The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-07-04
Tuesday. July 4, 1882
THE FRUITS OF TARIFF.

What protection has done for the work
ingman and women in the Massachusetts
cotton mills is shown by the report
state
Tn the mills of large Lowell corpora
ton the average wages paid is from $5.13
to So. 48 per week. These people have to
work ten hours d day in mill where tho
temperature is kept at ninety degrees sum
mer and winter, The report Of the bureau
page 21e, says: 1.-THE welfare of these
operatives is a secondary consideration in
Fall River
And the universal statement was that
America as represented by Fall River
was far behind England in the
matter of the treatment of the operatives. -
Tn Fall River entire families work
in the mill, and an obligation in
the lease of the mill tenements requires
the lessee to furnish a certain number of
people to the corporation as employees.
The report says; In many quarters Wis
tied by the agents in Fall River they found
much misery; rarely meeting with happy,
contented people" One of the employees
in Fall River was asked to name the spe-
cial grievances. He replied; bad cot
ton, stealing time and a constant, steady
grind are the worst Other operatives
complained of cheating by the mill own
ers. A t'cut," or piece of cloth, is sup
posed to measure forty five yards, and the
weavers are paid for forty five yards, but
the pieces run from forty seven to fifty
yards-a steal of two to five yards. The
spinners are cheated by calling their yarn
coarser than it really is, and nu
mereus other devices are used to rob the
poor, overworked and under paid opera
tives.
The wealthy manufacturers are protect
ed by duty averaging about 3s3 per cent.
against the competition of foreign cotton
goods; but for the poor operatives there is
no protection. An operative at Fall River
says: Il have seen girl run eight looms
year in and year out without any rest; yet
school teachers and members of the police
force must have vacation because their
duties are so trying, but for the poor girl
there is no rest this side of the poor house
or the grave
The protected mill owners of course
claim that they are paying as high wages
as they can afford. One manufacturer in
speaking of profits said: There is
not a margin of 6 per cent. on
our capital An examination of the
finances of the corporation of which he
spoke shows that its invested capital is
about three and quarter times its capital
stock, and that in the fifteen years since it
was established il has set aside undi0ided
profits amounting to more than $50 per
cent. of its capital stock. This shows at
least 10 per cent. per annum over and
above al dividends.
The report of the bureau says: From
investigations made last June (1S81) we
should Judge that the gross profits on the
manufacture of printclot in Fall River
rise as high as twenty two per cent. of the
selling price; labor receives 81. 4 per cent.
while the remaining Sc per cent was paid
for raw material. etc This shows for
whose benefit the protective tariff is main
tanned; 21.4 per cent. of The selling price
of cotton is paid for labor, and 226 per
cent is the manufacturers profit. lis
profit on every piece of cotton goods manu-
featured is considerably more than the
operatives receive for making it.
While these facts show the hypocrisy of
the pretense that the tariff is maintained
for the benefit Of the working people, It
viii not do to imagine that if the manu-
facturers were honest in this regard and
never SO generous they could under our
present system of protection do much bet
ter for the operatives than they do. There
is q tariff On all the material that enter