Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1910-04-08
Wednesday April lh Sales Day. Wednesday, 18TH tie Big Picnic Barbecue
nraatjesI Yahifs FaIka.

;1rla Practical Iafin 1alko. $50 d,
Defenders Of the Payne-Aldrich tar
III Dill have sought 70 avoid any re-
sponsibility Of that law for the high
prices now existing BY pointing to che
greatly increased gold supply. While
no one VINO pretends to any knowL
edge Of political economy would seek
to- deny that there Is a distinct rela-
tion between, the worlds supply Of
metal money and prices, yet II must
also be conceded that when the fluctu
alton is not the same in all countries
there must be a disturbing factor
working somewhere. Thus when the
price Of woolens rise on the London
market and s per cent as they did
recently, while the advance in this
country was 25 per cent, nobody who
pretends to any sanity of utterance
would contend that the gold supply
element was the sole cause. And
when he investigated further and dis
covered that the rise in prices the
world over has not been as great as
in the United States, he must con-
clude that some cause local in charac-
ter must be operating here. The
truth is that the history of the tariff
shows that high prices always follows
the enactment of high tariffs. This
IS not difficult of explanation; that is
what the high tariff was passed for.
This was openly and avowedly the
moving causes behind the Mckinley
and Dingley bills. 1t was complacent-
! ly explained to those who protested
vigorously, that the high prices would
tempt into manufactures new capital
and the competition that would fol-
low would reduce prices. The argu-
ment sounded well, but this could be
true only so long as there was per-
feet. freedom. The manufacturers
were very quick to see that they,
were foolish, after having had foreign
competition shut out by the tariff,
to go ahead and cut one another's
capital or trade agreement relative
to prices they could hold the price up
To- the point placed by the tariff.
Take concrete example. Suppose
that on carpet costing 81 a yard a
tariff Of rs per cent Is placed. This
arbitrarily places price OF $180 a
yard on that carpet, computing 5 per
cent for freight and insurance. That
high price was put there by the tariff.
law itself. Even II that 75 per cent
tariff represents the difference in Ia
Dor cost here and abroad, the law
practically fixes that price to the con-
sumer. As labor rarely represents
more than 20 per cent of the entire
cost in any industry Of that character
It is clear that the difference between
the actual labor cost and the pretend
I ed labor cost In the tariff marks the
amount Of money presented to the
manufacturer. The law hands all over
to him, and high protectionists porfess
to believe that he will hand back the
excess in some way, although he never
has.
Andrew Carnegie, who was present.
ed with many millions by this method
in his, testimony before the ways and
means committee (page 5S1S Of print
ed record) makes this open confes,
sion: THE only justification for a
government raising the price to the
consumer Of any article. because thai
Is what a tariff does-if the tariff did
not raise the price it would be Of nc
use-that is only justifiable when you
can induce a body of capitalists tc
risk capital in the experiment Of in
Producing a new industry into a coun
d try, which is in its nature temporary
II the experiment has been successful
= as it has been in steel, it, in my opin
ion, vindicates the protective policy
r which we have pursued; but perman
, ent protection, l think, is an injustice
: to the consumer; and if, after forty
years of trial, the American steel in
t dustry does not need a tariff, then
think we should lessen it." Mr.. Car
negie himself is a very good measure
: of the success of the protective polio,
} as applied to steel. He had ha(
e enough and wanted the tariff lowered
:, His successors, however, have NO
t been beneficiaries so long, and the.
r objected. The steel schedule wa
t lowered in a few items but on struC
e tural steel it was increased and ol
# all other items there was no change.
T. The tariff can not escape any par
of its responsibility for the high pric
I of manufactured goods. The plea tha
n many schedules were lowered will ne
O suffice because there is plenty of ev
r. dence at hand to show that in pra(
g tically all of the cases where a redu,
q tion was made the new rate is a
so prohibitive and the reduction n
n greater than the increase of price
r. abroad. In other words monopoly
sheltered as strongly as ever benin
W this tariff and is left free to do q
M monopoly always does, raise the priC
=. to the highest limit the traffic wi
hv bear.-C. Q. D., in The Commoner.
ne District Court.
IT There was an adjourned session