Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-05-10
WOMEN and THE TARIFF
Why Clothing Costs Such an
Enormous Price.
MOTHERS SHOULD INVESTIGATE

The Protective Tariff Adds Over Fiji
ty Per Cent to the Cost of Wear
ing Apparel of Matron and Maid.
The Trusts and Combines Benefit at
the Expense of American People.
The glorics Of the Easter season have
gone and gone, but the wonderful crea-
tons Of the lnillincrs' art are still with
US for further exhibition. The cost
was great, but in most cases necessary
to keep matrons and maids in good
humor for that great consummation of
their hopes for distinguished appear
ance.
1t only remains to pay the bills of
those who bought upon credit and to
think over the prodigious sun eXpend-
ed by the American people. over
5000, 1000, 900 is expended every year by
u wives and daughters for millinery
manufactured in this country, besides
the millions for what is imported.
The tariff tax on such articles of
adornment increases the price of MILL
merry more than 30 per cent on the
average, for the manufacturers are
protected by the tariff tax which is
collected on imported millinery, so that
they can add to the price of the home
product about what the imported ar
ticles have to pay at the custom house.
Every woman, therefore, is interest
ed in the tariff question, for through
the protection it gives the American
manufacturer the cost of hats and bon
nets are increased quite 80 per cent.
IT the present tariff rates on millinery
were reduced to 20 per cent the women
of the country would q nearly one
third of what they now pay for such
articles, whether imported or made in
this country, for the price of the Amer
lean manufactured goods would have
to decline to meet the reduced cost Of
the imported article. 1t would be
tedious to give all the tariff rates on
hats and bonnets or the many articles
that go into the hats and bonnets that
are made up in this country, but the
tariff tax runs from 80 to 20 per cent
of the cost of the articles in the III
try from which they are imported, so
that if a hat cost $40 in Paris the tar
Ill ldA O1 IL . llOlil 81 l ct. ul1l tiS i1!C
cost is often much greater than this
therefore the tariff tax is so much
greater in proportion.
The protectionists tell us that We
must be willing to pay this import
duty to protect our manufacturers
from foreign competition and to pro-
tect American labor in being paid high
err wages than the foreign laborer gets.
The Democrats claim that to reduce
the tariff to 4 reasonable rate would
still give the American laborer all the
protection he needs, while at the same
time producing enough from
customs duties to run the government.
Under such a Democratic system the
trusts and combines that control so
many articles of necessity would have
to reduce the price they charge and the
present high cost of living would be
greatly reduced.
Nearly everything we consume or
wear is protected by Il high tariff rate.
and whether we buy imported articles
OIL which the government has collected
the duty Or similar home manufactured
articles on which the trusts. combines
or protected manufacturer has collect
ed the tax by adding the tariff rate to
their profit there is no escape from
the high prices which the tariff causes.
and the American consumer has TO pay
the bills.
Wives and mothers should talk this
over with the breadwinners of the fam
lily and urge them to vote for the can
didates of the party who will vote to
revise this unreasonable tariff law that
taxes every Il numerically from the
cradle to the grave.