Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1893 — WORKINGMEN SPEAK. [ARTICLE]

WORKINGMEN SPEAK.

TEXTILE WORKERS REBUKE THE PROTECTIONISTS. With Free Raw Material They Say They Cau Distance the World—Wanes Often Reduced Under McKinley Rule—A Peep Behind the Scenes. Their Story Told. On Sept. 12, the New York Press, with juggler-of-statistios Robert P. Porter at the helm, said editorially: LET THE WORKINGMEN SPEAK. In Philadelphia the workingmen In the toxtlle Industries are making a movement of their own for presentation to the Ways and Means Committee of a protest against severe reduction of the tariff duties. This example should be followed by the workingmen In the protected industries all over the country. A great number of these men have always been proteotionists from conviction and self-interest; and even those of them who have permitted themselves to be persuaded that the tariff hae no Influence to maintain high wages have been ondeoeived by recent experience. They perceive now that the mere threat of duty reduction has Inflicted semi-paralysis upon manufactures and has already begun that process of reducing wages which must be continued upon a large scale when tariff revision shall be an accomplished faot. The dullest mind among them may perceive that', when the tariff barriers shall be removed. Amerl. an wages must fall to the European level or the manufacturers must continue operations. The manufacturers made the light last year and in preced ng years against this change, and they were defeated. This year It must be made by the workingmen If it Is to be made with any hope of sucoess, and the time to aot Is now, when the Ways and Means Committee has oonsented to hear those who favor and tbose who disapprove the proposed revision. The politicians at Washington will heed the petitions of t e workmen, where the plea of the manufacturer would be regarded with Indifference. The manufacturer nas been denounced as a robber and aa oppressor of the workman. But when the laborer himself shall protest that the tariff operate* to his advantage, the free traders no longer can claim to be his chamolons.

On September 11, while Porter or his assistant was preparing this editorial, the unemployed textile workers of Kensington, a suburb of Philadelphia, were holding a meeting on a vacant lot and doing some talking on their own account. Anticipating the advice of the press, they appointed a committee to present their views before the Ways and Means Committee. The following is from the Philadelphia Record of Sept. 12: The genuine workingmen of Kensington, who favor tariff reform and free raw materials, and who do not believe that the recent financial stringency was oansed by any fear of tariff revision, sh rply rebuked the bogUB workmen and oalamity-howlers yesterday at a meeting of unemployed mill hands assembled on a lot In the rear of Bromley's Lehigh avenue mills. There were hundreds of protectionists In the crowd that faced the speakers, but not one of them had the courage to attempt to answer the speakers, who had gained their knowledge from actual work in the mills. Beyond an occasional derisive shout from the outskirts of the crowd, the speakers were uninterrupted save by applause. The meeting was oallea for the purpose of appointing a committee to solicit alms for the suffering victims of the manufacturers’ avarice. James Schaffer was the first speaker, and for nearly an hour he advanced arguments In favor of free raw materials. He said; “1 have been selected chairman of this meeting and of the oommlttee to aolicit alms for the suffering families of the unemployed. What Is the oause of this destitution? The manufacturers tell you they cannot run their places for fear of a reduotloa In the tariff. Now, for four years, under the highest protective duties ever levied, your oondltion has been growing worse. You know that wages hare been reduced and that In not one but & dozen establishments hereabouts there have been two and three reductions since the McKinley bill went into effect. WHY HOUSES ABB VACANT. There are now 50.000 untenanted houses In Philadelphia, and fully two-thirds of them have been made vacant by the advances In rent made by the manufacturers, which have driven the people into the streets. I have taken pains to Inform Chairman Wilson, of the Ways and Means Committee of Congress, Of the true feeling among the working people of this section, and that John Stewart, and those associated with him In getting the petitions for the retention of the tariff are merely the cat’s-paws of the manufacturers. I would like to hare some one demonstrate to you now how the taxation of the McKinley bill benefits the workingman- The mills are closed, and where any work Is being done the workmen are submitting to part time at reduced wages to fight starvation. The people who got up the tariff petitions went Into grog shops and secured the signatures of men who did not know what they were signing. Here are the men and there Is the maohtneiy; now give us the free raw material and we oan not only compete with but distance the world. LACK CURTAIN WEATEBS PROTEST. The members of Branch No. I of the Lace Curtain Weaver's Amalgamated Society hare adopted resolutions In which they set forth that John Stewart and James Edgar, the delegates to Washington, were not elected by their branch, and they will formulate a petition of their own. A GBEAT MEETING PLANNED. What promises to be the greatest meeting of the textile workmen ever held In this olty will be held under the ausploes of the Kensington Tariff Reform Club, at t extile Hall, ou Thursday evening next. The Committee on Arrangements met last night, and John E. Mulbolland was selected to act as ohatrman of the meeting. V. A. Her wig will make the opening address, and several speakers of national prominence on tariff reform will also make speeoi.es. The originators of the meeting Intend to show conclusively that almost the entire body of textile workers. Irrespective of party, are In favor of free raw materials. The petitions that have been forwarded to Washington, signed by thousands, and purporting to show that the people desire the tariff left as It Is, are also to be made subjects of especial attention. The workmen deolare that the signatures were obtained In many cases when the men did not rsally know wba the petition contained and were given little ctisnoe to fin i ont. In addition, toey claim that a args majority of ,he names are those of women and children. In tlu case of emale- ooly the Initials of the mst names were signed, so that slgnatuiss appear to be those of men.

