Rock Island daily Argus., 1891-09-03
ENGLAND'S "RUIN."
What Our Plotec H~nist Organs See-Fig-
ures Are Against Them.

What Our PIotec ti~nist Organs See-Fig-
ures Are Against Them.
The antics of the average protectionist
organs in dealing with English indus
trial matters are enough to amuse the
eomber ghosts which Rip Van Winkle
found In the gloomy cavern of the Cats
kills. When these organs find that
England's exports of any given article
have fallen off as compared with previ-
GUS years, or that there are strikes and
shut downs in England, they hasten to
| print the fact and to moralize learnedly
upon the evils of British free trade"
Even some Of our trade journals are
led by their protectionist zeal to indulge
in this silly and nonsensical waste of ex-
cellent ink. A case in point is that of
The Industrial World, one of the best of
our trade papers, which has recently de-
livered a protection homily upon the de-
preston now prevailing in some depart
ments of British trade. After calling
attention to some of the facts which in
dicate that depression, this paper assures
us that Great Britain is now reaping
Just what she sowed with blind per-
sistence during so many years.
OF course the strikes, depression.
monetary stringency' and so on which
The World sees so perfectly in England
are things which visit our own highly
protected land just as often and just as
severely as they affect England. 1t suits
The World, however, to ignore this fact
entirely, and it proceeds to read England
lesson in protection, advising it that it
must reform its fiscal policy in the in
terests of home industry and home
labor" With finger solemnlv pointed to
the deep blue sky The World says, Now
the fullness Of reaping time for British
free trade is close at hand and the fruits
are exceedingly bitter"
But what are the facts? What are the
tendencies of English industrial life pre-
vriling over long series of years? Those
tendencies are we'll known; they have
been minutely examined into and have
been publicly reported.
If England is suffering from the evil
effects of her policy, it ought to be shown
IL the amount and-quality Of the food
which her people consume In 1910 each
Englishman ate .01 of one pound of ba-
con and hams; in 1881 there were 1888
pounds to each person. Butter TO the
amount of 105 pounds was consumed IN
1s40; but $50 pounds in 1891. Cheese.
O.92 in 1910; 81 in 1881. Each Eng
hshman ate 1858 eggs in 1910; 21.65 in
1881.
In the same period the consumption of
currants and raisins rose from 1.45 to
4.@4 pounds per capita; potatoes from
6.ol 10 1876; rice from so to 1852
pounds; corn, wheat and flour from
AZ AZ 70 1852 pounds; raw sugar from
1920 to $3.50 (at present over seventy
pounds; tea from 1.22 to 4.SS. and so on.
The increase in the wages of the work
ing people of England has been very
marked under British free trade
from 1880 to 1880 the wages of car
penters rose from a shilhngs a week 10
"a shillings, bricklayers from "a to SO.
pattern weavers at Huddersfeld from l6
to p, mule spinners from % and 6 pence
to 80, weavers from - to &c, warpers
and seamers from II TO %, weavers at
Bradford from and 3 pence TO 90 and
pence, children spinners from and
pence to II and 6 pence. The increase
IN seamers wages rose from 1850 to 1880
TO a point ranging from 10 to 20 per
cent higher.
These are but a few specimen figures
indicating general upward movement.
Our protectionists will have a hard time
to prove that British free trade" is
running England.