o pottery and
other industries. The labor of one class must not be sacrificed
to secure higher protection for another class. The earth and all
that is within it is the work of God. The labor of man that tends
to develop the resources buried in the earth is entitled to the
same favor and protection as skilled labor in the highest branch
of industry, and if this is not granted impartially the doctrine
of protection proclaimed by the founders of our government, supported
for more than a hundred years of wonderful progress, will be
sacrificed by the hungry greed of selfish corporations, who ask
protection for great establishments and refuse to grant it to the
miner, the laborer and the farmer.

Another principle must be ingrafted into our tariff laws, growing
out of new modes of production by corporations and combinations.
Until recently each miner, each artisan, and each manufacturer,
had to compete in the open market with everyone engaged in the same
industry. The general public had the benefit of free competition.
This tended to lower prices on many commodities, to increase the
quantity produced, and to supply the home market, thus excluding
importations. The tendency since the Civil War in every branch of
industry has been to consolidate operations. To effect this,
corporations have been created in most of the states and granted
such liberal corporate powers, without respect to the nature of
the business to be conducted, and with terms and privileges so
favorable, that private enterprise without large capital cannot
compete with them. Instead of small or moderate workshops, with
a few hands, we now have great establishments with hundreds of
employees, and all the capital of scores of stockholders under the
control of a few men, and often of one man. This may be of benefit
by reducing the cost of production, but it also involves two dangers,
one the irrepressible conflict of labor with capital, and the other
the combination of corporations engaged in the same business to
advance prices and prevent competition, thus constituting a monopoly
commanding business and controlling the market.

This power in the hands of a few is at this moment the disturbing
element in many of our great industries. It is especially dangerous
when it is promoted by rates of duty on imported goods higher than
are necessary to cover the difference in the cost of labor here
and abroad. When such conditions occur, the monopoly becomes