It was protection in the sense of the temporary encouragement of industry in its cradle and not protection in the Republican sense of permanent tribute to industry in its power. It was adapted to a stage of economic advancement that has long since passed away. its necesity having ceased more than seventy years ago. To show the gulf between the rational theories of the Democratic party during the childhood of American industry and the illogical and superfluous protection of Republicanism today it needs only to be remarked that John Stuart Mill and the other masters of economic science regarded protection as allowable in order to guard young industries from the superior experience and skill of established European rivals. while the Republican party. reversing the position. advocates pr6tection under the farcical contention that it shields our industries from the inferior skill. the "pauper labor." of foreign manufactures. The idea of "pauper labor" in the mechanic arts and industrial pursuits is a fundamental Republican fallacy. Skilled labor. the labor which is the combined result of mental acumen and manual dexterity. is never "pauper labor. The skill which enables its possessor to enter the higher grades of industrial work is incompatible with the idea of "pauper labor." The division of labor made possible by the training and experience of the skilled workman implies a standard of living which "pauper labor" can never attain. and constitutes the basis of the industrial and moral progress of advanced communities everywhere. The negro labor of the South is largely "pauper labor." and it is notoriously impossible of utilization in the factory. When it reaches sufficient excellence to admit it to the factory it is no longer "pauper labor." It is true that the skilled labor of one country may be superior to that of another. and it is also true that American skilled labor is so superior to foreign skilled labor that although the former receives a nominally higher wage. yet when the amount and quality of its products are compared with the amount and quality of those of the latter. it will be at once observed that American labor is paid a smaller compensation than foreign labor. If the American laborer makes in a day an article or set ofarticles worth $8 for a wage of $2. and the foreign laborer makes in a day an article or set of articles worth $3 for a wage of $1. the American laborer gets less for his work than the foreigner. The" actual labor cost of a ton of steel rails and billets in this country. basing the statement on the statistics for 1901. is lower than in England. although American wages are nominally higher than English wages. The actual cost of the labor required to produce a certain grade of shoes in Massachusetts is 40 cents per pair. while in Germany the same labor costs 58 cents. although American wages are nominally higher than German wages. American labor is underpaid. not foreign labor. There is no competition to be feared from the alleged "pauper labor" of foreign factories. The cry of "pauper labor" is a political canard devised to frighten the laboring man into the support ot the Republican ticket. How long will he permit his intelligence to be so flagrantly insulted? [Loud applause.] For several years after 1816 the tentative protection of Madison was continued. But it became evident. as early as 1820. that the protected interests. with appetites for public theft aroused. had resolved to demand permanent subsidy from the Federal Treasury.
Identified stereotypes
Foreign labor is described as "pauper labor" and a threat to American jobs and wages.