The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-12-28
twenty-five Cents per Pound.
From the Printers Circular for Dec

From the Printers Circular for Dec
A perusal Of the following item from the
London Printers Register will show our
printers where q large portion Of the bust
ness Of making books has gone
Few English printers are aware of the vast
amount Of American work which is bing done
ia London al the present time. 1t has been
found much cheaper to send work from the
States and the dominion to London and then
send a. b-uk sA=cnt--A' --r-y freight charges.
&c than TO do it ON the spot This state Of
affairs due 10 the great increase Of late In
the scale OF wages across the Atlantic, and to
the growing strength and power of the trade
unions there On the other hand business Is
said to lie extremely dull in America ; one
third Of the men being unemployed, and a
large amount of the capital invested In ma
chInery and other appliances constantly lying
idle.
1t bshoves our employing printers to be-
stir themselves if they woLld keep even
the small moiety Of the book maklng bust
ness which they now have. There is no
doubt that those who are interested in free
trade III books will make an effort, during
the coming session Of Congress, to have
the tariff on printed matter 50 amended
that foreign buOks will be admitted duty
free, or nominally 50 in which event the
small amount Of trade remaining to Amer
lcan took printers will be swept away.
Our Typographical Unions throughout
the United States ought to take this mat
ter up at once, and advocate the adoption
If a special duty Of twenty-five cents per
pound upon all foreign printed matter. 1t
is Of the most lvital Importance to every
iourneyInen that this should be done the
means Thereby h. gdi,ts has likelihood IS grad
uGlIy bat surely slipping array trUB him he
must not stand Idly by and permit foreign
ers to take the bread from the mouths Of
his wife and little ones.
There are to-day thousands Of journey
men printers either entirely out Of work,
or with lust sufficient to- earn enough to
barely keep body and soul together, who,
if our employing printers had that protec-
ton which they are Justly entitled to,
would be earning for themselves and fami-
lies a comfortable living, and would be
spending money with American butchers,
and bakers, and clothiers, which now goes
TO adj. to the riches of a few capitalists in
this country and in Europe.
Let every printer, whether he be EN-
ployer or journeyman, Democrat or Repub,
licxn-write ~ or see his Representative iii
Congress aud ask him to use his inhu-
ence, both by vote and argument, in pro-
curing the pass we of law imposing a
specific duty Of at least twenty-five cents per
pound on all foreign printed matter.
The I'D cdIOrem duty which now prevails
il q fraud on our honest publishers and
printers and whilst foreign exporters Of
books are growing rich on the proceeds 81
| the trade Of our vast market, broad smiles
must break oyer their faces as they con
template the ease with which they can pull
the wool over the eyes" Of the lonest and
innocent CD custom house officials, who are
not able to discover fraud in invoices
where books are billed 1T much less than
the cost Of the white paper on which they
are printed.
1t in almost needless to add that book
binders, paper makers, ink manufacturers,
type founders, and press builders are just
a. much interested in the protection Of OuI
home industries N are publishers and
printers.
In conclusion, we invite attention to the
fact that those VIII pirate the loudest
about the improperly Of taxing knowl-
edge" and who want TO secure cheap lit
erature to the masses, will be found, hike
James Brooks and s. s. Cox, to have nc
regard for the welfare OF the millions u
their csuntrymen who gain their living by
| the labor of their hands, but ut the same
time are frantically solicitous about Ameri-
can Liquidation when the interests OF f0r-
sign book-mAksrs and booksellers are in
danger.