The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-10-06

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Mr. Hearue did not attempt u
discuss the tariff question In detail
leaving that to M. Gaines, but his
quotation from Lincoln presents the
tariff question In nutshell and
every voter should know this simple
but conclusive summing up OF the
question, which Is in substance, that
in we make the money and the for,
elgn manufacturer makes the goods
he gets our money and we get his
goods, but II we make the money and
make our own goods, we get the
goods and keep the money at home.
And that is in effect what the tar
If regulates. II we open our ports
to foreign goods we part with the
money, cripple our home industries
and throw many men out of work in
this country, was the drift Of Mr.
Hearne's remarks.
Mr.. Games speaks.
After Mr.. Hearne finished his talk
Mr.. Gaines was introduced and he
was listened to with the most earn
cst attention as his tariff talks are
most instructive and convincing
Many who heard him for the first
time last night went from the build.
ing with different idea of the tariff
question. They had the examples
held out to them in such a manner
that they could not fail to compre'
bend and understand.
Signed on Friday.
a ripple of applause went over the
house when the speaker remarked
that the tariff bill was passed and
signed on Friday. He stated that We
are now going through the same ex'
perience that we had in 1892 and
that the Democrats according to his
careful calculation about every six
teen years convinced the voters Of
The country that they should be per
mitted to experiment with the tarif
and according to his figures they sue
ceeded in this aim and purpose tc
the exact ratio OF sixteen to one.
The speaker proved very Conclu'
sively that the tariI' did not affect
the retail price of any commodity
and that If the ultimate consumer
was expecting TO buy his goods cheap
err under the Democratic tariff he
was mistaken and would be sadly dis
appointed. He laid down two unap
swerable propositions, One was thai
there Is no relation between protec
tive tariff and the retail price, ant
that there was no relation between
the cost OF production and the retail
price.
Tariff Does Not Affect Retail Price
He illustrated this by number
OF examples. He stated that when liz
was on the Ways and Means commit
tee in congress the manufacturers o.
shoes wanted cheaper raw materia
and asked that the tariff be taken of
of hides. Mr.. Gaines said he pro
tested to taking this tariff off tn!
product of the farmer and stock
raiser but against his protest The
tariff of fifteen per cent. was taker
of of hides and he then asked that
the tariff be also reduced on leather
and also on the manufactured arti'
Gle, such as shoes.
Tariff off of Sides, Shoes Advance.
This was done, and so per cent. OF
the tariff was taken off OF leather ant
sixty per cent. was taken Off Of shoes
and shoes have been selling higher
ever since. These are absolute facts
that any person who buys shoes well
knows, said the speaker. "a shoe
that sold for five dollars last year is
selling at $5.5O In Fairmont today
Shoes advanced in price during the
years the Dingley tariff law has been
in effect in spite of the fact that thu
tariM had been entirely or partly TAX
en- off of the raw material, hides, and
partly Off of the leather after the
hides had been tanned and after
more than half the tariff had beea
taken on of shoes after they were
made.
The plainest example Of the ridicu~
lous argument that low tariff or
no tariff at all is going to benefit the
consumer was shown by using the
common twenty-five cent handker-
chief as an example. The tariff on
the cotton cloth from which this
handkerchief is made according to
Mr.. Gaines is one and onc-fourt!r
cents per yard, and there can be
lour handkerchiefs to the yard which
reduces the tariff on the tariff hand
kerchief TO less than one cent, about
one.third of cent. This one and
onc-fourth cents tariff IS a big item
to the manufacturer who buys his
cloth by the million yards but it is
so inconseQuentiul to the purchaser
of the single handkerchief that 1t
can not possibly have any effect on
the retail price of the article.
MIR. Gaines asked his hearers the