Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-11-02
MEN or SAWS.

MEN Of SAWS.
now THE Tariff HAS HELPED
THEN.
MIR MAHER TELLS SOME FACTS
ABOUT SAW.MAKING THAT
FREE TRADERS CANNOT
GET OVER.
| take saws for my text because
of their general use. In the hands
of the farmer and woOdsman they
cut down the forests; in the mill
they convert trees into logs and
lumber; in the factory they obey
the will of the mechanic as he fash
ions useful implements for every
branch of work, and in partner
ship with a hammer and plane, the
saw, in the carpenters hands,
forms houses and homes. With
the axe 1t is the pioneer of clvlllza'
ton, clearing away forests that
solds of grain may wave instead.
Yet so useful a tool, so neces'
sary a tool, aud so universally used
a tool was, in '6l, placed under a
high tariff, and free traders, who
have tears to weep, may well weep
over the great burden thus i'm
posed upon so large a share of the
American people. For are we not
told by all of that ilk, from Grover
down, that the tariff on every ar
ticle increases the cost of the artl'
Gle jus. that much 2 And are we
not also assured that when the
tariff is reduced the cost will also
be reduced to consumers, although,
Wonderful to tell } the wages OF
the men making the goods will not
be disturbed Verify, these be
wise men who have learned more
about the details of business IN a
three years course at Ann Arbor
college than have the men who
have been in the midst of business
for quarter of century. But let
us not spread ourselves over the
world, nor over Adam Smith, nor
Mill, but being men of limited ca
paclty, confne ourselves to one
subject at a time, and let that for
this occasion be-SAws.
! have lying before me two very
interesting pieces of paper one is
an invoice from an English I'm
porter, in New York, of English
cross cut saws, in the year of our
Lord 1851, to a wholesale firm in
Toledo, (Whitaker & Phllips)' l
take 1854, tor it must have been a
year blessed to Americans, if Gro
yer Cleveland is correct In that
year we imported goods so largely
that the balance of trade was
against us, and favored England
60 millions of dollars. This Is not
so very large a sum to day; but in
'5l it was a very large balance.
The Toledo firm paid the English
agents that year for cross cut saws
70 cents per foot.
The other paper mentioned is a
letter from a saw manufacturer IN
Western New York, dated October
/, 1888, who quotes me the best
cross.cut saw that is made, brand
well known always to cover the
best goods, at 90 cents per foot.
1t is a saw as much superior to the
saw of 1854 as a locomotive is supe-
rior to a mule.
But, perhaps, 1854 was not so
favorable year as it might have
been. Let us come closer to war
times, just before the "iniquitous"
war tariff was levied. Take 1859
for example. In that year we sent
SO millions of gold abroad more
than we received back, and we
bought 80 millions of foreign goods
more than we sent abroad. Not
quite so bad a balance against us
as in 1854, you will observe, and
contrary to all free trade theory,
prices a little more In our favor.
On October "a, 1859, Whitaker "
Philips were buying cross.cut saws
at so cents per foot Then the war
tariff was put on; it has been on
ever since, and Mills, that shining
example of business knowledge,
says all goods are just so much
dearer, yet, LO, and behold Mr.
Whitaker buys saw that i' one
hundred per cent better than his
father paid 80 cents for IN 1889, in
this year of Grace, 1888, at % cents I!
Long live theory
The change in hand saws is
equally great. In 1860, when l
made the acquaintance of a stock
of hardware, the best hand saws
we sold was of English make,
Spear & Jackson's. Every carpen'
ter knew it if he knew his trade.
1t was the sac, aud men had no
second or third choice. The job
bing price in those days was $36
per dozen. BY and by an enthusI-
ast came around demanding atten
ton. He claimed he had a better
saw than the English, and that he
was going to make, in his little
shop in Philadelphia, the saws OF
America. Naturally no dealers
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