Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1907-06-15
BIGGEST QUESTION
is THAT OF EMPLOYMENT AND
WAGE EARNING.
A Political Party Takes Upon Itself
Grave Responsibility When IL
Encourages Foreign Com
petition.


The question of employment and
wages is the chief issue involved in
| the new departure of the administra-
ton in the matter of granting special
tariff concessions to foreign countries
which raise their tariff rates against
American exports as a club wherewith
to compel reduction of the American
| tariff. 1t is the one big question: big
ger than all other questions combined.
1t is question SO big as to seriously
menace any political party that makes
mistake in the treatment of it, That
| party VIII go down to swift defeat
which perpetrates the colossal blunder
of injuring our domestic trade rela-
lions in attempting to enlarge our for
eign trade relations.
| Ninety-five per cent. of our manu-
featuring trade is in our own country
and between the people of our own
country. Eighty-fve millions of people
-l6,OOO,OOO voters among them-are
vitality concerned in this 80 per cent.
OF trade.
Taking liberties with the 95 per
cent. of domestic trade and trying eX-
| periments for the benefit Of the beg
carly i've per cent. Of foreign trade
nave so often proved disastrous to the
| political party concerned in them that
what not to do" would seem perfectly
obvious by this time.
Long before election day in 1908
comes round the practical effects of
| the new policy of surrender to foreign
| tariff threats will have become visible.
Either the new policy will greatly in
| crease the inflow of competitive com.
modities, or it will not. If it does not.
we shall, have simply hanaed the for
eigners some gold bricks. That, how
| ever, is not of overwhelming conse-
quence. They hand us gold bricks
| when they first mark up their tariffs
against us and then consent to mark
| them down again to where they were
| before in return for net tariff reduc.
| tons on our part
But, if the new policy Of tariff sur
render shall work out as the foreign
ers expect it to work; if largely in
| creased importations of competitive
goods come into our market and dis.
place equivalent quantities of domestic
| labor products, thereby diminishing
place equivalent quantities of domestic
total of employment and the domestic
wage, what then?
The answer to this question is sug-
| gested in letter addressed to the
president of the United States by
prominent American manufacturer and
a large employer of American labor.
Under date of May G, 1907, Mr.. Rich.
ard Campion, of Philadelphia, wrote
President Roosevelt, urging that the
proposed commercial agreement be-
| tween the United States and the Ger
man empire be not consummated. In
this letter Mr.. Campion brings to view
that biggest of all questions, Ameri.
can employment and wages, as fol-
| lows:
With the present high cost of produc-
tlon In this country, caused chiefly by
the nigh rates of wages now prevailing
which high wages, it can be safely said
all manufacturers are glad to have pre-
vail-it is difficult for our manufacturers
10 compete with imported goods, even
with all the existing safeguards against
differentiation. but If these safeguards
be removed in accordance with the pro-
posed agreement our markets will be
Hooded with German goods at prices
which our manufacturers cannot meet
our markets taken from us, our factories
closed and our workmen thrown out of
| employment, unless our rates Of wages
be reduced to cover the difference; and
surely Mr.. President, it is only fair to
presume that you are no more willing to
have reduced the wages of American
workmen than are we manufacturers
Herein is the whole question. dis
tinctly and powerfully presented
Will the new policy of tariff surren-
der, when it shall have been extended
to all the producing nations of Europe,
as in time it must be if extended to
any one Of those nations, close Ameri-
can mills and factories, throw Amer-
can workmen out Of employment, and
reduce American wage rates?
1t is serious question, much the
most serious question which the pres
ent administration has ever had to
deal with.