The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-06-24
ABOUT CRAWFIsHING.

Herr LWhnZlR OI Tue Ac7WM GIRLS up7l) ID llk'
q very Bedlamite in his "damnsble iteration
c and persistence TO have the last word.
, month ago the Chicago Hera2d, claiming q
1 be more than half way democratic paper
G printed leader supporting the text tina
5 tariff reform sn& tariff fer revenue only
I means low wages for the working men as wei
! as low prices!" The FREE TRADER contro
f verted that statement. maintaining that tariff
had nothing to do with wages, or if anything
the tendency Of raising the tariff was to lower
wages, and We quoted statistics from the New
/, York Truth showing that wages were uni
tormly higher in this country under low than
, under high tariffs We also referred TO the
fact, Gas fully shown by Professor summer
that the wages Of skilled labor in free trade
England rated uniformly nearly If not altoge.
ther as high in this country under its highest
tariffs; and we added the further remark, that
naturally, and under the operation of the great
law OF supply and demand, no great disparity
between wages Of skilled labor in this country
and England ever could exist for any length
of time, as there was perfect free trade in labor
between the two countries, and the facilities
of intercourse between them was such that Ia
Dor would inevitably be carried back and
forth to eluallze the disparity
Here our contemporary of the Republican, felt
called upon to fling in his lip" and he copies
lot ofstatlstics from the reports of our foreign
consuls tOthe state department at Washington,
doctored in the interest of the tariff monOpo
lists, to show that wages rate higher in this
country than In England. The point was of
no particular consequence in the discussion,
as our dispute with the Herald was that high
tariff did not mean high, and low tariff low
wages IN this country; yet we reiterated the
statement that the disparity between the wa.
ges in this country and England was small if
there was any and we asked our cotemporary
to produce, If he could, in contradiction Of the
statement, statistics of the wages paid for
skilled labor in the ship yards on the Clyde
and the iron mills Of Wales in contrast with
the wages paid iron workers and ship car.
penters in this country; and we further asked
him to explain, on his hypothesis OF great
difference In wages, how he disposed OF free
trade IN lsbor and the law of supply and de-
mand as bearing on the question.
No such statistics as we asked for were of.
fered and no attempt to explain how the law
Of supply and demand becomes strangely in.
operative in the case; but another batch of
statistics was gwen to show that the wages of
certain Kinds Of labor are higher in this coun-
try than IN Europe. Well-suppose we adj.
NIT thst SAID tire FREE TRADER, will you
then hsve the kindness to come back 10 the
real question IN issue, whether high tariff
means high and low tariff low wages of labor
No response is vouchsafed to that either but
"Ha! hal" cries our contemporary, "the FREE
TRADER crawfshes on its assertion that the
wages of skilled labor are nearly as high in
this country as IN Englsndw
Ofcourse the FREE TRADER had no thought
OF "crawfishing' in the case, its only purpose
having him to put aside the point as compare
lively irrelevant and to bring our contemporary
to the real matter IN Issue as to wages being
favorably influenced by high tariffs But
that is topic that seems to be hopelessly be.
yond his grasp and parrot.like he keeps on re.
iteratlng that wages are higher in this country
than in England Wages are higher IN this
country than in England prove to the con.
.rary if you CAM
Well, if 1t will crafty our contemporary We
will give just the least bit Of proof to the
contrary" taken from his favorlte book of re-
erence, the consular reports TO the Washing.
on State Department
In transmitting these reports to congress in
$40, Secretary Evarts accompanied them with
sort OF syllabus of their contents, in which
occurs this paragraph:
SO. That the average American workman |
Performs from one and half to twice rs much l
work as the average European workman {
This ID SO important point in connection
With our ability to compete with the cheap
manufactures of Europe, and 1t seems on first
bought SO strange that / will trouble you v
With somewhat lengthy quotations from the f
eports in support thereof" 7
And IN the same way Secretary Blame, IN q
the reports IN June, 1891, says:
THE hours of labor in the Lancashire mills +,
re SO, in the Massachusetts, mills 60 per :,
week. The hours of labor In the mills in the u
ther New England states, where the wages Fl
re generally less than in Massachusetts are b
sually GO to 60 per week. Undoubtedly the h
inequalities IN the wages %! English and
American operatives are MORE THAN EQUAL
FED by the greater efficiency of the latter and o
heir longer hours Of labor II this should II
rove to be fact in practice, as II seems to h
re proven from official statistics, II would be
very important element IN the establishment D
4 our ability TO cope with England. for our II
hare Of the cotton.goods trade of the world" v
After our contemporary has succeeded in
igesting these quotations from his favorite
uthority, perhaps he will be able to bring
is great mind up to the calculation of the s,
cal nnInl IIn,u inrh lar, M. i,,I ..