Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-05-04

inconsistent with each other, and no IN
genultv OF the causiest kind can posi-
Div reconcile them. Great applausel.
Labor Is paid out Of its product, and un-
less That product can be sold for price
which Will enable teh emnlover to re-:
aIlze reasonable profit and pay the
established rates Of wages. the business
muse cease or the rates Of Waes must
be reduced. When the price of the fin
lshed product is reduced by reason of
the reduced cost of the raw material. the
employer may continue TO pay the same or
even higher rate of wages and still
make his usual profits. But the tariff
neither increases the efficacy of labor
nor reduces the cost Of the raw mateial
l do not DENY that prizes have great ly
fallen during the last fifty years. not
only In this country. but all over the
clVlnzed world-ln free trade coutries
as Well as In Drotectionist countries. Nor
do DENY that during the same time the
general tendency has been toward an
increase In the rates Of wages. and this
Is true also Of all civilized countries. free
trade and protection alike. 1t is not
possible for me now to enumerate. much
less discuss. all the causes that have
contributed to these results One of
the mot efficient causes. In fact. the most
efficient, cause. is the com bination Of
skilled labor with machinery in thep TO-
ductiOn of commodities. The introduction
and use of improved machinery, has
wrought "a complete revolution in
ing industries. and in MANY
cases has enabled one man to do the
work which REQUIRED one hundred men
to do before. Here Is statement fur
nished by the United States Commits
sioner OF Labor to the Chairman of the
Committee on Ways and Means, showing
the value of the product of weeks la
hu hn nd M
the value of the produce of a weeks
labor combined with machinery In the
same industry. In 1913. one man,
working sixty hours. by hand. could
turn out three pounds of cotton warn.
worth 1920. or seventy-five cents Der
pound, now the same man. If he were
living. could turn out in sixty hours
with the use of machinery 5000 pounds
OF cotton warn of the same character.
worth $3.50 lapplausel. or fifteen cents
per pound. The cotton-spinner now re-
cetves as WAGES for his weeks work
more than three times as much as the.
total value of the product of a weeks
work. including the value of the mater
ial In ! 81 3. and yet labor is far cheaper
to the emDlover now than it was then.
Although the employer now receives
only one-fifth as much pen pound for his
cotton warn as he did in 1919. he real
tees from the sale of teh products Of
"
as much as he did then.
LABOR AND PRODUCTIVE FORCES.
Is it strange, Mr.. Chairman, In view Of
these facts, that the prices of manufac-
tured goods have fallen or that the wages
Of the laborers who produce them have
risenP Is it not on the contrary, re-
markable that there has lot been q
greater fall in prices and greater in
crease in wagesP Undoubtedly there
would have been greater reduction in
prices and greater Increase In wages,
II there had been a wider market for the
proucts and lower cost for the ma
teriaL
Tho tremendous productive forces at
work all over the world in these modern
times, and the small cost Of manual labor
In comparison with the value Of the
products of these combined forces can
not be realized from any general state
mont upon the subjects In order to
form some idea Of the magnitude Of
these natural and mechanical forces,
and tho efficiency Of manual labor and
skill when connected with them, let US
look at the situation In six of our own
manufacturing industries. In the manu-
facture Of cotton goods, wooden goods,
iron and steel, sawed lumber, paper.
and in our lumber and grist mills there
were employed, according to the latest
statistics, 81 1899 persons, not all men,
but many of them women and children
This labor was supplemented by steam
and water power equal to 2,40e,2sS
horse power. This is equal to the power
of l4,077, 70l men. and thus we find
that little over 81 1000 persons of all
ageS and sexes are performing, in connec-
ton with steam and water power, the
work Of l5,495,0sS adult and healthy
men.
The railroad, the steam vessel, the
H. 20 ost fnp
the conduct of financial transactions and
many other convenienceS Introduced into
our modern systems Of production and
distribution and exchange have all con-
tributed their share towards the reduc-
ton Of prices, and 1t would be interest
ing to inquire what their influence has
been; but can not pursue this particu-
lar subject further without occupying
too much time.
Gentlemen are in the habit Of refer
ring to the great decline in the price OF
steel rails In this country as conclusive
evidence that the tariff reduces the cost
of manufactured products to the con-
sumner. Why, sir, they could not, in my
opinion have selected more unfortu-
nate illustration. In the first place, the
price Of steel rails has fallen all over the
world, and especially in England, where
they are and always have been admitted
free of duty. The price there is now
and has at all times been very much
lower than here. In the second place,
the price was falling rapidly both here
and In England before the imposition Of
the duty Of s2s per ton by act Of Con-
gress in 1870. During the five years
next preceding the imposition of that
duty the price In England had fallen
steadily, year by year, and had declined
from $14s.50 per ton in gold in 1864
to S9l.17 in 1870. Then the increased
duty was imposed, and what was the re-
suit? The price Immediately began to
In 1879 the average price In England
was $80.05 per ton, and the average
price here was $103.9l per ton In gold
Then came in the fall of that year the
great industrial and financial depression
which arrested the growth and develop
ment Of the country suspended the con-
struction of works Of internal improve
brought down the prices of nearly every
thing that the people produced Steel
rails, of course, like all other manufae-
tured products, felt the influence of this
depression, and the price declined, and
has never since been as high as it was
before.
THE FARMER AND THE TARIFF.
But, Mr.. Chairman, we are told that a
tariff Is beneficial to the farmer because,
first. it protects him against competition
from the agricultural products Of other
countries and, secondly, because, by
diversifying our industries and increas-
ing the number of persons engaged in
other than agricultural pursuits, 1t
furnishes him with @ profitable home
market for his products. 1t can not be
necessary for me to make IN argument to
show that no rate Of duty, however high,
upon articles which the farmer Is COM
La oh a OF