Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1912-03-07
SPEECH OF
HON. VICTOR |. BERGER
THE SOCIALIST

low barlHS as prOpOslblon Go Idls
revenue.
Every tariff, high or low, mean
that it hits the poor man worst s.
long as a tax is placed on the necessi
ties of life, it will fall upon the poo
man much more heavily than upol
the rich man. (Applause.)
To begin with, it is the poor people
who, as rule, have many children
The tax on shoes will strike pool
sewer digger who has six children si1
times as hard as it will the million.
aire, who has one child. Moreover,
the digger can afford it 1000 times
less. (Applause.)
Every tariff puts the burden upon
the people who can afford it least, Ev-
ely tariff means that the wealthy peo-
pie are not willing to pay their share
of taxes and that they want the poor
people to pay it for them. 1t means
that these taxes go to the manufactur'
| er.
This is all any tariff means.
1t is in all cases an inheritance of
the Middle Ages-the Dark Ages
when the privileged classes did not
pay any taxes and the common people
had to pay them all.
The only just tax is an income tax
| (applause) which is graduated to such
a degree that it will establish some
fairness as to the intensity with which
it is felt by the poor people as compar-
ed with the rich.
FREE TRADE IN ITSELF Is NO REMEDY
do not want to be understood to
imply that the working class is benefit
ed by free trade of itself. Free trade
is no panacea. Free trade would mean
that great deal of our manufactur-
ing would be done across the sea-par
ticularly all of the manufacturing that
has not vet reached the trust stage.
Applause on tho Republican side.
Moreover, the working class cannot
endure any sudden lowering of tariffs.
1t is helpless to protect itself from the
consequences.
Especially in our country, after
many years of the highest kind of a
high tariff, and any sudden change
would be disastrous, and that is
where the gentleman from Alabama
(Mr. Underwood) was wise. Zap
plause on the Democratic side
A SUDDEN CHANGE WOULD
BE DISASTROUS
There are whole communities built
upon tariff schedule on some manu-
factured commodity A radical and
sudden lowering of the tariffs on any
of those products would, of course,
unsettle condition., close workshops,
and deprive thousands of wage earners
of their Jobs. And since under our
liz oe
vision whatever is made for the dis
placed workers, the result would be
widespread disaster and misery. ZAP
plause on the Republican side. When
society is willing to undertake the
transfer of displaced workers from a
dying industry to fiourishing one,
we can then welcome any radical
change in the tariff that seems best for
the Nation as whole.
Labor does not need the so-called
protection of tariffs. 1t does need,
however, protection against sudden
changes for the worse in economic con-
ditions. And in so far as it has had
any protection it has protected itself
by forming trade unions. 1t has pro-
tected itself by strikes and boycotts,
which have been declared by the Su-
preme Court of the United States to be
illegal.
But illegal or not hope labor will
continue to use them in order to resist
the forcing down of the standard of
the bulk of our population to a Chin
ese level. (Applause,) For in many
respects we have been coming down
continually. (Applause.
Before this, the capitalist era, com
mon workingmen in England could
live a whole week on the earnings of
four days.
Now, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere
common laborers can scarcely live a
whole week on the earnings of seven
days of excessive toll.
Mr.. STANLEY. Mr.. Chairman,
will the gentleman yield2
MI. BERGER. Mr.. Chairman, this
is the first time that the socialists
view on the tariff has ever been heard
in this House and if the gentleman
will kindly give me chance to get
through with my statement, / shall be
very glad to answer any questions that
he may wish to ask, anu | have no
doubt that he will be able to ask them
with much more piofundity than now.
Laughter and applause.
ALWAYS FREE TRADE In LABOR.
There is always free trade in labor.
Under the present system, which we
call in political economy the capitalist
system, the workingmau himself has
become commodity, whose time is
bought and sold. The workipgman, or
rather his labor power, is subject to
5he same conditions as every other
ware, especially to the conditions of
supply and demand and to competi
ion.
The workingman' labor, or rather
lis time, is bought now in the open
market by the highest bidder on the
me hand, from the lowest seller on
he other
And the employers, that is. the mas
er class, care only to buy the work
ngman's time when be is young,
trong and healthy. When he is sick
# when he gets old the employer has !
10 use for him.
The employer is not in business for
he sake of charity. He is in business
n order to make profits--to make mon
Y.
And because of this we see that our
o-called free workers are sometimes