Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-04-15

About fifty democrats of Chehalis
County gathered at a banquet in the
Montesano House cafe, Montesano,
Saturday evening, to honor the men,
ory of the Father of American Demo-
cracy, Thomas Jefferson. The menu
was excellent, and the affair through
out was one of the most pleasant
ever held by the democrats of this
county. A number of ladies were
present, and they apparently took as
much interest in the political ques-
tions discussed as did their male
brethern.
L. B. Bignold, county chairman, pre-
sided at the meeting, while J. ]. Car
nef, of Aberdeen, acted as toastmas-
ter. Hon. Charles Drury of Taco.
ma, was the principal speaker Of the
evening, and he was roundly applaud.
ed. Mayor ,Eldridge Wheeler, of
Montesano, gave an interesting
sketch Of Thomas Jefferson; DR.. s.
L. Moak, of Montesano, talked on
Democracy" while A. ]. Stewart, OF
Aberdeen, and Geo. H. Shaw, of Ho
quiam, made brief talks that were
well received.
The dinner began promptly at.
o'clock and finished soon after
o'clock, in order to permit the Wis
itors from Grays Harbor to catch the
night train for home.
Mr.. Drury spoke on the tariff, and
was listened to with marked atten
tion. He said, in part.
Il assure you l deem it a great
privilege and also personal pleasure
to be with you this evening and dis.
cuss with you for few minutes the
subject that is most in the public
mind this day and hour, namely the
tariff. This subject, my friends is
as old as our Government, in fact
it was one of the absorbing questions
in the time of Thos. jefferson the
statesman and patriot in whose men,
ory We are here tonight.
For a hundred years and more all
legislation has been primarily in the
interest of property and property
rights not only in our country but
In the world, and not until that fear.
less advocate of human rights w. J..
Bryan appeared upon the scenes was
the right of the individual given much
consideration, but now things have
changed.
"On the 4th of last month l had
the pleasure of seeing inaugurated a
Democratic President, a man with.
out the taint of big business upon
him, man with the right view point
one who is grounded in the true demo-
cratic principals of equal right to all
and special privileges to none, and
with those principals before them the
Democratic party, under the leader.
ship of Woodrow Wilson is proceed
ing to rewrite the tariff laws of our
Country in the interest of the people
rather than in the interest of the
trusts and combination as heretofore.
Tariff and Wages
"In my talk tonight l am not go.
ing to burden you with statistics
which are almost necessary for full
discussion of the tariff issue, but
would rather call your attention to
a few pertinent facts. The first ques-
tion nearly always asked is, will the
lowering of the duties tend to lower
wages. l say it will not, and in proof
of it l want to call your attention to
the three highest protected industries
in the United States, namely the Steel
industry, in which the average wage
paid is less than nine dollars per
week. The woolen industry in which
the average wages paid is about sew
en- dollars per week. And the cot
ton industry in which the average
wage is less than six dollars per
week. Now compare these wages
with those of unprotected labor, take
the plumbers, carpenters, plasterers,
brick layers. electricians sawyers and
machinists in your mills in fact any
other kind of labor. / ask you is
there any comparison between the
wages paid in these highly protected
industries and the wages paid in the
industries that have no protection.
The next question is will the mills
be able to compete with the foreign
mills. / say yes, because first We