Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-01-06

question. Who Is Getting the Long
End of It?' 1t is this form of the
question that Iowa republicans had ir
! mind when they resolved that wherever
monopolies could be found to exist they
should no longer enjoy the protection
licans will resent the slur of "politica
idiots for daring to express such al
| opinion.
But" some stand patter" will ex-
| claim, there is no tariff TO shelter the
| Standard Oil Company" Perhaps that
is so. We have understood that ii was
and only refer to it because of the Kan
sas mans remarks upon a debatable
/ point in the prosperity question, but
we once thought that there was no tar
/ iff on anthracite coal, yet, since the re-
| cent strike "cataclysm' we have heard
OF the president of the United States
recommending the removal of the tariff
on anthracite coal. A game in which
/ the players have been caught holding
cards of the little joker variety will
bear watching.
| Speaking of political idiots in this
connection reminds us of an article in
a recent number of the North American
Review written by a Mr.. Archer Brown,
a member of the firm of Rogers, Brown
g. ", fv,h trh to cat1 ia oil
thirty per cent of the merchant pig iron
made in the United States. With the
experience of a long business career
Mr. Brown observes that "in each dec
ade there have been one or two years
of boom, three or four years of normal
business. and four or five years of de-
preston" He characterizes the career
of the steel business as resembling that
of the prince and the pauper, and, hav-
ducing steel, which is 80 per cent of
the total cost, has been pushed up by
the necessities and the demands of Ia
borers in a hundred lines of work. from
ore digging to railroading, pudding and
boss rolling, that it has risen in the
past twelve months to 40 per cent
above the average of the past twenty
years. with many wages twice, and
three times that paid in foreign mills,
markets are desired by all. Can we
reasonably look for these and maintain
a cost basis far above the rest of the
world?"
If these high prices to labor were all
profit to the workman and the masses
there might be some excuse for burning
our candle at both ends, but the re-
marks of the Kansas editor suggest
that the laboring man, too, has found
that the food and living cost of produc-
ing his labor has risen until there is
little profit left in his high wages. No
one denies that he is not better off than
in times of>panic and closed mills, but
what is he building for the future? Our
steel magnate, who Is a republican and
loves the benefits of his tar1fT, replies:
American labor is entitled to and will
always get the best pay in the world.
But there are limits. These limits are
properly set, not by a tariff wall. but by
the greater productive energy of our
labor and the greater abundance Of our
-. -,
been necessary to develop these re-
sources, high schedules are no longer
needed by the manufacturer. They tend
to create booms and prolong depres-
sions. American labor will fare better
If wages do not rise SO high nor descend
so low" In other words, he concurs in
the growing sentiment among pro-
gressive republicans that tariffs once
needed and useful in developing infant
said infants become the giants Of the
world in their class. AS a way OF app
plying remedy. Mr.. Brown, from the
directors room OF an iron corporation.
says, much as does Mr.. Carnegie, BUS
mess is now at high tide. Tariff agita-
ton disturbs business. The iron and
steel schedules should be cut in two.
but by a graduated scale to avoid a
shock" If congress would come to his
view, or If the stand patters" would
admit Of a tariff that should be
changed with our industries Changing
relations to the commerce Of the world"
there would be no tariff dis
cussion in Iowa. and republicans who
adopted the party platform at Cedar
Rapids and Des Moines would not be
designated by the generic term "politi-
cal idiots"
CONTAGiON OF TYPHOID FEVER.
In view of the fact that typhoid fever
is constantly reappearing at various
Iowa points, including Marshalltown,
it is well to keep In mind that 1t is a
contagious disease Of such an insinuat-
ing and insidious character that the
victim, NAV NOT know how he contra CT