New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-14


STORY of misery so far as they are concerned anu ~
striking an evidence of the wonderful progress OI
manufacturing industry in this country - some
wears ago the East India Company annually re-
Eeived of the produce OF the looms OF lnua 10 tue
amount of from six to eight 9lonS OF pieces OI
NOn goods The demand gradually fell TO somewhat
more than one million, and has now nearly ceased
altogether In 1900 the United States took from INDIA
NEARLY eight hundred thousand pieces OF eOtOns IN
1880 not four thousand. In 1900 one million OF pieces
shipped to Portugal; IN 1884, only twenty thOu-
sand Terrible are the accounts OF the
of the poor India weavers reduced to absolute star
walton. And what was the sole cause The presence
OF the cheaper English manufacture-the production
fby the pOWeT-lOOm of the article which THESE I'M
happy HindOOs had been used for ages 10 make ~
kher unimproved and hand-directed shuttles olf,lt
was impossible that they should go on weaving
what wOuld wear or buy. Numbers OF them
died of hunger; the remainder Were Tor the most
part transferred 70 other occupations, prlnclpaly
agricultural Not TO have changed their trade was
Inevitable starvation And at this moment Slr, that
E)acca district is supplied with yarn ana COTTON
cloth from the pOwer-looms of England. The Ian
Syuage of the Governor General is: European skill
pnd machinery have superseded the produce OF
India. The Court declare that they are at last
obliged to abandon the only remaining portion of the
trade in cotton manufacture, in both Bengal and
padras because, through the intervention of power
9Ooms the British goods have a decided advantage
kn quality and puce. Cotton pleoe-gO0ds, for so
Emany ages the staple manufacture OF India, seem
thus forever lost The Dacca muslins celebrated
lover the whole world for their beauty and neness,
are also aBnihilated from the cause. And the
present suffering TO numerous classes IN INDIA Is
lscarcely to be paralleled IN the history OF COM
kmerce.'"
Here Won see McCullochs conditions Of recon-
pense in full activity the British powerloom fabrics
Emquestionaby cheaper than those they supplanted;
6he lapse of years to give time for Labor to adapt
stself TO the new cOnditions while patient, doce,
Ediligent people, never striking, rioting nor re-
fbeng ask only opportunity of earning somehow,
y some kind of industry the few cents per day that
ENSURE the satisfaction of their humble wants What
kdo they experienced Death by hunger, numbers"
4l,.A
will give them daily bread. And the poor sat
Ssfacon of suffering for the good of others is denied
them for the calamity is by no means confined to
the class directly affected the hand-loom weaveTs,
1but the present suffering, TO classes in
india lis scarcely to be paralleed in the history of
commerce.
Is not this demonstration Where was a dictum
ever brought to the test of practical experiment if
not here
H. Manufactures requiring greater intelligence
Tarer skill, delicate manipulation, than Agri
culture it is inevitable that the recompense of Labor
Eherein should be proportionally higher. Even
Though equality should be maintained in the low
est grades Of service, the comparative value
rof skill experience, ability is far greater in Manu-
fractures and must be paid for accordingly Suppose
zone hundred young men, Just of age, engage to-day
En Agriculture and a like number in Manufac-
Nures at the rate Of 81 each per day, and
all persist with energy, diligence, sobrety, and
leverage ability, for the ten years. You will
snow find that large portion Of the artisans have
Elsen to responsible positions yielding them from
$500 to $500 each per while the farm-hands,
Though also paid according TO their increased eff
cheney, viii not be earning nor receiving much.
&now civilized country wherein the average wages
Df mechanical and manufacturing is not considerably
Sgher than that of agricultural labor; and insist
That my countrymen should have their fair proper
sion of the better paid work,
That Labor is a commodity, like Cheese or
Chocolate and, like them, must be sold for what
Et will fetch if sold at ALL is constantly insisted on
kDy the economists combat, as though it were an
axiom of indisputable soundness and pertnence;
kDut 1 do not thus regard it. That within narrow
limits and for certain restricted uses, it afirms a
Hact, I readily admit The man who has labor to
fsell and little else while he needs food, clothing,
shelter and other comforts, which he cannot season
kably create by his own direct efforts must sell that
tabor for the most it viii bring even though
chat should be far less than he considers it worth.
iBut, in the contemplation of generous far-seeng
craftsmanship, the laborer is not mere implement
Dor machine but citizen. pillar of the State, the
present or prospective head of a family, the parent
of future citizens and voters grave public inter
Vest demands that the recompense of his daily toll
should be sufficient not merely TO keep the breath Of
Rife in his body and TO maintain his capacitytO work,
tbut that il should enable him, with diligence
pnd frugality, TO keep his children about
him during the years of their immatur-
ETY.. clothe them desently, educate them for
usefulness and the intelligent and conscientious dis
charge of the duties of citizens and electors. So
rnuch the State needs; much, it should for its
own sake, endeayOr to secure. If we could under
sel the world in Iron Cloth by means which kept
fher producers ignorant il-fed, socially depressed
and morally degraded could not afford to accept
a commercial or industrial advantage on such terms
ECheap Shoes OF Hats are desirable but not at the
cost of generations of shveTing, furnishing, iterate
sshoemakers and hatters.
Hence 1 regard with apprehension the problem
now challenging our attention of Chinese and Japan
.ese Labor That profoundly dissent from the line
r,f argument by which its prohibition is usually up
held. need hardly be stated. But, if millions of
h coolies are to be thrust upon merely because
eher labor is cheap-are to remain among us unedu-
seated unenfranchised unassimilated foreigners and
strangers TO whom responsibility ends with the
,pavment Of their stipulated wages-then hold that
xheir cheap labor viii prove in the end dearer than
any other because obtained by the sacrifice of those
vital principles on which this Republic founded
and lacking which it must cease to be beacon and
"a blessing to mankind.
Ill Manufactures, by profernR a diversity Of en-
,ployments and by bringing markets to the doors Of
the farmers increase the average recompense of ag
cultural labor. This proposition, intrinsicay prob
able is sustained by myriads of facts
In the years of my earliest distinct recolectiOns,
1Sl6-9O there very few cottOn-mills in Massa-
Cbusetts and Rhode Island but not enough to affect
rfhe general recompense of labor, and none at all