The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-08
inch TARIFF IS
FROM EVIL ONE
1 Berger Says It is an Invention
u of Capitalistic Devil,
Mammon
BUT is NOT ONLY
FACTOR IN SITUATION
Socialist Congressman Does
Not Lay all the Ills Of High
Living Cost to Protec-
tive Policy

MILWAUKEE,, WIS.,, Feb. s.--The
4 position or the Socialist party on the
tariff question and HIS own personal
views as to the causes for the present
/ high cost OF living are given In the
following statement prepared Tor the
United Press by Victor l. Berger, the
first Socialist elected TO Congress:
lCopyright, 1911, by United Press.)
BY VICTOR L. BERGER.
CongTessman-E Elect from the Fifth
4 Wisconsin district.
The Socialists are surely not friends
4 Of the high tariff." We consider II
an invention of the capitalist devil,
I; Mammon. And we know it is benefit
ing the manufacturer oniy--that II Ii
! lot protecting the working men in
any way. However. II Is ridiculous to
4 blame the tariff for the high price Of
the cost of living In general, includ-
ing meat and agricultural products
The tariff Is factor In the high
prices, but 1t is only one factor.
Only a short time ago a dispatch
reported that around Boston there
are about iifty thousand textile work
ers out Of work. The American Wool
en- CompanY--the wool trust--which
controls thirty big factories In New
England, and usually employs $4,000
OF It's machinery. Other wooden fac
tories which do not belong 10 the
trust employ about one-naif OF their
force. Conditions are very much the
same in the cotton factories of the
South and Pennsylvania and New Jer
sey.
The reason for this IN that the peo-
g pie must spend so much for bread ana
meat that they have no money for
factory products
Little Fight Left In Workers.
There is also comparatively little
5 fight now left In the workingmen.
< The economic mover last summer
WAS very langtitd. Strikes for higher
wages were tried only In rare cases,
L because In most eases workingmen
7 mad little chance for winning them.
OF course, the railroad companies
made SOM advances to their men.
This WAS with the expectation that
the public in general would have to
repay double through higher freight
rates In fact. the railroad unions
went into partnership with the mag
mates and pctitioned The Interstate
Commerce Commission.
Bat the railroads got left, because
s the ruling parts--the Republican
party--iooked upon the high prices
as very dangerous enemy at the
congressional election. That Ia the
reason why President Taft interceded
with the railroad presidents. He told
them that III they persisted In raising
the freight rates. tn ere would be a
: strong tendency toward nationaftEa
ton of the railways. even In the mid
die class. This might lesd 10 a great
strengthening Of socialism generally
at least to what Taft understands as
socialism. The railroad presidents
saw the point ard postponed their
demand until after election.
Otherwise. the labor movement In
this country last summer simply mani
! tested itself in coal strike precipi-
tated by the mine owners. who want
ed to reduce their surplus--and ia
small strikes of the building trades
here and there. And in most cities
there has been an orer production of
houses during the last two years. As
nsuai. capital went INTO building. be-
cause IL could not find more profitable
employment elsewhere. And this
meant a depression of prices.
q. sxs, Not Soltsly Resgpnsahlss. .,.,. =,
Therefore II would he absolutely
easeRsiCaa If the Democrats OF the
country should try to put all the
sins of the capitalist systems on the
.ariif and make the tarifg issue their
only war cry and sole ISSUE
n kVoA many III Attt ARTICLES uS@I
under high tariff have not gone
UP In price during the fasf ten years
TO any considerable extent. as for
instance, cotton goods clothing and
furniture. But articles which we ex-
port, and which were not benefited
BY the tariff. like Hour. meat. butter
and eggs, have gone mp tremendously.
The only way this rise of prices OF
I foodstuffs could be checked would be
mt a nm tx
IL exported. as was done in olden
times. But. of course, our farmers
would not stand for that
In some respects. we have to suffer
for the sins OF wasteful capitalism
during the last thirty years Thi. Ia
surely the case with the lumber In
i dustry. In other instances we have
70 suffer from the fact that our
farmers still proceed with the old
methods. and that they produce less
foodstuff per acre than the farmers
OF England, Germany or France.
There In still another reason pe-
culiar to this country. Farmers as
soctations and associations OF agricui-
turists have voluntarily agreed 10
limit the output. THIS Is the case with
cotton. tobacco and wool. Such as
sociations may not be the trusts de
facto. because these industries have
not been centralized in few hands.
However. the effect OF their agreement
80 limit the output Ii the same.
v In short there are many problems
Eof this kind that have to be studied
carefully by the socialists. and viii
Ehave to he solved by the socialists.
SNeither the Republicans nor shs
yDemocrats win ever DO this IN fact
z4hey could not n thsy tried.