The Portland daily press., 1883-09-07
American Industry.

opened In that city the present week-the
foreign exhibition, which was formally in
augnrated on Monday, and the Institute fair,
which was opened on Wednesday. On both
OF these occasions the stream of oratory
flowed freely forth. Politics were eschewed
and for time the question whether Butter
would be the next Governor ceased to be
uppermost in the peoples minds. There
were speeches in English, in French. in
Spanish and in Chinese. Both of the hemis-
pheres and four of the continents were
represented among the orators of the two
occasions. The speeches were freer than
usual from the element of buncombe which
10 generally prominent feature of the ora
tory of such occasions. Even Gov. Butler
failed to 'slop over.' The selection of the
speakers was in the main fortunate, that of
Gen. Fraucis A. Walker to make the
formal address at the opening of the Insti-
tute fair conspicuously so. Gen. Walkers
long and intimate acquaintance with the
industries of this country and Europe and
his national reputation as a statistician reE-
der anything he may say of more than
ephemeral value, and his address of Wednes-
day will De found to well repay perusal.
Gen. Walker pointed ont that of the six
leading manufacturing nations of the world
Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria,
Italy and the United States-the United
States is the only one whose industries do
not have their roots in the remote past. All
these other nations are reaping the benefits
OF inherited industrial apsitudes and tradi-
tions, but the United States as a manufac-
turing nation has derived no benefit from
arts praeIiced here long ago. Down to the
very day of the Revolution, the stern
prohibition OF the mother country absolute
ly precluded the beginning of manufacture
ing IN thirteen of the colonies. By an act
OF 1850 every existing mill was declared to be
common nuisance. Our industrial career
began just one century ago with little capt.
tai, without warehouses or factories, with
out machinery or apparatus, our water pow
er undeveloped, our mines unopened and in
many cases undiscovered. Yet notyith-
standing these disadvantages we now occnpy.
the second place in the list of manufacture
ing nations; our mechanical and mining in
dnstries employ 100000 persons and the
aggregate product of our industries reaches
the enormous sum of s6,O00,OO0, 900.
The secret of this remarkable success the
speaker found in the mechanical genius of
the population. The abundance and variety
of the raw material, he believed, had con-
tributed but little, if any, to it. This was
the only country where the mass of the peo-
pie had an instructive appreciation of me.
chanical relations and ready comprehension
OF the functions of the parts of a com
plicated machine, and it was no extraya-
gance of speech when an English
man declared that Invention is a normal
function of the American BRAIN" 1t is
this characteristic, Gen. Walker thought.
that accounts for our wonderful manufac-
turing progress.
Gen. Walker, however, found shadows in
the picture. The administrative capacity of
the American manufacturer was inferior to
that of the Englishman. The American had
not thoroughly learned the value of saving.
He had rather earn one penny than save
e~-SS3 ssAo AA0AOAOlO uC Was IOl SuIQcleQbiN |
careful of his OUTLAWS. He had been too
grasping, also. He had not been content to |
make the most of one good thing, but de-
veloped tendency to spread himself over
too much territory and to undertake too
many kinds Of business. He had failed to
appreciate the economic as well as moral
significance contained in the command,
Live and let live." These defects, how
ever, Gen. Walker believes are being grad
ually remedied.
The great mass of the testimony heard by
the Senate committee on labor has been the
poorest kind of rubbish, and the time spent
IN listening to it has been misspent. The
testimony of John Roach is an exception.
Mr. Roach has had experience as both labo--
or and capitalist, and his views in regard to
the relations of capital and labor are conse-
quently peculiarly valuable. Mr.. Roach's
experience teaches that the condition of the
laboring classes has improved. This is in
direct opposition to the testimony of most of
the so-called labor reformers who have tes-
tilted, or lectured, before the committee, the
burden of hose cry has been that labor was
more and more oppressed. But Mr.. Roach's
opportunities for observation have been far
better than theirs and his testimony on this
point is therefore far more trustworthy.
Concerning trades unions Mr.. Roachs
views are eminently sensible. He does not
object to them, but he points out several
radical defects in their system. Their de-
mand that all workmen of the same class,
whether good or bad, be paid alike, is a Sc
we're blow to the industrious and intelligent
workman, inssmuch as its tendency is to
bring wages down to the level OF the LATEST
and most ignorant. Mr.. Roach says many
Of his workmen own the houses they live in
and several are landlords on considerable
scale, owning number of houses. All this
is In cheerful contrast to the gloomy and de-
spondent tone Of the testimony which the
committee has listened to for the last
month.
Jay Gould's testimony before the Senate
committee was more remarkable for what it
left out than for anything it contained. The
public already knows that Mr.. Gould has
succeeded In consolidating large number
Of railroads and in some way reaping large
profits. A true history of the methods by
which this was accomplished is what the
public would like, and this Mr.. Gould did
not give. The matter of watering Western
Union stock Mr.. Gould dodge by saying
that the stocks of some other corporations
have more water In them than the Westerp
Union. Mr.. Gould processes not to believe
In government control of the telegraph,
but would sell cut his Western Union stock
to the government. Concerning the recent
strike Mr.. Gould has not much to offer
which is new or original. He thinks the in
fsrior operators were The bottom of it,
which perhaps is or reason why most of