Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1870-03-25
SUPERIORITY of AMERICAN MANU-
FAETEMES

FAETHKES-
/ There are great many people who sup-
pose that everything imported il better than
American productions, without taking tie
trouble TO inquire into the fact; but il was
fully demonstrated al the Paris Exposition
that very large proportion Of our Domes-
tic Manufactures are superior TO those ian
ported from Europe. and American Mana.
facfurers in proportion to the number Of ex-
hibitors took the largest percentage Of pre-
miums. The follo~ing taken from the LIN.
don Times. calls the attention Of EoRlish
manufacturers to this subject
AMERICAN SUPERIORITY.
The present depression Of trade has
brought with il this one advantage, that The
best informed and most experienced author
ities on the subject have directed their in
quiries impartialIy snd ably TO the diseov
ery of its origin and character At Bir-
mingbam the Chamber of Commerce has just
reasoned out very sensibly the cause of the
depression in the metal trad 3, sud the re
port hits the truth az once By speaking Of
the prosperity =tich preceded the late
panic as artificial Five years ago pro
fusion OF capital was invested 10 new fur
naees, new irouworks and new maDufsetor-
les and it has been the fashion to suppose
that oil these promising establishments we're
ruined simply by the collapse Of commercial
confidence But the fact Is that production
could not have been maintained At the new
rate. There was 40 sufficient demand for
she products which these new Concerns were
prepared 10 furnish. So long as there wa,
capital which was willing to let itself be ab-
snrbed in them at a loss they might have
contrived TO live, but no lDnger; and the
same may be said Of other industrial com
panies established BY the score elsewhere.
They never really represented prosperity Of
trade, but ouly immo1erate speculation.
No manufacturing business can be support
ei except by market, aud the market can
only be preserved by the popularity Of the
goods produced At Ibis moment Bir-
mingham Is losing It's old markets. A few
years ago it used to supply the United
States largely With edged tools, farm imp'e
uents, and various smaller wares. Il doe
50 no longer; nor is the cause 20 be sought
merely in the American tariff. Il is found
that the manufactures of America actually
supersede US, not only 10 thrir own, bu'
foreign markets and 10 our own colonies,
aud the Birmingham Chauybtr has the "a
gacitg TO discover and the courage to declare
that this is owing TO the superiority OF
American goods Something, of course, i,
due to the action OF trade unions and the
artificial enhancement of wages IF the
wages of our artisans are to be very much
less tban those of the workingmen 10 other
countries with which We have to compete, -
1t will be impossible, says the report, for
Us to maintain anything ike monopoly OF
trade This / clear, and yet it Is frankly
acknowledged that the price Of labor Is not
the ruling element Of the question High
as are the wages Of an Eugli artisan, those
Of an American artisan are higher still, and
yet the manufacturers Of the United States
cau import iron and steel frem this country
at heavy duty, work up the metal by high
I Is paid labor, and beat US cat of the marker
after all with the manufactured articles.
How is that to be explained?
The Americans succeed in supplantiug u
by novelty of construction and excellence
of make. They do not attempt to under
sell rs 10 the mere matter Of price. Our
goods may still be the cheapest, but they
are no longer the best, and in countries
where an axe, for instance, is an indispensa-
bic implement the best article Is the cheap
est, whatever il may cost. Settlers and
emigrants soon find this out, and they have
found it out TO the prejudice OF Birmingham
trade. Here, again. The panic baS moth
log whatever 10 do with the result. Meth
er confidence nor capital could restore g
ma, ket lost by inferiority of products. II
the Birmingham manufacturers desire to re-
gain their trade they must improve the
quality Of their goods. The question is not,
a. the report eonfesses. essentially or prin-
cipally question Of wages. It Is not the
price of labor which is operating to our di~-
advantage. The true cause Of our defeat
must be attributed to the greater aptitude
of many of the foreign workmen, and their
intelligence, which induces them 10 size
very opportunity Of improving their manu-
iacfures.