Fergus County Democrat., 1912-02-13
SOME DIFFERENCE EVEN
IN LAND OF THE FREE
CORRESPONDENT
POINTS OUT INEQUALITIES OF
EXISTENCE HERE.
(By C.. H. Tavenner.)

D (By G. H. Tavenner.)
a Washington, Feb. 12.-While 10000
men. women and children mill work
ers at Lawrence, Mass, we're out o1
= work because of strike to prevent
: cut in their S6, 81 and So a week
wages, Mrs. Evelyn Walsh Mclean
mother of the baby that is heir te
s1OO,OOO,OO0, gave a $4,000 dinner to
so guests at Washington, the nations
capital.
The hostess at this banquet wore
diamonds that actually cost more than
half million dollars. In her hair
was displayed the famous" Hope dia,
mond, which cost $1SO,OO0, and at her
throat another widely celebrated gem,
Star of the East" which was even
larger than the Hope diamond.
The cost per plate at the Mclean
dinner was $500. One item in the
expense was 1000 yellow lilies i'm
ported from abroad at cost of 81
each.
One of the highest paid mill work
ers at Lawrence would have to work
81 years to receive the cost of that
banquet. The earnings of a dozen
Lawrence workers Tor half century
would not have purchased the gems
worn by Mrs. Mclean. A Lawrence
worker would have to labor 20 years
to pay for the yellow lilies alone
The strike of the men, women and
children at Lawrence, and the 800
a plate dinner in Washington, is
striking example of conditions exist
ing under a system of excessive pro-
| lection IN the year OF our Lord 1912.
Neither the Lawrence strike nor the
S35 900 Mclean dinner are exceptions.
They are but samples of many similar
illustrations which could be cited if
space permitted. Only recently, VIM.
NJ. Wood, the head of the woOlen trust,
whose employees are now on strike at
Lawrence, was arrested for knocking
down and running over a pedestrian
with his automobile. When arraigned
in court he was asked how many auto
mobiles ne owned, and he replied he
didn'tk now: Imagine man so rich
he doesn't know how many autos he
has on hand.
Fortunes which make it possible for
one woman to wear a half million
dollars worth Of diamonds at one
time, and which enable man to
possess SO many automobiles he can
not keep track of them, necessarily
come through the power to place
price on the things which the COM
mon people must have in order to
live. ..-.
1t is significant, in this connection,
that the tariff, the cost of living, 500
a plate dinners-every thing but the
worklngman's wages-have increased
hand in hand, revealing the intimate
relationship of one to the other.
"The Story of the Extra Session.
Congressman Ebenezer j. Hill,
standpat protectionist of Connecticut,
made a speech in the house recently
which he considered gem. He ex-
tolled the PayneAldrich law to the
skies, proclaiming in loud voice it
had nothing to do with high prices.
Mr.. Hill thought SO well of his speech
that he named it '1The Story of the
Extra Session" and sent it broadcast
among his constituents, asking them
to read it and to comment upon it.
Some of the comments, however, were
not what Mr.. Hill expected. The fol-
lowing comment sent in from a resi-
dent of Stratford, Conn.,, for instance,
must have been severe jolt to Mr.
Hills standpat nerves:
MY wife and | came to New York
by steamer, having with us seven
yards of serge cloth, which was to be
made into dress for my WIFE, This
cloth cost in London $11.9O, and was
declared dutiable by the customs Of
ficers. On those seven yards of cloth
was obliged to pay double duty
a duty on the weight and duty on
the value--44 cents a pound and 55
per cent ad yalorem. These duties
amounted to 1924, making the cost
of the $11.90 article, $2114.
"A tax like this is unjust and ex-
cessive, and cannot be defended. If
this is sample of the provisions Of
the present tariff law | am not sur
prised at the universal dissatisfaction
that prevails with regard to it, and l
hope the democrats will succeed in
changing this law with some regard
for the interest of the consumers"
Profits of Beef Trust.
The beef trust packers declare that
during the years 1907, 1908, 1909 and
1910 their net profits from fresh meat
were only one-eighth of one cent a
pound.
In 1907 the retail price of fresh meat
was from lis to 1873 per cent higher
than in 1900, while the price of cattle
declined in that period from $92.46 to
$S1.53. And while dressed beef was
half cent pound dearer in 1910 than
in 1909, the price of beeves was low.
er, declining from SO per hundred
pounds in 1909 to $7.55 in 1910.
Any self-respecting COW, says the
New York World, has the right to
wonder who got the extra difference
between her price on the hoof and
her price dressed.
Tariff Is Tax.
The word tax should be substi-
tuted for the word tariff" The peo.
pie would then understand the cues.
tion better. Fewer people would then
accept the protectionist theory that
the way for them to increase their