The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1888-10-06
LABOR'S BEST FRIENDS.
Employer ard Manufacturer,
of the Mills Bill.
[From the n. Y. Herald

lCEOm tue N. L heTAlul
BRIDGEPORT, CONN, Sept. %, 1898:
1--WE are about as near to pauper
labor as we can ever get unless we
descend to monarchy and its evils"
said Mr.. Edwin q. Sandford, of the
large wool hat firm of Glover Sandford
u Sons, as he sat Ill his cosey library
al his residence OH Washington ave.
The Herald correspondent had called
upon him for his views on the proba-
bic effect of tariff reduction, free wool,
&C., on his business.
"Certainly that can't be laid to the
Mills BILL" your correspondent said,
suggestively.
emo" he replied. ''It is a fact,
though, that to-day the commoner
kinds OF labor are very cheap | am
almost ashamed sometimes when see
how little we have to pay certain hands
and wish it were possible to pay more,
for, you know, our educational estab-
lishments have given poor people ideas,
and ideas have bred certain amount
OF extravaganza. 1t is wonder to me
how many wageworkers live at all.
This being so, it is folly to talk about
European paupcr labor. We have il
here right under our noses and cannot
get away from 1t even it we would.
But that is not the most profitable e
kind for us. There are men in our fac
tory, which is probably the largest of
its kind in New England, who have
muscle and dexterity enough to earn
as much as $40 day. They are the
fellows to use. They regulate their
pay by their intelligence, skill anu
willingness to work. Their number
is not large, ergo they are more in de-
mand."
"What kind of wool do you user'
| asked.
ave use almost ell domestic now
We do not like it so well as foreign,
but we can't help ourselves. We pre-
fer the pure, short, clingy staple to be
had at the Cape of Good Hope, but we
can no longer pay the enormous duty
on it and then sell the goods at even a
small profit in competition with other
makers. Years ago we could afford
to keep man at the cape who pur-
chased for us. Then we could make
fine goods and sell at fair profit. We
had some export trade. Cuba took a
good many of our hats. Those were
low tariff times. When the Morrill,
(please don't make it moraD law came
along, it put an end to all that. UP
went the tariff, down went our export
trade. England, with its free mate
rials, the rich, luslrous woods, soon
shut us out of Cuba and we have never
been able to get in there since. TO run
our factory to its full extent on Cape
Town woods, such as we should like
10 have, would cost us $1,000 week
Tor duty alone. 1t we were compelled
to pay that | don't believe our mill
would remain open very long. What
is the result? We buy our cheaper
domestic wool, simply because it Il
cheaper, not better, and consequently
the goods are cheaper but OF inferior
quality as compared with cape WOO!
hats"
"Are you net supplying an argu
ment in favor of the home product?'
"Not at all. Most of our real wool
growing-by that | mean where it is
grown in quantities-has become a
matter OF capital snd speculation. In
Texas and California there are tlocks
whose clip reaches 200, 900 pounds IA
year An Individual or syndicate, Of
', alien, frequently English, secures a
Dig tract of land for Ii song and pnIs
upon il 5000 or 10, go sheep. Nature
provides in Injurious bOuGtliulness all
the sheep need. AS for labor, il is
mere hagateile. A man and dog
will care for 500 shccp-or more. Then
the sheariug costs next to nothing.
We'll, The spring and fall clips of wool
are sent TO market, and also Il certain
number of carca8ses. But il is ail
wholesale. It is an industry that has
got into the hands of the few. For i'll
stance, we bought one spring clip in
Calitornia recently OF 100000 pounds.
The fall clip of this flock will probably
reach 10000 pounds more. To say
that the introduction of lustrous for
eign wool will hurt the small Ohio
farmers is stretching truth till ii is no
longer tangible. The Ohio farmer has
an adaptable plant. The instant il
ceases to pay him to produce wool and
mutton he will turn it TO account by
producing something else. l don't be
Iieve, however, he would be compelled
to change under the Mills hIll. As for
the big spectators aud the foreign
they should have consIde
ration only in proportion TO the labor
they employ. We may dismiss the
Ono farmer. aE he always has and
always will take care OF h'mse +, tariff
,pr no tariff. But what are We to do
with our vast wOollen plants? Unless
is done Ia save 10 the+n at
least portion of our home trade com
pIetc cOllaDse seems inevitable They