Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-09-22

TIeasurer Of The Hamilton Manufacturing oati.
many addressed on The Isl Of December, 1919, !"
nv honorable colleague, Mr.. PendleIon. II
was designed. as il purporls on lis lace 10 c,sa'
buse The public mind as TO The extent o. n'amu
featuring profits, and il published oy ,e ma.
facturcrs Hemseircs, for that purpose. ar;denJs
The following table giving The average u,su srnr,
OF The Lowell factories, taken laS ~
their own books" r. a.
Name Of Com Time Of ir raa,s - yidends.
pany. coi'ne"
ua,-;,n,cL i Gsns 30 years, p. per cent
Ifsm;l,nn 1925 IL years, l0l per cent.
Appleton, lo.3' =, J' q nar rani
c"tnl, 1888, III years, IL per cent.
rrcnon,. 1883. liz years, lOi per cent
Lawrence, 1923, 9eais' q - o,,
Boot, 1910, " Yeas, r. 49,,
Massachusetts, 1911, 4 years, 5. per cent
have not included the allowance Tor loss OF
;ntcres,. and for fire insurance, amounting 10 4
lule more than one per cent, because ihese ale
charges which equally attach 10 all other pursuits.
NV own opinion ie That at this time Tue ,ion''
arc generally much largerIhan these. bul nave
selected this statement because It's anthol'9 'a",
moi he disputed, and because the great porlion OF
,L. limo il covers was during the operation OF
,be Compromise act. Well, sir, ought mol INC
manufacturers 10 he satisfied with these proflls!
In what other pursuits are as large ones mace =
can answer for The farmers. IL i uilhcuh ioi
rs 10 make ends meet, 10 say nolhinS ABOUT pro
is. Sir on an average, The farmers IN my ola'e
do MOI clear two per cent. on lheil investment
And in making this statement answer ano'nei
argument, and that is, il we reduce me laIih'
manufacturers will be thrown out OF employ
menl, and engage in agriculture, ana oeGuhic
competitors in place OF our customers. lhey
will scarcely give up ten per cent. 10 take TWO,
and Quit an employment yielding good prohls, 10
engage in one which Yields little or none ana
which as those gentlemen tell rs, would De mace
sill worse by the increased competition by ms
division OF labor.
In answer to This, the gentleman from Massa-
chuserls [Mr. Winthropl says that almost any OIL
The stocks oihe New England factories may be
! had al a small advance, many oil them al par,
and not few below il; and from his he nicfs mat
their profits cannot he SD cxorbitant as is repre-
senled.
The facts 10 which the gentleman refers can be
easily accounted for | see from their own pub
4 locations that most Of the New England factories
are owned by loint-s,ocs companies; and that
most OF them went into operation without their
entire CO ia being paid up. In other words, that
they commenced business in debt, 10 estingni>h
which much of their profits have 10 be applied.
Conse qucnlv the dividends declared were SMALL
although The profits were large. We all know
that The price Of stocks in the market OF The Ex
change is generally fixed by the dividends de-
clare Few persons can rely upon any other CHI
lcrion; besides, many persons desiring to invest
money must receive regularly their dividends ior
their support and the stocks o. companies max
ing small dividends are always under par, no
matter how much money they are making and
adding 10 their capital. This know 10 be par
licularly the case in my own Stale, especially in
our railroad companies. The fact 10 which re-
ference is made may be accounted for IN another
nav. There has been such an undue enconr-
asemcnl given 10 manufactures, that most OIL the
capital which can be diverted into them has al
ready taken that direction; and there is now dc.
ficiency in the capital which can be 50 applied
Be this as il NAV, no one can deny that the actual
dividends which pursuit inakesis better evidence
OF their profits Than The price OF their stocks in
the market. | have shown what these dividends
are and that they ale greater than The profits Of
any Other pursuit..
But there are facts conclusive 10 show that,
even in The opinion of The manufacturers them
selves, they can live and do good business with
duty OF 90 per cent, much less % or 30
In March, 1888, the tariff compromise was
adopted. We ali know The events which led 10
lis adoption. They have been most eloquently
portrayed by The gentleman from Indiana MIR.
Owen Under lis provisions the duties were Sfa-
dnally redne ed until Jun", 1912, alter which The
highest rate OF duty was 10 be 20 per cent. When
il was adopted and tor years afterwards, was re-
earded as a solemn covenant OF peace, which was
never 10 be disturbed. MIR. Clay, in advocating
the compromise, when asked what security the
country would have against The violation OF lis
provisions, said:
aWhal man, who is entitled 10 The character
of an American statesman, would stand up in
his place, in either House Of Congress and dis
luIb this treaty of peace and amity2"
Governor Davis, al Massachusetts, who voted
against the compromise, was equally explicit
He said:
suppose that South Carolina should abide by
the compromise while she snpposes il beneficial
10 The tariff States, and injurious 10 her and
when that period shall clcse, The friends OF proec-
ton shall then propose 10 re-establi.h the system:
what honorable man who votes for this bill could
sustain such measured
The Sonlh, from The beginning, showed lis de-
termination 10 stand by the compromise in all lis
provisions. From The first she refused to disturb
lis provisions even when brought forward in The
insidous form of propositions from the North 10
reduce some OF The duties.
10 addition to this, most of the Stale legisla-
lures al different times declared that the compro
mise ought 10 be held sacred and inviolae. The
Legislature ot Virginia declared almost by
unanimous vote, the Wings voting for il. In the
Presidential contests Of 1876 and 1910, the candi-
dates on both sideswere pledged TO the compromise
| Under these circumstances the great mass Of The
people who could not conceive oi the peridy
which afterwards sanctioned It's violation, must
have regarded il as The settled policy oflhe conn
Try. Nevertheless, with This apparent moral GER
tainly that alter 1912 the duties were not 10 cx-
coed twenty per cent. manufacturing establish
mchls sprung up all over The country The CEN
49, fx..,,
al increase oil manufacturing establishments
was very great, In the table | have presented Of
the Lowell mills, il will be seen thai more than
one-halt Of them were esta blished after the adop-
ton Of The Compromise Act. | recollect that in
Virginia most Of the factories were started after
that lime.
With what face, then, can persons engaged in
those Establishments come before The nation and
insist that they will be wrcnsed b. the bill before
the committee, which gives from five 10 ten per
cent higher protection than they could have cal.
cuaed upon when they went into the business 7
Notwithstanding all this, we will nave resu-
lar panic got up But no one can he disappoint-
Ell al this. When did privilege ever surrender its
advantages without complaint We have had a
fine commentary upon this subject in the history
OF the recent commercial legislation Of Great
Britain. The Right Honorable w. E. Glad
stone in his late very able review OF this subject,
says:
s'Neally one hundred and fifty questions were
discussed between the Government ard the vari-
Gus interests which were, and believed themselves
10 be- affected by the changes proposed in the law;
and tweny.six divisions were taken in the House
Of Commons, many of which, however, were in
favor Of more sweeping propositions Than those
of the Government" "Scme (he says) kicked
and plunged vigorously, but in van and some
made up their minds with decent composurc.
Many who resisted, because they thought The sa-
cri6ce OF them 100 great, and many more who
thought ii their duty, under the distressed crcum-
stances of The country, not 10 refuse it, however
large, must have been alike surprised 10 discover,
by subsequent experience, in how many cases the
mountain has simply, as of old, produced a
mouse"
He gives many instances where persons prov
ed, apparently inconeslibly, on paper, that the