Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-10-26
WAGES AND the COST OF lIvnle.
President Roosevelt Deliberately Seeks
TO Deceive the Public.

OF the many statements deliberately
/ made by Mr.. Roosevelt, in his letter OF
| favorable comment because of their in-
| accuracy, none is destined to cause him
more trouble and to result in greater
| harm to his canvass than that in
which he alleges that wages have been
| increased during the last few years
| in greater proportion than the cost
of living has increased. This state
ment has called forth a storm of pro-
| test, not only from the press, but
among well-informed labor leaders and
| political economists.
Nearly every Independent journal
has taken Mr.. Roosevelt to task. One
| of these, the Philadelphia Public
Ledger, published in the metropolis Of
| the strongest protectionist State in the
| Union, devotes column and half of
! its space in refuting the Presidents
| statement Mr.. Roosevelt, to quote
| him precisely, says:
AS conclusively shown by the bull
| letin of the Bureau of Labor the pur
chasing power of the average wage re.
ceiyed by the wage-worker has grown
faster than the cost of living"
The Philadelphia Ledger regrets that
it cannot confirm this statement 1t
says:
more reliable, because more disin.
terested, and more unprejudiced wit
nesses than Mr.. Roosevelt's Commis-
sioner of Labor, have time and again
declared it conspicuously inexact.
Among the disinterested witnesses are
both Bradstreet's and Dun's carefully
compiled reports, and among the un.
prejudiced ones are several prominent
labor leaders, who have testified to the
t4uth respecting the wage scale of the
one part and the regular quotation Of
| the prices of the necessities of life Of
mony given by these trustworthy wit
nesses, is directly contrary to the Presi-
dents statement.
"The prices of domestic commodities
have had an average increase from the
lowest standard reached in 1896 of 81
per cent No sensible and well-in-
| formed man will seriously assert that
since 1896 the average wage rate has, in
| creased to that extent-more tEsl one
third There Is no workman in the
land who can testify to the accuracy
of this. The Presidents contention is
that the alleged greater proportionate
increase Of the average wage to the
| increased cost of living has been due
| to the beneficent protection afforded to
labor by the tariff Here again the
Presidents position is contested by
| labor itself 1t is true that the wages
| of artisans and their unskilied helpers
have been materially increased since
| 1896, but while there have been slight
| increases at various times Of the wages
| of the so-called protected workmen,
| the aggregate differences have not kept
| step with the increase of the cost of
| living.
AT present the tendency all over
| the country is to reduce the wages of
those employed in protected industries.
At Fall River, Mass, $4,000 textile
operators are out of work and de-
priyed of wages because they would
not consent to a fiat wage reduction
Of II per cent. In Chicago the Meat
Trust has crushed to death one of the
most powerful labor organizations be-
cause it demanded reasonable in
crease of wages for the under paid
laborers. The Steel, Iron and Tin
Trusts, interests protected by the tariff.
have been largely reducing their wage
schedules, as has also the Glass Trust.
| The artisans, mechanics and all sorts
Of their unskilled helpers. to whom the
| tariff does not even pretend to give
protection, receive high wages, and
will continue to receive them so long
as their unions remain intact. But
| what single tariff protected industry
| pays it's workmen the same generous
reward for their labor that the un-
| protected activities pay their en-
ployees for their labor"
| 1t might be added that Commissioner
| Wrights remarkable statement and
tabulation upon which President
Roosevelt bases his remarks already
quoted was discredited long before the
candidates letter of acceptance was
made public, for Secretary Shaw in
stump speech delivered several weeks
ago stated that the Commissioner of
Labor has prepared a bomb which
would blow the Democratic party sky
high or words to that effect. He said.
in so many words, that this bomb"
II, tho Of raf f,,ll