Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-09-03

which contains a great deal of labor
and small amount Of raw material,
but that they cannot export hardware
in which the raw material constitutes
large proportion of the value We
are sending manufactures of steel all
over the world The steam engine, for
instance. is made by skilled labor. and
yet we can send it abroad and defy
competition. Our electrical machinery
is made by skilled labor. and yet we
nave no fear of foreign competition
even in the foreign markets. Our ag-
| ricultural machinery is made by skilled
labor. and yet we export it to all
countries. Our sewing machines are
manufactured by skilled labor, but
the American traveller finds our sew
ing machines everywhere. And the
list could be extended indefinitely
| For twenty-five years the American
workingman has been told that he re-
eeives higher wages than the English
workman solely because of protection,
| but our wage earners now know that
| this cannot be due to protection be-
cause the English workman receives
| higher wages than the German work.
man. although the German tariff is
higher than the tariff of Great Britain
| Protection does not make good wages.
1 Our better wages are due to the greater
intelligence and skill of our workmen,
to the greater hope which free institu-
lions give them, to improved machin-
| cry, TO the better conditions that sur
round them and to the organizations
which have been formed among the
wage earners,
! A revenue tariff win not bring q
panic. It Will not inaugurate indus
trial depression, It will not reduce
/ wages. On the contrary, it will stimu-
| late business and give more employ
ment, and larger demand for labor
viii be guaranty against the reduc-
ton of wages. 4 reduction Of the tariff
will reduce the extortlUu that is now
practiced because of the high sched-
ules. A reduction in price will enable
more people to buy, and this larger de-
| mand for the goods will put more peo-
pie to work and increase the number Of
industries. A lower price will greatly
stimulate expectation. and manufac-
turers who are now crippled by tariff
upon what they use viii be better pre-
pared to enter the contest for suprem-
acy in the worlds trade.
We cannot hope to invade foreign
markets to the extent we should until
we relieve our manufacturers of the
handicap that protection places upon
them in the purchase of materials they
have to use. Neither can we hope to
continually increase our exports with
must be mutual if it is to be perma-
nent President Mckinley recognized
/ this. and in the last speech that he
made he pointed out that we must buy
from other nations if we expect to
/ sell TO other nations.
/ Democratic Plan Not Dangerous.
| The Democratic, plan does not con-
template an immediate change from
one system to the other; it expressly
declares that the change shall be grad
ual. and a gradual change is only pos
sible where the country is satisfied
| with the results of each step taken.
| We elect a congress every two years
and a president every four years. and
the people can soon stop any policy If
| the results of that policy are not salts
| factory. But we believe that the ex-
perience the people have had with
| protection for projections sake has
! led them to favor a restoration of the
| tariff by gradual steps to a revenue
| basis. and we are convinced that the
| advantages following each step will
be so pronounced and that the bene-
| fits will be so universally enjoyed that
| there will be no cessation in the prog
ress toward a system under which the
| tariff viii be levied for the purpose of
revenue and limited to the needs of
| the government The low tariff law
of 1916 did not produce a panic. On
| the contrary, it was so satisfactory
! that when the Republican party wrote
| its first platform ten years afterward
the protective principle was not in
| dorsed.
The Democratic party has declared
| for an income tax as part of the
revenue system. and for a constftu-
tiona amendment as means of secur-
| ing this tax. Secretary Taft announces
in his notification speech that he is in
| favor of an income tax whenever the
| revenues are so low as to require it
and expresses his belief that it is pos
sible to secure such tax without a
constitutional amendment If it is pos
sible to frame a law which will avoid
| the objections raised to the income tax
| law of 1894. well and good. but that is
uncertain If an income tax Is de-
sirable. surely Secretary Taft cannot
consistently oppose the adoption of a
constitutional amendment. II the prin-
ripple is right and the tax wise, con-
gress ought to have authority to levy
and collect such tax, and no sup