Anadarko daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 1901-190?, 1902-09-15
FREE TRADE IN MEN
HOW DOES THIS POLICY BENEFIT
THE LAeoRER7
immigrants In Hundreds Of Thousands
Brought to Our Shores and Used to
Force Down Wages-condltlons In
protected" Pennsylvania.

Of Pennsylvania, a protectionist leader
in Congress, said:
Yes, men are on the free list. They
cost not even freight. We pro
mote free trade in men, and 1t is the
only kind of free trade 1 am prepared
to promote"
This has always been the policy OF
the protectionists-that Is of the Re
publican party, which has ever been
the dome of the protected manufac.
turers and the enemy of the laborer
and farmer Observe now how beauti-
fully their system is worlSingl ]. p.
Morgan and his coal, steel, railroad
and steamship pals, encourage great
strikes, when their steamships are
dumping thousands of immigrants on
our shores every week, willing to work
for considerably less than the coal and
other strikers have been getting.
For the year ending June 80 1902,
64S,743 immigrants reached our
shores. Four hundred and fifty-seven
thousand, seven hundred and eleven
were from Italy, Austria-Hungary and
Russia. They were driven out of these
countries partly by succession of
poor crops, but more especially by the
very high tariff and internal taxes
which prevent the people from obtain
ing foreign goods except at prices al
most prohibitive. Thus the lowest
price for refined sugar is IL cents in
Italy, and tx cents per pound in Rus
sla and Austria-Hungary, although the
same sugar is sold in England for 21h
cents per pound.
Undoubtedly, also, many immigrants
came over after reading the glowing
promises of high wages in America
made in the advertising pamphlets of
Morgan's railroad and steamship lines.
Certain it is that hundreds of thou
sands of them are here to food the
labor market and keep wages down
and to increase consumption of goods
and thus enable the trusts to give
prices another lift. It is a beautiful
system for the protected manufacture
ers, mine operators and railroads. AS
Senator John f. Miller of California
said, in 1882:
THE average manufacturer is in
terested generally in two things
namely, the highest protective tariff
and the cheapest labor. The
admission of servile laborers into this
country without limit means
high prices for the products of manu-
facture and low prices for the labor
that produces them"
Is 1t any wonder that the coal opera
tors refused to arbitrate and that they
are but little worried about the out
come of the strike? They are in no
great hurry to begin to operate the
mines because they are getting from
81 to $40 per ton for the surplus coal
which they had stored up in apticipa-
ton of the strike.
Unquestionably, the mine owners
(railroads) could, even in ordinary
times, sell anthracite coal at present
prices. But they are afraid of the
public. They need an excuse furnished
by strike and a pretended shortage
of coal. The longer the mines are left
idle, the better the public will become
accustomed to high prices of coal and
the less reduction in prices will have
to be made when mining is resumed.
Protected Pennsylvania is the state
of great strikes, great riots, low wages,
servile laborers, protected mills tariff
made millionaires and political bosses
of the most obnoxious type. 1t is
great mill, into the hopper of which
are poured ignorant foreigners and out
of which runs stream of tramps. A
new and large crop OF tramps will be
supplied by the unfortunates in the
present strike, already doomed to fail
ure.
Should times get better in Europe
and immigration from there stop, the
protected manufacturers and mine OPP
orators could draw on China's horde
of cheap laborers. The new Chinese
exclusion act, passed at the urgent re-
quest of all the labor organizations in
the country, to take the place of the
expiring Geary law, was punctured so
full OF holes in the Senate that, in the
opinion of able lawyers and the Amer
lean Federationist, 1t offers no opposl-
tion to the importation of Chinese la
borers through our colonies. The lob
bies of the steamship companies
headed by Mr.. Schwerin of the Pacific
Mail Co., were on hand in the Senate
and spent thousands of dollars to
make this bill look like the hoop in the
circus after the acrobat had jumped
through it, and the Republicans per-
formed the feat. and disregarded the
requests of millions of workingmen.-
Byron w. Holt.