Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-02-15
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER
fBy c. H. Tavenner.)

to prevent a cut in their Sc, 81 and So +
week wages, Mrs. Evalyn Walsh !
Mclean, mother OF the baby that is
heir to $100,000,000, gave a $500
dinner to SO guests at Washington,
the nations capital. ~
The hostess at this banquet wore
diamonds that actually cost more than
a half million dollars. In her hair |
was displayed the famous Hope dia- |
mond, which cost $180,000, and at her
throat another celebrated gem, Star i
of the East" which is even larger /
than the Hope diamond.
The cost per plate at the Mclean
dinner was $500. One item in the ex- !
pense was for 1000 yellow lilies inn ,
ported from abroad at So each.
One of the highest paid mill work |
ers at Lawrence would have to work
"a years to earn the cost Of that ban !
quet The earnings of dozen mill !
workers for half century would not
purchase the gems worn by Mrs. Nc
Lean. A Lawrence worker would
have to labor twenty years to pay for
the yellow lilies alone.
The strike of the men, women and
children at Lawrence, and the $500
ing example of conditions existing I'M
in the year of our Lord 1912. Neither
the Lawrence strike nor the Mclean
dinner were exceptions. They are
but samples of many similar Illus
trations which could be cited if space
permitted Only recently, VIM. NJ
Wood, the head Of the wooden trust,
whose employees are now on a strike.
at Lawrence, was arrested for knock
ing down and running over a pedes-
trian with his automobile When ar
raigned in court he was asked how
many automobiles he owned, and his
reply was that he did not know.
Imagine man so rich that he doesn't
know how many autos he has on
handi
Fortunes which make it possible for
one woman to wear half million dol
lars worth of diamonds at one time,
and which enable man to own so
many automobiles he is unable to
keep track of them, necessarily come
through the power to place an artifi-
cial price on the things which the
comomn people must have in order to
live.
1t is significant, in this connection,
that the tariff, the cost of living, $500
a plate dinners everything but the
workingman,s wages-have increas-
ed hand in hand, revealing the init
mate relationship of one to the other.
THE STORY OF THE EXTRA
SESSION.,
Congressman Ebenezer J. Hill,
standpat protectionist of Connecticut,
made speech in the House recently
which he considered gem. He ex-
tolled the Payne-Aldrich law to the
skies, proclaiming in loud voice it
had nothing to do with high prices.
Mr. Hill thought so we'll of his
speech that he named it 1.-The Story
of the Extra Session" and sent it
broadcast among his constituents,
asking them to read it and to COM
ment upon it. The following COM
ment sent in from a resident of STRAIT
ford, Conn, for instance, must have
been severe jolt to Mr.. Hills stand
pat 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 $11.90, and was
declared dutiable by the customs Off
GERS. On those seven yards of cloth
l was obliged to pay a double duty-a
duty on the weight and a duty on the
value44 cents pound and So per
cent ad yalorem These duties
amounted to 1924, making the cost Of
the $11.90 articles, $21 IA
A tax like this is unjust and excess
sive, and cannot be defended If this
is sample of the provisions of the
present tariff law I am not surprised
at the universal dissatisfaction that
prevails with regard to it, and ! hope
the Democrats will succeed in chang
ing 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
pound.
In 1907 the retail price of fresh
meat was from 118 to 1873 per cent
higher than in 1900, while the price
of cattle declined in that period from
$92.46 to $81 SO. And while dressed
beef was half cent pound dearer
in 1910 than in 1909, the price of
beeves was lower, 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 A TAX.
The word tax" should be substi-
tuted for the word tariff The peo-
pie would then understand the ques-
ton better Fewer people would then
accept the protectionist theory that
the way for them to increase their
prosperity would be to increase the
tax on everything they eat, wear or
use. To use the word tax instead
of tariff would be to make the pro-
footian amman ri1ic1r1ouc ~ Az ,,ya or,