The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-07-30
HOW 1T WORKS IN NEW JERSEY.
A Practical Man I'm the Linen-Thread Bus
ness Explains How Protection Works.

A Practical Man I'm the Linen-Thread Busi-
ness Explains How Protection Works.
New York Press.
William Barbour. of the Barbour Flaxspln-
ming Company. Paterson, n. j., speaking oil the
tariff, says: Our concern was founded over
one hundred years ago at Lisburn, ireland. and
from there We supplied all our foreign trade.
When the protective policy was adopted by the
United States, We found it 10 our advantage to
build q factory over here at Paterson, " a., to
supply this market. Meanwhile the home plant
supplied the rest of our trade. Now Germany
has adopted a strong protective policy, and we
have been forced to build a factory there. For
forty years our mills in ireland have supplied
that trade, but IN a few months our factory at
Ottenson, near Hamburg. will be completed, and
then we can supply the German market from
that factory. Now. in that factory we Will EN-
ploy perhaps five hundred hands 10 begin with.
In the United States we employ be.
tween one thousand five hundred
and one thousand eight hundred
in our Paterson factories. Two years ago L
made q careful comparison of the wages paid In
our Paterson aud Lisburn factories. In the
former we had at that time 1.500 hands, and In
the latter z. 500. Now, In two weeks these 2,oVV
operatives In Ireland drew only $500 more pay
than the 1900 operatives in Paterson drew. OF
these 2, 500 and more operatives in Ireland. there
Is not one that owns the house he lives In. But
in Paterson many have bought and paid for nice
comfortable homes. IL a man working for me
Wdut " O0fiu q nOuecsl Il ou only tOO RlnX W 49,
him the money, for l know he will be more am
bilious and a better workman In conseeuence
of II. Or If one of my employees has
saved up money and wants TO invest
it; l will borrow it and pay 6 per cent. for It.
/ have in my mind now two girls who have
saved up 81. 700 apiece. They have deposited
the money with Us and we pay them 6 per cent
for it. | mention these things simply TO show
the difference between the employees in our TWO
factories. None Of our employees in Ireland
ever had wages enough to be able to have
money at interest, to say nothing Of owning q
home. The Paterson employees all came from
Ireland originally. so you can see how mucn
better of they are here than they were there 1
never yet had one ask me to let him return 10
Ireland and work in that factory; but every
time l 60 to Lisburn the operatives come In
crowds and beg for o chance to come over
here. Within the past five years we
have paid an average of sixty thou
sand dollars a year duty on thread. Labor
formed sucn a large percentage of the cost in
this thread that it was more profitable for Us to
present tariff of 40 per cent. The Mills bill re-
duces the tariff TO % per cent. What will be the
RESULT instead of decreasing revenue to the
government on this particular article, such q re-
duction would increase it three-fold, because we
would make q great deal less thread here.
aud a great deal more over there. This, OF
course, Is providing we were to continue to pay
the same wages here we are paying now. Dur
ing the past three years or so the revenue on
smaller. owing to the increase in factories and
facilities here for making it. If the government
wants to lessen the revenue from this thread let
1t increase the tariff; then only the very finest
grades, which we cannot make here With our
well paid labor. would be imported.