Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1909-07-02
Practical Tariff Talks.


Practical Tariff Talks.
A strong testimonial to the en-
trenched strength of the sugar trust
in the senate was given a few days
ago, when that body refused to elm
mate the Dutch standard of color
tests on importatiOns. If that test
had been cut out of the law it would
have permitted the importation Of
light and dark brown sugars-cheap
sugars. The provision requiring that
all importations must be of a certain
color, dark red, when it is UNBEATABLE
and unmarketable save to the trust,
means that nothing can come in un-
less it needs further refning-and the
trust attends to the refining.
The Aldrich bill proposes to III
crease the tariff on razOrs from 90 to
100 per cent. This means doubling the
price of razors to every purchaser. No
less an authority than the Iron Age
SAYS that this will effectually shut out
foreign competition, and thus return
no revenue to the government, but 1t
will place the American market at the
mercy Of the cutlery manufacturers,
who now maintain one Of the strong
est trusts in the country. This trust
is not only protected by patents on
articles and on machinery, by copy
rights and trade agreements, but it
asks absolute protection from cOmpe-
tition in the home market. And the
Aldrich bill gives it. The head of the
Simmons Hardware Co.. of st. Louis,
who claims to have sold in his fifty
three years of business, more razors
ttan any man who ever lived III the
United States. is quoted in the Con-
gressional Record as having said that
the rate of wages paid workmen in
this country is very little more than
is paid for the same kind of labor in
Germany and England, and that we
can not make as good razors or grind
them properly in this country. Amer
lea today manufactures about ~ per
cent of the razOrs used in the country.
The Aldrich bill is intended to hand
over the remainder of the business to
the cutlery trust, and to do this it
gives the protection of 100 per cent
duty when so high all authority as
Edward c. Simmons of st. Louis as
serts that there is very little differ
ence between the rate of wages paid
razor makers here and abroad. This
raises the interesting question Of what
is a reasonable profit for the razor
manufacturer. such as the republican
platform guarantees him after it has
made up the difference in wages.
The senate has refused to take the
tariff off lumber. No well-infOrmed
republican can defend this tariff, and
no wise one will attempt TO do 50.
The republican idea of the tariff is
that it should be high enough to pro-
tect American labor from the competi-
ton of low paid labor abroad and that
there should also be included a reason
able profit to the manufacturer. This
is the platform definition or measure
of the tariff. How does it work out
ought to insure the American work
man a higher wage than the lumber
worker across the border Yet TheO-
dore NJ. Knappen of the National
Forest Conservation League submit
ted to congress extensive tables which
show that higher wages are now being
paid in both the mills and logging
camps of Canada than in the United
States. 1t follows therefore that the
workmen here need no protection and
if the manufacturer is getting his
labor for less than his nearest com
petitor abroad then IN that fact alone
lies reasonable profit for him. Why
tariff? Here is the explanation
and it clearly shows the character of
the work the republican congress Is
doing against the public interest-a
tariff operates to restrict the volume
of imported lumber and to increase its
price. If it is reatined the value of
the stumpage holdings is enhanced
and the power of the lumbermen to
dictate prices is continued. Does this
not show in whose interest the tariff
is being madei-C. Q. D., in The
Commoner.