A Peep Behind the Scene«. The tariff pot is boiling merrily, but no one as yet can see exactly wnat is in it. A number of industries in cotton, wool and linen have had, or are shortly to have, hearings by the Ways and Means Committee,but, so far as we can gather, no one of them has Deen able to learn what effect these representations are having, or, indeed, what principle is to govern the formation of the tariff of ’94. Deductive reasoning from precedent and from known conditions alone affords a basis for any conclusion on this point. In conversation this week with a gentleman who has been more or less identified with tariff making in this country for many years, and who enjoys the personal friendship of Secretary Carlisle and Chairman Wilson, the editor of the Dry Goods Economist was given the positive opinion that the tariff finally passed would not be a “revenue only” tariff, but would be a modified protective measure, and that specific duties, the adoption of which, so far as practicable, has always been urged by the Dry Goods Economist, not because of their exact justice, but because of the ease and certainty of their application, would not be favored to any considerable extent by the Ways and Means Committee. According to this gentleman’s prognpsis, we may look for moderate ad valorem duties, laid with reference to the revenue which they would produce, but also with reference to incidental protection of established industries. That all textile schedules will be based upon free raw material, this information seemed to consider a matter of course. —Dry Goods Economist.

Give the People a Chance. Let the Committee on Ways and Means, if it is to have “hearings,” widen the scope of investigation which has usually characterized “hearings” by that body. The selfish interest of protected manufacturers will prompt them to solicit audience. They will expend time and money to secure it. There are other men in the country whose opinions are of more value. They may not offer their testimony, or make a gratuitous tender of their advice to the committee, but it should ndt be impossible for the committee to give them at least equal opportunity with those who have selfish interests to serve. If this be done it will be better for the committee, and it will be better for the country. When this is

said, it is not meant that only suoh tariff reformers as favor reductions in the lines they are interested in shall be called. Let the consumer be heard. Free raw material is well, but where is its advantage to the masses if it does not result in reducing the prices of manufactured products'? Give the people a chance.—-St. Louis Republic.

MeKinteylsm Must Go. The American people at the polls in 1890 and again in 1892 repudiated MoKinleyism find it must go. The American people have given protection an ample trial and they are tired of it. Its beneficiaries have grown steadily more and more aggressive and disregardfjjl of the rights of the public uqtil nothing remains but to sweep' from the' statute books the last vestige of class-legislation which finds its highest exemplication in the form of McKmleyism. The steadily increasing avarice of the tariff barons forms an interesting study. When the Constitution was adopted and the government settled down to business thereunder the first tariff was levied for revenue solely. It was necessary to indulge in indirect taxes, for the people were chary of publio burdens and customs duties furnished an ample field for operations. Shrewd, designing men soon saw that the adjustment of the various duties might be so made as to furnish a form of bounty to private interests and “ incidental protection,” followed wherever such protection would also increase the revenues. Revenue was still foremost. Then followed straight tariff for revenue with incidental protection. Then the incidental feature was knocked out. After various vicissitudes and nearly a century of time following a tariff for protection with incidental revenuo, came the McKinley tariff for protection solely without regard to revenue. And the revenue is suffering. Each month under the operation of McKlnleyism, sees a reduction in the customs receipts, while at the same time the expenses of the government undor Republican laws are eavier than ever Give us economy In national expenditures and a relief from the burden of McKinleylsm.—Des Moines Leader.

A Sugar Refiner's Tariff. A few days ago the American Sugar Refining Company, which enjoys a practical monopoly of sugar refining in this country, purchased, 10,000 tons of raw sugar, the value of which at the top price of 310 per pound would be about $784,000. The present wholesale price of refined sugar (granulated) is 5.18 c, which, according to the usual methods of calculation, loaves a profit of about 1,06 c per pound to refiners, or about $236,000 in all on this single transaction, covering not more than two weeks’ supply. Foreign sugar, corresponding in grade to our granulated, could be landod here under present conditions at a cost of about 5c per pound, including the duty of jc per pound; but importers fear the risk of a drop in home refined sugars in these markets that would inevftably be made if necessary to keep out foreign supplies. No better example of the effect of the present sugar tariff could be afforded. It is not, as it ought to be, a revenue tariff; for, in the last fiscal year it only produced about $160,000 for the Government Treasury. It is not a wage-earner’s tariff; for labor pays the bulk of the tax and plays but a very small share in the cost of refining. It is nothing but a refiner’s tariff, because at present it is enabling the trust to more than double its profits, and at the same time rendering its control of the market unassailable. else is benefited. The Ways and Means Committee at Washington cannot very well close its hearings on the tariff without taking up sugar schedules.— Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin.