Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1888-07-28

wanted to roduce the price of juts goods
to the consumer, why did not the mn,
bill place raw iute on the free LIST ano
protect the laborers and manufacturer
engaged in the business by malntslnine
the tariff on manufactured goods
.Why will it become necessary for you
TO close down your millsf" was asked.
CALCUTTA CHEAP LABOR.
"SimpIy because We cannot compete
with the pauper labor of Calcutta, india
where jute workers are paid from ten 70
eighteen cents per day, and work eigh-
teen hours out Of the twenty flour. We
now have about 400 employees in our
mill, and they represent at least 1,OOO
people who will hsve to look elsewhere
for bread and butter if the Mills bill
passes. Our plant il worth $40, 900,
and if We are forced to close down the
mill the machinery can be sold only for
old iron. Pending the action Of congress
we have decided to order no more mate
nal, although the jute ought to have
been ordered before this.
"You can take the case of the Pioneer
Wooden mills, of which I am vice preei-
dent. We have 100000 invested in
the plant, but We have had to cut down
our force one halt, and if that Mills
measure passes We VIII discharge the
rest of our employees and shut down.
That is what every other mandatory
will have to do, and the millions of dol
lars invested in them will be total loss,
to say nothing of the hundreds of thou
sands of people who will OF necessity be
thrown out OF employment.
81 have studied tbis whole question
enough to know that unless We have a
protective tariff we must either cease
manufacturing or bring wages down to
the level of those paid to the laborers
with whom we compete. What does
this mean? Why, that il we make these
reductions we practically deprive the
children of the poor classes of education.
THE BABIES WOULD HAVE TO WORK
with pauper labor. They will all, like
those of other countries, have to work to
make living instead Of going to school,
all of which will result in poverty and
ignorance, the great sources Vt depravity
and crime.
Manufactures are in their infancy on
this coast; but, in the east, where they
are counted by the thousands, the case
is different. I don't think there is q
wooden mill in the United States that is
paying dividend, and, as for our Pho
neer mills, instead of returning profit,
they we're run at loss of $4,000 lasi
year. It We don't get change of ad.
ministration this time we will have to
close the concern up and let it rot.
"This free trade idea has come to the
fore in this country in the past, and dis
aster was the result. History repeats it.
self, and if the doctrine of President
Cleveland prevails, America will have
the same experience again. It would
shut up all the leading manufactures of
the United States AID throw their en-
ployes into idleness, and then, when the
country had been completely drained Of
money by the almost exclusive purchase
of foreign importations, when the ma
chinery Of her manufactures had rusted
into uselessness, and panic had been
inaugprated, history would repeat itself
freq trade would be declared failure,
and the country would be in q
worse condition than ever before.
1t is all nonsense to compare the United
States with England. She raises no raw
material, but buys it all, and has to look
to the entire world for q market. On
the other hand, America raises all her
raw material, and has q market of her
own. Protection has been the salvation
of the country thus far, and is the secret
of Americas prosperity. By protection
we have not only been more prosperous
than any other people on the globe, but
have reduced the price Of every article
we use, and made them cheaper than
they ever were before. The question
before the American people to-day is
not one of politics, but of pro-
lection and prosperity. or free trade and
disaster"