, 1873-06-17
HOW WE PROTECT LABOR.


every year, in tho cost OF our wooden
and worstcd goods alone ? Tho pretended OBJ
jeos La to "protoot Amoricnn labor" Wo arc
told to reJoico in tho patriotic sacrifice because
the money goes into tho pockets Of American
workmon, aud II any ohurl wanta his money to
go where 1t will bring him tho most clothing, no
Is called dlaloyal oroaturc who must haYo
British gold to spond.
II this tariff claims to DO o well-managed
eleomosynary institution VIC may at least bo por-
mitted to inquiry why 1t would not DO botter to
give tho s68, 600 directly to tue 02,o79 hands
employed In tho woolon and worsted mills. It
would bo some $3.50 for each man, woman. and
child, now thus employed, aud that Is moro than
their whole average yoarly earninga and thon,
whilo they could afford to do nothing, wo could
afford to buy clothes at tho pricoa Of 1860,
and eave money by the operation. As a bonovo-
lont enterprise this tarir does not scem to bo
quito well conducted. But Il ii is merely a
echcmo to got money into tho pockets Of fow
monopoliHts. and Il it really givos to our woslt-
men lot,a domand for their labor, and loss pay,
measured by the quantity Of nocoaaarios and
comforts which wngoa will purchase, thon 1t is
an outrageous swindlo.
We "protoct" tho manufacture Of cloth. This
Affects three GLASSES Of American laborora first,
those who mako tho cloth second, those who
work it up into clothing and, third, those who
woar tho oloshoH. THO first class includos
1876, 1860 persons In cotton mills, 2,973 In wooen
md worstod, and 0,649 In silk, 24l, TAO in all
for tho 708 employed in II linen works " aro not
making CLOTH Tho second class includes 18l, $40
tailors and scamstrcsaes 92.0s4 dressmakers and
millnors, 4,0s0 shirt and ool1ar-makors, and a62
hoop-skirt and corset-makors, 25s, BAG in Nil.
The third class includes both Of thoao, and all
others who wear clothes Of tho forty millious Of
people.
Facts have boon presented from tho conaus
reports which show that We pay at loast o1 per
cont moro for tho samo quantity Of cloth Of do
mostio make than NO did III 1860 Duties on for
eign cloth, wAich, being Levied In gold with I'M
portars' charges necessarily thereby enlarged,
1aiao tho cost Of imported goods much moro than
60 pcr cont, still do not prevent tho importation
Of about 237 000 600 yards Of cloth, aud 1t is easy
to sec that it there were only royonuc duties Of,
SAY, 20 por cent, wo could obtain al cloth at
prioea as low In gold as those of 18G0. II not
even lower. Tho whole body OF laborors who
consume clothing cannot bo very much benefited
by this increaao In tho cost OF oil tho cloth thoy
wear. Tho peculiar blessings Of " Protection to
Amorican labor," therefore, must be sought for
in some boneht greater than thoir aharo Of the
general loss By increasod cost Of cloth conferred
upon tho two classea which make cloth and mako
clothing. But tho proof must bo pretty clear II
1t is to convince anybody that 1t Ia we'll to mako
forty millions Of people wear ono-fourth less
cloth, and pay GO por cont moro for it, in order
to help half million OF porsona who make cloth
and clothes.
But how Gun those who make clothing be
helped by systom which diminiHhes tho quanti-
ty OF cloth consumod7 Census reports and off,
cial records Of imports prove that tho entire
quantity ct cloth coneumod In 1870 WIS i, ,547,-
Gs8, 900 yards, but in 1860 it was 1891 1868 600
yards; in 1870 only DO yards per capita, and
in 1860 about 81 yards. Suppose tho entire do
mand for farm products, or iron, or horses, or
lawyers sorviceR should thus decrease in propor-
ton to population fully ono-qucrtor, how could
or lawyers, escape injury7 We uso yard
more OF woolen cloth to each inhabitapt, but
does this supply work to compensate for the use
OF loas silk by half q yard, and loss cotton by
fourteen aud half yards to each inhabitant !?
Not only has the work Of mixing clothing neces-
earily decreased in proportion to population 80
that, it tho proportion Of tailors, aeamstrssses,
| al1d drogsmakers has remained tho Same, ono
quarter must bo constantly unemployed, but wo
actually uao less cloth by nearly 150 900 yards
Of tailors, soamstresses, and other .n,akors OF
clothing hns not increased ut all snco 1860, still
811 por cent Of those then employed must now
DO out of work, simply because We have reduced
our consumption Of cloth.
gomeproof OF tho effects OF this etAto Of things
auB statiRtica Of tho manufactures Of mons and
women's clothing. The number OF hands em-
ployed in mems clothing establishments In 1860
was 114.000, and in 1870 It lad decreased to
100000. Notwithstanding IN iuoroaao Of 221l
per cont in population, the number Of hands
employed in all clothing establishments, 70,
mons, women's, md childrona clothing, had
deoreased from 12o,6 $3.50 In 1860 to 11os24 it
1870. Yet these establishments have very groa
advantages over tho acattored tailors, sea,n
strosaos, aud dresBmakors who form the ro
maiudor Of the 258,el0 persons employed il
making clothes. They use machinery, Cal
buy and sell at Wholesale, and, in the tor
riblo competition which reduced consump
tion Of clothing must cause, would natur
ally DO Rble to crowd tho hcatterod workmol
aud poor sewing-girls to death. II in .hos
strong establishments tho number Of hands La