Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-12-03
THE GLASSWARE TRUST.
PRICES RAISED, WAGES REDUCED
AND WORKMEN DISCHARGED.

It-McKinley's Promises.
Major Mckinley was the champion in
congress of the glass manufacturers. BY
his efforts in their behalf the duty on
! glassware was increased from 40 per
cent. ad valorem on undecorated ware.
and 40 per cent. on decorated ware to
a uniform rate of go per cent. This
duty OF 90 per cent. was imposed on the
boxes, crates and coverings for the glass
ware as well as on the glass itself
During the debate Mckinley made the
following assertions:
First-That the manufacturers did not
contemplate forming trust.
Second-That the results of the in
creased duties would be IA fall in price.
and
Third-That the duty was necessary
in order to give employment to labor out
of employment.
Have these promises been realized?
The following from the high tariff Com
mercial Bulletin, of Boston, completely
refutes the first two assertions of Nc
Kinley:
when the United States Glass COM
pany was formed in July, it issued cir
cular to its customers all over the conn
try, stating its policy and, among other
things. announcing that it did not in
tend to advance the price. OF course the
combination was formed for the express
purpose of increasing the profit on their
gooCS, but this was to be done by eco
nomlcally operating their factories. This
was to be effected by having each factory
make special or several special lines.
For instance, one could make goblets and
stem ware, and so on. The sets of molds
would also be limited, the saving
amounting to considerable, as each set
cost from So, 900 to s., 900.
The number of high salaried officers
could be reduced. Again, there would
be no danger of accommodating stocks, as
factory making certain line could
shut down If there was a surplus on the
market, and the manufacturers Joined in
one strong association could be more in
dependent of the union of glassworkers.
with which they have in the past been
unable to cope. Thus, by gaining these
advantages, the association proposed to
make greater profits than in the past.
-Four months have not passed vet.
but prices have already been pushed up
on staple lines from TO 10 per cent.
and on some specialties, such as cologne
bottles and similar goods, the advance
mas been fully 30 per cent. Jobbers look
for greater advance than this before
the year is out What its limits will be
1t Is hard even TO surmise, but judging
from the low basis on which goo Is sold
before the combination was effected the
advance was considerable.
The increase in the price of novelties
and new patterns has not come vet.
What are called new patterns have been
on the market now since last January.
and no newer ones are expected until the
advent of the new year. When they are
put on the market the jobbers say they
VIII most likely be obliged to nav COM
paratively more than in past years The
advance is very likely TO be considerable
also, as the making of new patterns
entails the risk of not having the goods
take with the purchasing public, a point
which competition in the past did not
admit being fully taken into account.
by the way, prices have been ad-
vanced of late on table glassware. 1t is
natural to suppose that the United
States Glass company has practical con-
troll of the market. There are in this
country about twenty-six factories in all
that make table glassware, and when the
association was first formed it included
fourteen of these. Most of the powerful
concerns We're secured, yet several re-
manned outside. Since july two ~
three more companies have entered, and
of the ten or so left but two or three are
large concerns that have the power to
harass the combination.
These two or three concerns, it is I'M
derstood, have agreed to be friendly with
the new United States Glass company
and follow the policy of the latter in
putting prices up or down. There are
some who expect to see these outsiders
yet merged in the combination, so friend
ly has been their attitude in the past"
So much for the first two assertions
made by Mckinley. But what Of the
third? Have the members of the glass
trust employed more labor? The work
men themselves give sufficient reply to
this.
George Il. Gray was a glass mold
maker in one of the glass houses which
went into the trust. He gives the fol-
lowing account of the way he and his
fellow workmen were treated by the
trust:
About six months previous to the in
PRODUCTION of the Mckinley bill the glass
companies SEM out circulars to their en-
ployees, in which they begged them to
sign petition for a higher tariff on
glass, as it would increase their wages
and give them steadier employment.
Well, with such tempting promises put
forth, every man engaged in the bust
ness signed the petition. The tariff was
raised, and the profits of the manufac-
turers were increased, but how was the
promises of the manufacturers kept, do
you suppose? Why, one fine morning
the moldmakers We're told that they
were no longer needed, and in one batch
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