinct and dIssimilar, but they are
l also inconsistent and at war with
j each other.
The first is based upon the idea oi
encouraging imports, for thereby the
I revenue is derived to support the
: government. The second system i:
based upon the idea of discouragine
imports, for thereby only can com
u plete protection from foreign compe
/ tition be secured to the home manu-
facturer. The two ideas are as an
: tagonistic as oil and water. Friend
I Redfield might just as we'll attempt
t. ride two horses going in opposite
5 directions at the same time as to at
e tempt to advocate a tariff for protec
ton and tariff for revenue. But
: even this is not more absurd thar
: the idea that the effect of the tariff i,
I to make the goods cheaper than they
8 would have been had there been nc