The Oskaloosa herald., 1903-10-01

i
this country than it is elsewhere. TIL,
| things. He wears more and bette
things. He lives in larger and bette
houses. He spends more to maintain
his position in society, for he is
| factor in the most important affairs
of the community in which he lives
This is the pIice he pays for the man
hood he enjoys for the power he exer
cises, and for she responsibilities O
citizenship; and Il free trade robi
him of the opportunity to make these
expenditures, 1t at the same time robt
him of the opportunities which alone
make life tolerable and honorable.
In further effort to insite the pref
udice of the wageworker, the demo
cratic candidate for governor insists
that while we protect the nanufac
turer, we do not protect the laborer
and that, whereas the former meets
only the competition of his own coun.
try, the latter must meet the competi'
ton of the world. This is the most
astonishing statement / have ever
read. 1t is the very climax of error.
While the republican party has put up.
on many manufactured commodities
an import duty, 1t has absolutely pro-
hibited the importation of labor, and
with respect to one nationality, has
imperatively forbidden the admission
of laborers. One of the most stringent
statutes ever passed by congress is
that which prevents American employ
ers from bringing men of other coun-
tries into the United States under con-
tract for employment. Barring the
Chinese wholly, we admit the laborers
of other lands We have assumed
that when human Deing comes free
into the United States and breathes
our air and becomes a part of our in
situations, he will be competitor up
on the plane of American life, and not
upon the plane of the country from
which he comes, and our experience
demonstrates that the first thing that
an immigrant learns is to demand
high wages for his work. From the
same experience we discovered that
the Chinamap did not assimilate the
conditions of his new country, and
therefore, solely for the purpose of
eliminating unfair competition in la
Dor, he is excluded from our shores.
| do not believe that our immigration
laws are perfect. There remains still
much to be done in order to limit the
men and women who come hither to
those of whom it can be said they will
become good citizens; but the sugges-
tion that we have not been as careful
to protect the labor as we have to
protect manufactured commodities is
so unwarranted that it is overthrow
by the most casual reflection. If there
is any logical deduction from the dem
ocratic position, it is one which will
hardly commend the party to the
wageworkers of this country. 1t
means. if it means anything, that it
will be the democrats policy not only
to create free competition in our mar
kets for manufactured products, but
free competition in labor as well, and
that means the repeal of the statute
forbidding the introduction of contract
labor and the removal of the pronlDl-
ton against the Chinese. When these
things are done, the democratic party
will have free trade, and have it wI.h
vengeance, and the people will have
free ruin, and have it in plenty. l
marvel at the audacity of democratic
speaker proposing remedies for the
relief or the promotion of the weIlare
of the laboring man. 1t had the presi-
dent when it elected Cleveland in
1892, and year after his Inauguration
it had both branches of congress. 1t
thus had the government complete,
and what did it do for the Detterment
of the wageworker? To reply graph
ically and feelingly you have but to
summon your memories of the years
between 1893 and 1897. 1t has been
said that the people naturally munger
for change. l do not believe this
is true, but If it is, for the sake of
humanity, let the change be made by
some other power or some other party
than the democrats, whose whole his
and failure.
The Farmers.
turn now to the farmers, for whom
the tears of the free trader flow so
copiously. Mr.. Sullivan declares. and
apparently with the utmost sincerity,
that the system of protection not only
does not benefit them, but destroys
and impoverishes them. Without an.
alyizing the statement, as presently
shall do, but taking 1t up by its four
corners and looking at 1t broadly, and
then looking at the farmers, knowing
what they are, what they have done,
and what they are doing, 1t is incon.
ceivable that any serious man should
believe that they are the victims of a
dishonest and vicious economic sys.
TEN. How emphatically they will re.
pei the charge will be seen in the
coming November Before they speak
i say for them that they are the hap.
piest, most prosperous, most progress
sive and most contented people within
the borders of the republic. .sThey
have their ups and downs, their high
prices and low prices, their good years
and bad years, but taking all times
and all conditions together, they have
accomplished more than any other
class, and congratulate them most
heartily upon their brilliant success
The democratic candidate for governor
seems to be of the opinion that be
cause the duties levied upon agricul
tural products do not materially en-
nance the price of these products, that
therefore the protective system robs
them of the amount of the duties col
lected upon manufactured imporations
and otherwise saps their vitality and
hampers their progress. propose tc
deal with this subject from my own