The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-10-31
THE WANAMAkER
/ PROSPERITY PLEA
Pb1acles Of His Argument Dis
sected in Counter Appeal
to Merchants.
FREE TRADE NOT PROPOSED
PsnIes Occur Without Regard to Tar
IN Revlsion-Business Men Direct
lnq the Wilson Campaign.


10 the Merchants and Business Men
of the United States:
Mr.. John Wanamaker has issued q
mote Of warning" against the de
struction of industries which he says
will follow the election Of Woodrow
Wilson.
To bark back twenty years in Amer
lean industry is to deal with ancient
history. During this score of years
American Industries have advanced SO
far in competing power that a com
parison even with 1890 is ridiculous
In that year our exports of manufac-
lures were less than two hundred mil
lions in annual value; today they are
ut the rate of twelve hundred millions,
4 gain Of 600 per cent.
How is disaster to come from the
competition on our ground OF those
manufacturers with whom we are sue
cessfully competing on their ground!
1t iS poor time to cry distress when
wei are exporting steel manufactures
n the rate of million dollars daily.
i During Mr.. Cleveland's first admin
lstration, 1885 to 1889, there was no
panic-there was only prosperity. But
Mr.. Wanamaker forgets this. Mr..
Harrison, Republican, succeeded IN
1899, serving till 1898. During this
time Mr.. Wanamaker himself was In
President Harrison's cabinet, and 1t
was then the conditions matured
which resulted in the panic OF 1893,
four months after Mr.. Cleveland took
Office the second time.
Mr.. Wanamaker quotes from various
sources certain records OF distress. but
neglects to say that every one of them
bears a date not less than six months
before the tariff bill of 1894 became
law and, as matter of fact, before
its terms were known
The truth is that neither Repub-
lican administration nor high tariff
Sc any protection against panics, and
they occur, as everybody knows. ex-
cept Mr.. Wanamaker. quite without
regard to tariff changes. Our very
worst panics have occurred under Re-
publican administrations. .e
8 In 1908 the Republican party in It's
platform declared "unequivocally for
the revision of the tariff" but this
promise, soon so recklessly broken,
had NO deterrent effect upon improve
ment In business conditions. 1t can
not therefore be said that the mere
CO
tress, for there was no doubt In 1908
not only that the tariff was to be re-
vised. but that 1t was to be revised
downward
r. Ignoring the Present.
Most important. however. in Mr..
wanamaker's letter is his failure to
refer to existing conditions. He prom
Uses all sorts of disaster In very
general way. but has nothing to say
about current facts of industry. For
example. it has been well known since
1910 that the public demanded the
downward revision of the tariff which
Mr. Taft promised and later denied.
A Democratic house of representa-
csal issue. That house passed series
of tariff measures. some of them over
the presidents veto. On each Of these
measures number Of Progressive Re-
publicans VOC! with the Democrats.
One of these hills reduced the duty on
steel, Yet although revision OF the
steel schedule was ard is pending. the
steel industry has revived. prices are
advancing and strangest OF all. from
MI. Wanamaker's point Of view. large
investments are COW being made fr
new steel plants. ."
IF the danger that Mr. Nanamaker
foresees is real how Is It that these
Investments proceed? How is 1t that
manufacturers al ever the country
are Increasing their plants?
Mr. Wana maker seems ignorant
also Of the actual labor conditions.
High wages are not necessarily sign
OF prosperity. AS Professor Fisher
points out. a century and a half ago
laborers in Rhode Island received
wage Of $40 daily. but it took four
days work to buy pair OF shoes.
Nor are high wages the result Of the
protective tariff The Lawrence strike
brought cut this fact wildly. There
the textile manufacturers have very
high protective tariff to favor them.
but the wages of their employees were
shown to be indefeHsibly low. A fair
comparison is that between England
and Germany, both thickly populated.
one having no protection and the 9TH
er high protection. How do wages
stand in these countries today? Those
In. Germany are II per cent lower
than English wages, and not only so.
but the cost Of living in Germany IL
II per cent higher, so that the pro-
fected German workman earns the
smaller wage and pays the higher
cost
Free Trade 1oay.
a 10 1t not truly ridiculous for Mr..
Wanamaker to raise the bogy Of free
trade? No party advocates that; Mr..
yRanamaker must know that the Dem