The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1908-07-29

I par1les ~ 9 peciaT imp rfance ii
view of the present condition Of bust.
ness. After' ten years Of the most re.
markable anaterial develop and
sperity there came a financial strin-
3 gency, q @panic and an Industrial de
preston This: was brought about not
only by 1.-THE enormous expansion Of
business fplants and business invest
Slments Which could not be readily con-
Verified, bnta also fby the waste Of CAPT
tai, IN 4 Aextrayagance Of living, in wars
and other catastrophies.
Republican Doctrine Of Protection. VI
The Republican doctrine Of prorec-
non, as definitely announced by the
Republican convention Of this year
alnd.by PREVIOUS conventions, Is that o
tarir Shall be imposed on all imported
products, Whe ether OF the factory, farm
Or mine, sufficiently great to equal the
difference between the costsof produc-
ton IONA abroad md at home, and that this
difference should, Of course, include
the difference between the higher
wages paid In this country and the
wages paid abroad and embrace rea-
sonable profit to the American pro-
ducer. A system Of protection thus
adopted and put in force has led to
the blishment of rate Of wages
here that has greatly enhanced the
standard of living of the laboring man.
] It Is the policy Of the Republican party
permanently to continue that standard
of living. In 1897 the Dingiey Tariff
Bill was passed, under which we have.
had, as already said, a period of enor-.
nous prosperity # & r.
Necessity For Revision Of Tariff. r
The consequent material develop
ment has greatly changed the condi-
lions under which many articles de-
scrfbed by the schedules of the tariff
are now produced The tariff in
number of the schedules exceeds the
difference between the cost of produc-
ton Of such articles abroad and at
home, Including reasonable profit to
the American producer, The excess
over that difference serves no useful
purpose, but offers temptation to
those who would monopolize the pro-
duction and the sale Of such articles
In this country, to profit by the excess
I've rate. On the other hand, there are
other schedules in which the tariff is
not sufficiently high to give the meas
ure Of protection which they should re-
ceive upon Republican principles, and
as to those the tariff should be raised.
A revision Of the tariff undertaken
upon this principle, which is at the
basis Of our present business system,
begun promptly upon the incoming of
the new administration, and considered
at a special session with the prelimi-
nary investigations already begun by
the appropriate committees of the
House and Senate, will make the dis
turbance Of business incident to such
a change as little as possible.
Labor and What the Republican Party
Has Done For It.
- We come now to the question of la
Dor. One important phase of the pol
icies Of the present Administration has
been an anxiety to secure for the wage
Garner an equality Of opportunity and
snsh P2Sys I'm, statutory at as
with his employer. The Republican
party has passed an employers liabil-
1ty act for interstate railroads, and has
established an eight hour law for gov
eminent employees and on government
construction. The essence of the re-
form effected by the former is the
abolition Of the fellow-servant rule
and the Introduction of the COMPARE
tive negligence theory by which an en-
ployee injured in the eervice Of his
employer does not lose his right to re-
cover because of slight negligence on
his part. Then there Is the act pro-
viding for compensation for injury to
government employees, together with
the various statutes requirin:A' safety
appliances upon interstate commerce
railroads for the protection of their
employees, and limiting the hours of
their employment. These are all in
stances of the desire Of the Repub-
ncan party to do justice to the wage
Garner. Doubtless more comprehen-
sive measure for compensation of gov
eminent employees will be adopted in
the future. fs...- II .,.s: M q T..
4 To give to employees their proper
position in such controversy, to en-
able them to maintain themselves
against employers having great cap
ital, they may well unite, because in
union there is strength and without it
each individual laborer and employee
would be helpless. The promotion of
Industrial peace through the instru-
mentality of the trade agreement is
often one of the results of such union
when intelligently conducted.
There is large body Of laborers,
however, skilled and unskilled, who
are not organized into unions. Their |
rights before the law are exactly the
same as those of the union men, and
are to be protected with the same care |
and watchfulness. .,<->
In order to induce their employer |
into a compliance with their request |
for changed terms of employment,
workmen have the right to strike in a
body. They have a right to use such
persuasion as they may, provided it
does not reach the point Of duress, to
lead their reluctant co-laborers to join
them In their union against their en-
ployer, and they have a right, If they
choose, to accumulate funds to support
those engaged in strike, to delegate
n<4$ 4. = 49, T. 20