Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-08


thrown out Of work and thrown
upon the labor market would not
tend to reduce the price Of labor,
which is wages, through the very
competitive system which the Dem
ocrats allude to.
True enough, the greater the de-
mand for labor the higher the price
Of labor.
But the demand for labor is
made through the number and ex-
tent Of the Industries requiring la
Dor and employing labor And
when that demand is Iessened
through the elimination Of any CON
siderable number Of those indus
tries. then the competition for en-
ployment is increased and the price
of labor is reduced
For the Democrats, therefore, to
make their proposition sound, they
must prove that the protective tar
if does not tend to increase the
number Of industries in this coun-
try and the employment Of labor
by those industries.
The plank contains, however,
proper criticism Of President Taft
for his veto of the farmers free
list, the wooden schedule and other
reasonable and legitimate and mod
crate plans Of tariff reduction pro-
posed by the Democratic house Of
representatives under the leader
ship Of Champ Clark
The second plank in the Demo-
cratic platform relates to the high
cost Of living and says that the
high cost Of living Is due to the
high tariff laws enacted and main
tanned by the Republican party and
to the trusts and commercial con-
spiracies fostered and encouraged
by such laws.
The high cost of living is not
confined to the United States, and,
therefore, can not be wholly due to
any strictly American institution,
not even to the Republican party.
The high cost Of living is COM
planned of in England and has
brought about many strikes and
much discomfort in that country.
The high cost Of living Is COM
planned Of in France and has
brought about riots in that coun-
try.
The high cost Of living is COM
planned Of in Germany and has
brought about discomfort and dis
turbance in that country.
The Republican party of the
United States does not exercise
much influence in England or
France or Germany.
Neither do our tariff conditions
nor any ether tariff conditions, be-
cause England is a free trade coun-
try and Germany is a protection
country.
The high cost of living must,
therefore, be due to other and
broader propositions than those
discovered by the Democrats such
as assembled at Baltimore.
It must be due to universal con
ditions. for in every country Of the
world the cost of living has in
creased enormously.
What are those universal Condi-
tons? First. the greater Cheapness
of money, the enormous production
of gold and the general extension Of
credits. These conditions have
made the medium Of exchange so
much cheaper that dollar today
does not buy what so cents or even
% cents would have bought a few
years ago.
The dollars themselves, on &C
count of the quantity of them, being
less valuable, it takes many more
of those dollars to buy the same
thing than il took few years ago.
That is one Of the main reasons
for the increased cost Of living.
Another important and universal
reason for the increased cost Of
living is the better compensation
given in these days TO the produc-
ing classes for their work and for
their products.
The greater intelligence and the
greater efficiency of the working
men and the farmer and other pro-
ducers have enabled them TO get a
more rlghtful reward for their eff
fort. a higher reward for labor, a
greater payment for their product.
All intelligent citizens want the
farmers TO be well-to-do. vet they