The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-04-02

WAsHlNeToN, March, lsG9.-To Hon. W. D.
helley, NJ C.-br:-l have to acknO Wedye the
receipt OF a copy of speech delivered hy YOU
IN the House of representatives February 4,
1909, 'on the report OF the Special Commis-
sioner of the Revenue - in which Won charge
tnat the Commissioner has attemo moted to sustain
the statements therein contained by doc
tored," "nanufactured,h "garbledr ''mar.
shalIed,' or, In other words, 'arttuly arranged
hgurts" in such manner as to produce the
elect OF positive falsehood; and, to substan,
tiate the charges thus made, you subsequently
submit what yon are pleased to term an array
OF acts-facts array having, it would seem
some virtue which does not belong to facts When
arranged"
Now, to the extent to which these charges
affect me personally, shall offer no defense or
In respect, however, to the truth or falsity of
the facts and figures presented in the report of
the Special Commissioner, the case is different
In this question, from the bearing which 1t has
upon the policy of the future, the public has A
direct interest; and this Issue propose to meet,
under all proper circumstances, without conces-
sion or evasion.
The first point of Importance to which YOU
take exception concerns the comparative prices
of labor and commodities in the years lS6O-6l
and lS67-6s. The Commissioner asserts on this
head
The result of long and careful investigations
in respect to the retail prices OF the leading arti.
cles OF domestic consumption by operatives in
the manufacturing towns of New England the
Middle, and come of the Western States, shows
(allowances being made for an ascertaiued yIry-
ing ratio OF expenditures for the several articles
enumerated) that, for the year 1867, and for the
first half of the year 1868, the average increase
of the cost of all the elements which constitute
the to2d. clothing, aud shelter of family, has
been about 78 per cent, as compared with the
| standard prices of 1S60-6l.
The result, in general, of this large increase
| IN the prices OF commodities of domestic con-
| sumption to the laborlng man becomes evident
| by comparing such increase with the increase
| in the rates of wages during the period under
| comparison-which rates, for the year 1857 as
compared WIN lS6O,6l were as tollows:-For
unskilled mechanical labor, so per cent; for
| skilled mechanical labor, 60 per cent.
This statement you impeach in the folio wing
| language:-
| pause for moment to deny the correct.
ness of these figures, and to assert that the prices
or the necessaries OF life enumerated In these
tables are, on an average, not more than fifty
per cent. higher than in 1860, while skilled
labor is now immeasurably more fully employed
at an advance OF from eighty to one hundred
per cent. over the wages of that year.
| AS this COnjoint denial and assertion are unac-
| companied by the slightest direct condrmatory
data, 1t only remains Tor me briefly to ask atten.
tlon to the sources and nature of the evidence
| winch led the commissioner in the discharge of
his duties to the conclusions which you on the
floor OF the House of Representatives., have
pronounced to be wholly incorrect or fraudu-
This evidence is to be found mainly in the
responses made to carefully prepared series of
lnterrogatores which were addressed to neal ly
| ulLeeu HunuI6u manufacturers or extensive EN-
ployers of labor in nearly all sections of the
country. These returns were in great par t.
founded on most careful inquiries instituted
under hlghly favorable circumstances aud in
volVing, in not few instances very con-
,ideraoe expenditure OF time and money
Indeed, hazard nothing in saving that no sta .
tistical data OF sogeneral aud diverse character
have ever been collected in the United States
which will at all compare with these, either as
respects fulness or reliable accuracy; while an
examination OF the papers themselves, preserved
on nile IN the Treasury Department. will sufi.
ciently prove that the tables and averages
deduced from them have been made with perfect
fairness and without reference to the support OF
any; any theory In denying, therefore, as you do,
faith not only OF the clerks of the Treasury
Department engaged upon this work. under the
charge OF Mr.; Edward Young, a citizen OF
Philadelphia, but also of the leading manufac
turers OF the country who furnished the infor-
mation:-
The first items of such evidence TO which
will ask your attention relate to two articles OF
universal and necessary consum Dtion viz :
Flour and salt. In the report of the Special
Commissioner, the average advance in the price
OF flour an and other breadstatfs, in the Eastern
States, lS67-6S, as compared with the prices O.
similar articles In l860-61, is sta ed to have
been 92 per cent. This statement has beer
called in question, especially. by the New YorI
Tribune, which, in its issue of February O. 1869
asserted that super6ne New York State -four
was cheaper in New York In 1865 than in 1860.
Now, as ahoiding something in the way OF {
with transcript from the books of the Slbsist,
ence Department of the United States Army
showing the advance in price paid in New Yorl
city for -four distributed to the army In thu
form of rations during the period above re
terred TO, the accuracy OF which is certified Il
! by the United States Commissary General:-
, | 1859 60-cost per barrel tgod) S6'7
1867 g. cost per barrel (currency) l2'7
Advance in price 10 l867-68 as compared will
I 1869-60, eighty eight per cent.
, Can laborlpg men expect to buy their -four OF
l terms more favorable than the experiences,
officers of the United States army, who nm,
3 chase at wholesale, IN largequantities, and Wit
{ not, then certainly one at least of the necessa
o ries OF lie has advanced somewhat more thal
= fifty per cent. sill ce 1850.
: We come next to the article of salt, concern
ing the advance In the price of which, and tn
extent to which such advance imposes a la
NJ, upon the people, there has been even more di:
u cusslon than in the case OF flour. The ne,
/. evidence under this head, TO which would as
!, attention, Is no less interesting than important
!. On the l2'h OF February, meeting was hel
a at the rooms of the Hon. j. W. Forney in Tn
f City OF Washington, for the purpose of cor
8 sultlng about "the proper means to be employe
= for the development OF the South" at who
meeting there were present the Hons. w. L
! Kelley, j. X. Moorehead, Henry l.. Cake, an
a others. Among the speakers was the Hon, job
i Pool, United States Senator from North Care
e lima. who gave an interesting account of tn
o fisheries on the coast OF that State. He state
| that 1.-The average catch of herring. during tn
3 season, !. e.. from the first OF March until tn
middle OF May, was about seventy or eight
thousand, and about two hundred shad; bu
!. frequently as high as one hundred and thirt
A | thousand herring. and sometimes two hun
Il | dTed thousand herring and one thousan
shad are captured at single haul. These ar