The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-15


 a square yard with 50 per cent ad va- lorem added. I might go on indefinitely enumerating article after article that has been subject to continual raises by republican tariff legislation on almost everything that the workingman in the iron and steel industries must buy. It must be apparent to all that the effect of this legislation is not just to the labor ing man.
 Rates of Wages
 "The census. report for 1905 states that the rates of wages in the iron and steel industry in proportion to the value of the gross product in the year 1890 was 24.9 per cent; in the year 1900 was PIP per cent, and in the year 1905 was 22.1 per cent, which shows that there has been a reduction in the wage cost of produc- tion in the iron and steel mills of the country within the last 15 years. The same report shows that the increase in the value of iron and steel products from 1900 to 1905 was only 121k per cent where as the increased value In the highly pro- tected cotton industry was 2 per cent; in woolen goods 20 per cent and in boots and shoes "A per cent.
 Tt seems to me that tariff legislation that has continually reduced the duty on iron and steel products and at the same time raised .or maintained the rates on all GOIlfHoullleS lildI fluSl De puTCIdStQ by the workmen engaged in this industry to prohibitive rates, cannot be justified even by an advocate of protection. Eff teen years ago the workman could ex- change a gold dollar for six pecks of wheat, or six pounds of beefsteak, or six dozen eggs. or five pounds of butter. The purchasing power of the same dollar to- day will only bring three pecks of wheat, or four pounds of steak. or three pounds of butter, or three dozen eggs.
 "The republican advocate of pro- hibitive protective tariff replies that the increased cost of living is due to. other causes and not to the tariff An swer me this if the tariff does not put up the price. why do you advocate a high protective tariff? We must remem- Der that the tariff is a tax that Is added to the cost of the article the consumer purchases.
 "The iron and steel business today is over-producing for the American market and ultimately 1t must find markets abroad to dispose of its sur plus product. A high protective tar if continually keeping up the price of the commodities that the workmen in the iron and steel trade must buy and the supplies that the operators must purchase is certainly not conducive to the development of the industry along the most economic lines to enable it to meet its foreign competitors on equal terms. But you say that the dem ocratic party stands for revenue tar if and the democratic party would have reduced the iron and steel sch ed ule as much If not more. than the republican party has. This is true.
 Tariff for Revenue
 ffTba daroooratfa marty 6oas stand for a tariff bill from a revenue stand point, but the difference between the republican party and the democratic party in this regard Is that the dem ocratic party would not only have made reductions on the iron and steel prod ucts but would have made reductions in the taxes all along the line. At the same time that tine tariff was reduced on iron and steel products 1t would have been reduced on woolen goods and cotton goods and food products, there by reducing the cost of living and in- creasing the value of wages of those employed in the great iron and steel in- dustry.
 There is a marked distinction be- tween the position of the democratic | party and the republican party on this most important of all questions. The | party has maintained a po- sition consistently since the beginning | In favor of a tariff levied for revenue, l that Is a tariff levied strictly for gov ernmental purposes that would produce only the necessary revenue at the GUS tom house required to meet govern mental expenditures, and a tariff of this kind does not mean free trade. | It does not mean playing favorites with | one commodity as against another. It means an equal distribution of the taxes over the various articles that are the custom house at as reasonable a duty as possible to meet the expenses of the government.
 "A revenue tariff of necessity is a tariff, but it does not by any means mean turning over of the American markets to the foreign com petitor As a matter of fact the ex- penditures of this government have grown so great that we are unable to- day to raise sufficient revenue at the custom houses under the Payne tariff bill to support the government. Un- der these circumstances a democratic tariff bill, written on a revenue basis, would reduce the duty and increase im portations but would of necessity be high enough to equal the difference in the labor cost at home and abroad.
 Cry of Republicans
 "The cry of the republican party for years has been that the success of democ- racy would mean free trade, pauper labor in competition with American labor. AS matter of fact the labor cost of most articles produced In the United States is as low as on the same articles pro- duced abroad on account of the greater efficiency of American labor and the im- proved machinery used in this country. rT,l. Iya tp Cnt many and England, our principal com petitors, Is not 50 per cent less than the wage rate paid here but the efficiency of American labor in our great industries overcomes the difference in the wage scale.
 "A few years ago Andrew Carnegie said: Tt Is not the lowest, but the highest paid laborer, with scientific management and machinery, which gives cheapest products. Some of the important staple articles made in Britain. Germany and America are produced cheapest In the last, with labor paid double.'
 James G. Blaine, when Secretary of State, referring to certain consular re- ports, said: Undoubtedly the inequalities in wages of English and American oper- atives are more than capitalized by the greater efficiency of the latter and their longer hours of labor But the rates of duty under the Payne tariff bill in most instances could be cut half in two and yet be double the amount of the differ ence between the actual labor cost at home and abroad.
 Change Is Demanded
 > "There is but one way in which the reckless extravaganza of the republican party in the last 15 years can be cur tailed and that is by a change of ad- ministration, both in the Congress and ha