The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1912-06-27
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Special Washington Correspond
ent of The Times.
By CLYDE H. Tavenner.

| be convinced that the present polio
| Of excessive protection is mistak,
the American public simply demand
evidence that workers in the mo.
highly protected industries receive n
protection whatsoever, then tn
country will 60 overwhelmingly Dem
ocratic this fall. The evidence is az
| cessible.
The Lawrence, Mass, strike re
vealed that the men, women ank chill
dren workers in the great woolel
mills-the most highly protected in
dustry of all-receive S., Sc and 81
week wages for full time. The Stan
ley committee showed that worker
in the blast furnaces of the stee
mills-the second most highly pro
tected industry-work IL hours :
day, 7 days week, and are miserably
treated and underpaid.
And now comes the most damnine
revelations Of all, in the report of the
New York Factory Investigating com
mission, showing that there are 1885,
600 women at work in the highly pro.
tected factories of New York cities,
and that the average weekly wage OF
these women toilers is IS. The pro-
prietors Of the factories told the in
vestigators time and again that they
use women in place of men wherever
possible, as they are cheaper and do
not strike for better wages or condi-
tons.
The report of this commission has
been verified by independent investi-
gators of a big New York newspaper.
Here are some Of the ways the fac
tories and mill owners protect Amer
lean workingmen."
Boys fingers, when cut off in the
punch machines in the metal work.
ing shops, are quoted at 5000 pair;
singly, they are worth $3.50.
Women, some young and some
old, work at core making in the steel
and iron foundries, while they breathe
carbon monoXide, a poisonous gas,
liberated by the ovens in the same
room.
Women, some of them gray haired,
stand ten hours daily, stripping pork
and making sausage.
Women polish marble with corro-
sive acids in many Of the marble
shops, work that would tax the
strength of robust men.
Many thousands of children are le-
gally employed long hours, doing the
work of adults; children can do some
classes of work as fast as men, for
So and 81 week. In one factory the
entire output is made by children,
the only adult about the place being
the owner.
Query: The manufacturers who use
their help this way receive excessive
protection, on the plea that they de-
sire to protect American workmen.
Since that are not protecting their
employees, why should they be per-
mitted monopolies on their products,
which enable them to build up enor-
nous fortunes by overcharging the
of the nation?
Biggest Issue of All.
How is the cost of living to be re-
duced? This is the most important
question before the Americon people.
Its solution is more vital far than the
Identity of the next president.
Under the present system Of ex-
,essive protection, those who toll are
each year finding it more difficult to
make living, while the comparative
handful of millionaires who chiefly
reap the benefit of this toll spend
heir time in idleness and dissipation,
heir fortunes meanwhile increasing
n proportion to the cost of living.
The result is that many Americans,
particularly the hard working poor,
ire becoming plainly disguised with
he way things are going; disguised
even with this form of government,
md are turning to socialism.
This feeling on the part of the
wage Garner is simply history re-
beating itself. Extravaganza and
poverty, the history of republics
shows, never made good bed-fellows
n cradle of liberty" 1t is obvi-
'usly important that the high cost of
living problem be solved before the
Unrest grows to greater proportions.
The earlier it is solved the better for