The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-01-03
COTTON MILLS IN DIME.
THEIR PROFITS DISCUSSED IN THE
TARIFF DEBATE.

Burning Eloquence-TheS South Able
to Compete with England.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2.-The Senate this
afternoon took up the tariff bill. Mr.. ALI
son, going back to paragraph 1S4, as to
chains, moved to amend it by reducing the
rate on chains. LESS. than throe-eighths of
one inch in diameter y from to "a cents
per pound.
| Mr.. Vance moved to amend the amend
ment by making the rate 80 per cent. ad
valorem. Mr.. Vance's amendment was re-
jected by vote of 10 yeas to 2I nays, and
Mr.. Allison's amendment was agreed to
without division.
The bill was then taken up at the point
| where it had been left when last before the
| Sena Schedule /, "c0tton manufactures,
| 10 question being on an amendment offered
| by Mir. Vest to reduce the duty on cotton
| thread, warn, warps, ETC., "valued at not
| exceeding 25 cents per pound" from 10
cents per pound to 35 per cent. ad valorem.
Mr. Vest repeated the statement made
| by him before the recess that
| the effect of the changes proposed by the
| substitute was to increase the duty on all
the higher priced cotton fabrics, both as to
| threads (which we're the raw material of
| manufacturers and as TO cotton cloth in
| finished condition, He had made that
| statement on cursory examination, but an
examination during the recess had con-
iirmed him in what he then stated.
ALDRICHs ARTISTIC HAND.
| Onexamining the cotton schedule, he found
| that the artistic hand Of his friend from
! Rhode land, (Mr. Aldricn) was evident in
| almost every line. 1t was notorious fact
| he said that the cotton manufacturers OF
| he country were in a more prosperous con-
| dition to-day than any other class of manu-
| facturers in the United States.
| Mr. Stewart said that he found the tariff
! question so intimately connected with the
| question of money that he was unable to
| separate the two He would, therefore,
consider them briefly in connection with
| each other. He thereupon proceeded to
read speech on the subject of silver
| coinage
At The close of Mr.. Stewards speech, Mr..
Jones of Arkansas read from the testimony
| of a cotton manufacturer in Georgia,
| William H. Young, showing that his mills
| had beon earning average dividends Ol
| II per cent. since 1870; that he
was an anti-tariff man. dyed in the wool"
| that the tariff " as of no advantage to him,
and tlat, if he were to make he same class
of coarse cotton goods that are sold in Eng
land, he could sell them in England and
make good profit on them.
HoAR GROWS INQUIsITIvE.
Mr.. Hoar asked what, if that were true,
became Of the claim that the tariff was
| putting enormous profits into the pockets
| Of cotton manufacturers.
Mr.. Jones of Arkansas reminded Mr..
| Hoar that lone swallow does not make
| summer He could not account for the
| finance committee insisting on a rate Of Pa
| cents yard on cotton goods when manu-
| facturers did not need protection, except on
| the principal embraced in the reply OF
| another witness-a manufactures OF grain
| bags-who said he did not ask to have bur
| laps raw materiaD put on the free list lest
| grain bags might DO put on the free list
| also.
| WAGES IN SOUTHERN MILLS.
Mr.. Aldrich suggested that the reason
| why the southern cotton mills paid such
| large dividends was that some of them did
| not pay more than two thirds of the wages
| paid to similar operatives in New England.
| Mr.. Jones stated in reply that the testi-
| mony showed that the southern operatives
were content with their wages and did mt
| 90 on strikes, while strikes were common in
| New England
| Mr.. Aldrich said he did not know of any
cotton mill strikes in Rhode Island in five
years, and that there had been very few
strikes there ina generation,
| Mr.. Jones proceeded to state some points
| from Consul Schoonhoff's reports as to the
| comparative cost of weavers' labor in
| England, Switzerland and America, 10
| show that the labor cost was greater in
| England than in the United States.
HAwLEY's SARCASM.
Mr.. Hawley said in response to Mr.. Jones
that one Of tho studies of American states
| men to-day was, how TO keep the country
| from bainJ ahsNIutalU HoOdad bv raopla
! who were coming here from places where
| they got higher wages and better food"
| As TO the profits of cotton mills in the south,
| it was monstrous mistake to suggest that
they were a fair criterion of the profits of
general manufacturing. Referring to Mr..
Vests remarks as TO the poverty Of New
| England operatives, MIR. Hawley said he
did not care who said that they did not saye
money, he knew better.
MIR. Salisbury argued against the policy
Of taxing the consumers of the whole coun-
| try for the purpose Of enabling t1e Ope-
ratives ct New England to accumulate
| money in savings banks.
| Mr.. Morrill, asked Mr.. Salisbury whether
| be was not aware that the census every time
that it was taken for the last thirty years
showed that the people OF Illinois, Kansas.
Iowa, Missouri, Florida. Alabama and
| Georgia have been exceeding in their annual
Increase Of wealth even New England.
Finally the bill was laid aside without action
on the pending amendment.
WORK OF THE sUB-CoMMGTTEE.
| Notwithstanding the cessation Of oral
hearings by the subcommittee Of the Sen
| ate finance committee concerning the tariff
| bill, the committee is subject to great press
ura from interested parties who pour in on
them a food Of suggestions, by letter and
telegram mportuning them TO make some
| desired change. Some even are not deferred
from personally visiting the committee by
! the annou cement that no more
hearings will DO given, and to-day one
gentleman came up with IA request that
some forty changes, he indicated, be made
| in schedules particularly interesting 10
| him. The members Of the committee say
that they cannot undertake TO give IL
| advance the amendments that will be pro-
| posed 10 the bill as IL stands for the reason
! that premature announcement would result
| in bringing down upon them such burden
| of petition and remonstrance, rs 10 be
almost unbearable. Some important
changes, however, will develop as the con-
Sideration Of the bill progresses.
1