Bisbee daily review., 1904-02-24
ANXIOUS WoRKHEcMEN
The Cost of Living Does Not
 Go Down With Wages.
HEAVY BURDEN OF TARIFF TAxEa

Five-sixths of Those Taxes Go to Fat ten the Trusts-shOuld Come on al Ouce-Roosevelt's Message silent oD
 the subject-workers Must suffer
 Four Years Longer.
 The Journal of the Knights of Labor for November says: That most excellent and carefully edited labor paper, the National Labor Tribune of Pittsburg. in it's last issue gives this pointer:
 "Wages are expected to come down at the first of the year in all directions Many crafts, iron and steel workers not ably, have been reduced already. Jus tice requires that other things should come down in proportion. Let rent and taxes both be lowered if the working man is not to be ground between the upper and the neither millstones."
 Apparently a new idea has occurred to thesa labor papers. If 1t can be made to- work, the wage ,earners will not in future have to carry the heavier end of the burden of industrial depres sions. They can unload on, somebody else, just as the manufacturer now ufi- loads on them. When the demand fot goods falls off and the manufacturers profits begin to diminish the manufae- turer reduces his working force or re duces wages, or both. When the de mand for labor slackens and iabOr'e earnings grow less. why cannot he have his: rent, taxes and other costs of living reduced accordingly? How nice I.l l.o 1,N ble along,
 But we fear that the workers will not get relief in these directions. Land lords refuse to reduce rents much be l cause they know that there are just as many hG uses and so many people who have to live somewhere-that is. untht they stafve or freeze. State, county and local taxes could not be reduced without reducing the salaries of the Of fceholders. and it is absurd to suppose that our political friends are going to vote lower taxes and lower salaries to themselves.
 The other kind of taxes are intern1' revenue and tariff taxes. The internal revenue taxes are mostly on liquors and tobacco. It would hardly be advis- i able to reduce these much until tho l tariff duties on the necessities of lifo are greatly reduced. These tariff taxes, which but few people know anything about. really constitute more than tive thirds of all taxes paid by the average family. The total taxes of the average family are about Sl25 year, of which S10 goes for state and local taxes. $2j %, s.tfT taxes. Of tine tariff taxes only about S15 goes to the government. the re-
 maining s75 going to the tariff trusts and other protected interests. There is no good reason why this SI5
 year of tariff taxes which goes to the
 protected trusts should not be taken
 off. even when times arc good and when wages are high. When wages are low and men are out of work every
 unnecessary burden should certainly
 be lifted from labors weak back. This
 burden can be frightened only by act of
 congress. and. unfortunately for the
 wOrkingmen, they have elected the
 wrong set of men to congress. Ths
 stand patters" are now on deck ii'
 Washington. and they would sec ths
 workingmen of this country sweat
 blood before they would think of offer
 ing relief that could be given only by
 stopping the graft of the trusts.
 So little do the Republicans at Wash
 ington care about the sufferings of the
 people because of high tariff taxes for
 the benefit of trusts that President
 Roosevelt in his message to congress ' did not even mention the word tariff.
 He last year joined the stand patters'
 on the tariff. and the whole Republican
 outfit now says that the tariff should not be disturbed until after the uext
 presidential election. Of course the real reason for this decision is that the
 protected manufacturers have paid for the privilege of tariff taxing the people and will not consent to let go of this
 privilege. The Republicans might Dc willing to break faith with the trusts if they could next year look elsewhere . than to these same trusts for biz campaign fund. The Republicans have
 never revised the. tariff downward and probably never will do so while grass grows.
 The outlook for vorkingmen Is noi rosy. There are two hard winter: ahead. and the cost of living is about the highest ever known. thanks to thC trusts. which charge us all the tariff }, will allow, but sell their goods to for eigners at very low prices. Possibly the voters may find out by next veal how to reduce their taxes in the onl. way worth considering. but it is i'm probable that their burdens can b; . frightened before 1907. for Republicar senate stands between the people and : lower tariff taxes.
 It looks as if the workinSman would : have to be ground between those mill
 stones four years longer. Sorry. but |
 is their own fault.
 BYRON W. HOLT.