Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-12-26
OUR WOODEN MILLS.
Under a System of Protection That Pro
tects We Can Lead the World.

| Under System of Protection That Pro-
tects We Can Lead the World.
| We find in the Omaha World-Herald
! of a recent date a most interest
| ing interview with Mr.. John f.
! Plummer, of this city, who was at the
/ time in Omaha attending to his duties
as one of the Government directors of
the Union Pacific railway. When asked
! by reporter as to his views on the re-
cent failure of one large wooden manu-
| featuring establishment, Mr.. Plummer
replied that it was undoubtedly due to
the action of tn e Treasury Department
| during Mr.. Cleveland's administration,
| which changed the classification of
woods, and admitted at lower rate than
had heretofore been eXacted MANY
fabrics which were at the time in fash
ion, and so enabled the British manu-
facturers to compete on terms of advan-
tage with the American producers of
similar goods. He added:
The plant of the wooden mills means a very
large investment OF money and it must be kept
continually occupied in order TO have good re-
suits both for its machinery and large and
varied force. 1 take pleasure in making the
statement, from an experience Of over thirty
years in connection with this particular branch
Of American industry, that this country pro-
duces and is prepared to produce on being
given a chance with the American people as
good goods, if not better than are made in any
country on the face Of the globe, and especially
England, which has been and is our greatest
competition. We have the best machinery
largely American inventions, which is indorsed
by being used to a great extent abroad and in
making this statement refer particularly to
American looms. Our help is the very best in
point of talent, taste and skill. What we want
in this country is a chance and in order to have
that at the American basis of wages we must
have protection that protects, and beyond
this we do not need nor want one penny. The
American working man can get a better suit of
clothes made in this country for as small il not
q smaller amount Of money than he can buy
them IN England, and this same proficiency
reaches up into the highest grades Of goods
made. We must either have protection or the
wages Of our workmen must be reduced.
This is the situation in a nutshell.
With the Republican party in power, no
further disturbance of the kind referred
to is to be feared. The party stands, as
Mr.. Plummer well says, ''for tariff reform
in its fullest and fairest meaning. but it
means the tariff reform in the interest
of America and her industries. and not
in favor of England and her industries.
have every confidence to believe that
the next Congress will take the matter
up on its merits and act in a business
like and intelligent way. This done, the
American people will not suffer in any
degree, the American manufacturer of
woolens will have the American market, |
and then the industry can be increased |
to a far greater extent than at present |
exists and give reasonable profit for the !
labor and investment of capital The |
wooden manufacturers ask no more and |
they should be accorded no less"
This summing up of the present situa-
ton and future prospects Of an i'm
portant industry is highly reassuring,
and is of particular interest as having !
been published in an independent news
paper, whose constituency is in the great
and growing West-N. Y. Mail and Ex-
press.