New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-04-29


/ their work in the city at what they hav'
settled upon as living wages. Rather
than accept less, they will do nothing
Hence, the articles which they could man
ufacture are brought from abroad. This
goes to the credit of commerce, and the
merchants come in for the profits. Mean
time, the mechanics are left entirely help
less, and have no resource but to utter
complaints.
The Times has rushed to the rescue
with its usual tools. It has given the
poor men several stunning headlines and
| large amount of windy rhetoric. The
only perceptible effect these efforts have
had upon the exchequer of the poor
mechanics has been the depletion of thei1
purses to the tune of nickel a day to
buy and read SO much good advice. The
only suggestion which might possibly be
construed as practicable one was a
rather indefinite admonition to Ego to
the country and dig" ''Young man, go
West, . is the advice attributed to the sage
of Chappaqua for all applicants for whom
he could think of nothing better.
1t would be better to tell the poor un-
employed laboring men at once that their
best chance of relief may be expected
from another quarter. They may make
themselves felt in more potent way than
any yet adopted. Instead of hiring hall
for regular meetings and signing long
winded addresses, not half understood,
they should combine to make demand
for the products of their industry. So
long as pair Of homemade boots cost
SIS, when as good an article can be
bought of Northern jobber for Sc or So,
our journeymen shoemakers will continue
to see hard times. A New Orleans Gus
toner pays his tailor SIS or SIT for a pair
of pants but little or no better than
ready made clothing dealer will sell for So
or SO, and make thirty-three an third
per cent profit on at that. A little job of
carpentering and plumbing costs pro-
digious sum. We have before us now a
bill for plumbing. Every item Of pipe,
rivets, soldering and material used is car
ried out at profit on wholesale rates of
about two hundred per cent, and the
whole winds up with: ''To one and half
days labor, So There was probably
five or six hours devoted to putting the
things in their place. Hence we see that
the boss sold the goods at a profit and
charged the expense of selling to the GUS
toner at the rate of Sc per day. 1t is the
same with the carpenters, masons, paint
ers and mechanics of all kinds. They
have fixed rates of labor so high that the
community can not give them steady
work. When an odd job is accepted the
money is generally spent before another
is thought of, and everybody knows how
fast man spends money when idle.
If our mechanics of all kinds will
combine to put down the rates of labor SO
that it will be cheaper to use home made
articles than to import foreign, they will
then create demand for the products of
their skill which can not be broken down.
We don't suppose that one per cent OF the
clothing, boots and shoes, or hats and
caps worn in this city is made to order,
and probably more than one-half that is
is ordered in Northern cities by those who
can afford to go away during the summer.
A few people may be found willing to pay
fancy prices for very superior articles, but
the majority want cheap and durable
clothes and other things. Competition
can alone change our customs in this re-
spect. United, intelligent, we'll directed
action to this end will do more good than
all the rhetoric ever contemplated by Blair.