Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-02-17
1T Is AN AGE OF SHODDY.
Why DIFFICULTY IS FOUND M esr-
TING A GOOD COAT OR CARPET.
The shsady Basss... Grow Inuep..iy
With Each Tear. and the Makers Of
sparsea. cissh Are Protected by High
Tariff Lava

win Each Year. and the Maker. os
sparsea. ciesh Ar. Protected by High
Tariff Lava
Considerable comment was excited In
the last presidential election by one Of
President Harrisonls speeches in which
he declared that he had little sympathy
with the demand for cheap coats, for .
cheap coat. be claimed, usually covers q
cheap man.
President Harrison was right in one
sense. A man who has 10 wear q coat
that Is threadbare and out at the elbows
lc,yes his self respect he feels humili-
sted when men look AZ his shoddy gar
ment and make remarks about its seedy
appearances. He feels cheap.
But a cheap coat and Q shabby coat are
not the same thing. No man who wears
good coat becomes cheap man simply
because he bought his coat at Mr.. Wanna
makers bargain counter. Like the
flowers that bloom In the spring, that
has nothing TO do with the case.
But why is IL % hard 70 get cheap
coat Of good quality7
The answer is simple: II h shoddy.
II is NOS generally known 70 what an
extent the shoddy business Is carried on
in this country, nor how the business
has come to regard itself Is one Of the
legitimate industries Of the country. In
1870 the shoddy mills Of the United
States used 100000 pounds Of raw
shoddy. and in 1880 they used 81, 90. 600.
There are more than 100 shoddy mills in
the United States, and about $50, 0O0, 900
Is invested in these enterprises and in
handling rags
The cause Of this remarkable develop
ment affords q curious illustration Of
how q congressional committee can be
hoodwinked by those who have axes Of
various kinds to grind. In 1875 the
joint executive committee Of the wool
growers and the wool manufacturers
heavily against the ordinary cheap
clothing, such as Is worn by the great
majority Of the people. They gave as
an excuse for this request their desire to
protect the American working people
from foreign shoddy goods.
These goods. they said. III admitted
At moderate duties. would take the place
Of our sound elothes.- They further told
the committee that the American manu-
facturer would be compelled 70 ''fabri-
cate their goods o. the same worthless
material OF surrender the business to the
foreigner
Nov, then. what was the action Of the
committee in view Of this state Of
thingsy
To prevent the deplorable results
pointed cut by the growers and the
manufacturers the committee recon-
mended q duty Of 10 cents q pound on
importAtions Of foreign shoddy. and, In
order 20 make their action still more
effective, duties ranging from 80 to 40
per cent were placed upon the imports
Of manufactures Of shoidy. The peti-
TONERS, a. usual had gotten what they
asked for; 70 those who had knocked the
doors we're opened.
But note now the Consequences: Now
that America vas to be no longer the
dumping ground for European shoddy.
our own manufacturers rushed with
eager haste into the shoddy business
themselves. Already in 1880 the sboddy
used BY American mills had gro~n to
three times the quantity used In 1870;
and the census Of this year viii show
that the same rate Of increase has been
more than maintained. On the sth of
last October, The Philadelphia Record
reported that: During the last seven
months the imports Of wooden rags and
shoddy were more than doubled In guam
tity and value in comparison with the
imports in the corresponding period Of
1855"
The shoddy business now considers
itself one Of the legitimate claimants for
protection Two years ago the shoddy
men went before the senate committee
with the intent they said, merely of
setting forth few of the questions which
are Of vital importance to the labor in
terest"
They submitted a report In which they
attacked the Mills Dill with all their venom
and they would hear nothing of free wool
Free woolen rags were also an object Of
their ire. A free wooden rag shaken at
them had the effect that the red rag of
the Spanish bull fighter has on a mad
bull They predicted that IL these wooden
rags and wool extracts were put upon
the free list, the American manufactures
Of shoddy would ship their stock to Eu-
rope, there have it worked up and re-
turned TO this country. And the cost,
they curiously confessed. would not be
more than one-hAlf Of what it costs
now
So, then. we not only wear our Amer
lean manufactured shoddy, but we pay,
according TO this confession Of the shod-
\
be under free raw materials Even
shoddy rests upon the tariff and pleads
its right 10 the home market. Two
years ago the Republican national COM
mittee sent out a circular signed by sew
enteen firms Of shoddy manufacturers,
IN which these men protested strenu-
ously against the free wool offered the
country by the Mills bill
This bill" they said, "as far a. il
Affects the industry in which we are en-
gagged, Is free trade measure, and a.
such we are decidedly opposed to it
We have determined in the coming cleo
ton 10 support the candidates Of the pro-
lection party, Harrison and Morton
Their election we consider to be indis-
pensable to the maintenance Of our busi-
ness"
The development Of this shoddy bust
ness has had very wide reaching results.
The figures Of the census Of 1880 show
that los pounds Of shOddy are mixed
with every us pounds Of pure wool to
make our 30 called wooden goods.
1t is also true that the ratio Of sboddy
IN carpets has been increasing rapidly.
In 1870 carpets were made Of 80 parts Of
wool 10 20 parts Of shoddy; In 1880 the