Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-02-07
TARIFF AND THE w0RKINCMAN.
A great deal Is being heard from

&AskxAI avn AhE SSAeh@F
A great deal Is being heard from
the Republican side. regaFdinssthe
protective tariff as a benefit to the
American workingman. 1t is claim
ed that the wages paid in this coun-
try are so far in advance OF foreign
countries that should the tariff abe
reduced workingmen would be
thrown out OF work and his wages
lowered to the standard OF Europe.
But when we stop to Investigate
how the American workingman Is
being benefited under the high pro-
~tective tariff we find something ex-
ceedingly interesting.
Fol- instance, the wooden industry
is perhaps the most protected Of any
line of business in the United
States. Yet today we read about
the great strike at Lawrence, Mass,
where are located some OF the larg-
est wooden mills in the world. We
find, In the first place, that the
American workingman has almost
disappeared from the mills and has
been substituted by foreign labor.
We find further that the men en-
ployes earn 30 little that mothers
and children are forced into the
mills in order to make ends meet.
-Four, FIVE and six dollars a week is
the average pay, while the men are
paid twelve or fourteen dollars a
week. Yet this is one of the most
protected Industries under the Re-
publican tariff.
Just how the American working
man is being benefited we. fail to
see. We do know, however, that
the owners of these mills in Law
renee, under the protective tariff,
have been able to increase their
prices SO that wooden. goods have al
most entirely disappeared from the
workingman's home, while at the
same time the owners of the factor
les are forming big combinations
and piling up their. millions. II is
plain to be seer where the benefit Of
the protective tariff lies.
But go to Pittsburgh where the
great steel industries r found.
Here is another highly protected
product Of American Workmanship.
Here we find men working twelve
hours q day for eve days In the
week and when the change OF shift
is made some are forced 70 work
twenty-four hours. For these twelve
hours they receive the m~unincient
Of s1.5o In wages The men
!ays e tsasne9dadsss q garrefz
where half a dozen bsfs arcscrowd-
ed into little rooms and where. two
In q bed. these employees -1intsTti1elr
rest between the hoursepf workssYet
these are supposed~tUsue tne~.Ameri-
workingmen who ere s~ffghiy
peneassed - tAs -1-1 ta-t..
placed on steel. @.t~@
we cannot overfUoA-tne fact, how
ever. that within me past decide =
8 or more manufacturers have
become mulfi-millionaires out Of this
steel industry. being able to build
up huge monopolfes and charge
their own prices through the pro-
~tective tariff. thar.sths Republicans
claim was for ths bsnuft of the
workingmen.
The people are beginning to see
the great farce of~rfss snd~are ds-
manding a revisscn~@of~the ~tariff
downward. SO that the foreign goods
may be entered fnto~~rompetitfcn
n r"af41EL 1000
with the local manufacturers. THAT
the latter are we'll able to compete
with foreign manufacturers Is evil
dent by the markets abroad.~~sThis
competition would reduce prices at
home and make life more worth liy-
ing. Our industries ~sare no longer
Infants. 1t Is this fact that Is maxi
Ing tariff the great issue in the COM
Ing campaign, and, incidentaiiys the
more we study the position OF wood
row Wilson In regard to these mat
tiers, the more we are convinced that
he is the man for the White House.
WILSON AND THE FOREIGNER.
The effort on the part Of the Eliz-
abeth Journal. a regular Republican
organ, to stir up discofd among the