New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-21
TIE TARIFF AND LABOR.
WHY PROTECTED MANUFACTURERS PAY
HIGHER WAGES.
THE HISTORY OF STEEL RAILS TO BE REPEATED
IN THAT OF TIN PLATES.

To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: l have been reading your paper during ."0
last year. would be pleased to have Mr.. HOT give
the following questions some attention: ,,..,
First-If the prices of goods made IN uhe o"
States are not enhanced by reason OF the tarlt taA'
where do the United states manufacturers Oh "i'''
goods get the money TO pay high waees3
Second--I protection perpetual hiSh "ases
to American laborers, docs it not also mean perP''
high prices to consumers On
Third-Why should duty averaging from 4o " W
per cent be laid on each dollars worth OF lhpo''u
urouets when our aborers receive only about IL cents
on an average for making dollars worth Vi IN'
product 1900,
Fourth-Is there anything but tariff laws to conipel
manufacturers to pay to labor the amount "iN' wv
tariff nets them 400 ..
Fifth-Has there been a time in the last 2oo years
when WAGES were not higher in America per day. t'ah
in Old England where the laboring popui'~oh ID ~
dense as almost to SHADE the ground . ooo
sIxth-wagss being higher here from 1916 TO 1850
than in England could il not be asseteu 10 a'e 0e9
because of the low tarih -.
seventh-Would tax on pig iron enhance INC piioe
NJ free sucar2 If no. how does tax on the product
of labor increase the price OF labor!
would il not be best to have high duty placed
ON those laborers who come in ana 1--we by l"oor7
=" ]. f. NICHOLS.
Hattonia. Ohio, Sept Is, 1901.
In answer 10 the iiIst two questions OF MI
Nichols | would state that when new enterprise
Is 70 he developed in the United States the dilIer-
ence between the wages of the United States ana
of the Old World is always taken INTO account Ia
fixing the amount OF duty to be levied SO as 10
insure the establishing Of the industry. Before
any such new industry Is esta bshed Ill thls couh-
Try goods OIL winch the duty Is levied are. as a
rule bringing a higher price tlan tie manufacturers
of the United States would expect to receive after
their business 10 fully established here at nome
That there may lie no MISUNDERSTANDING VIII CtNe
an example t. illustrate exactly what mean. FOR
the last fifteen years there has been no TN pia'c
manufactured in tie United States The Mckinley
bill places a duty of Z10 cents per pound on all
tin plate manufactured abroad and imported into
this country The passage of that bill has al
ready induced over thirty different concerns to go
into the manufacturing of tin plate IN the
United States. Several of them are now making
tin plate and large number OF them are oullolhg
extensive plants for the purpose OF manufacturing
the steel plates from which tin plate Is maze, ana
also for the purpose of making tan Plates Inc
men who are entering upon this business are per
fectly satisfied that they can make tan plate ana
pay the high wages now 50 universal Ill this couh-
Try and then sell the goods for less money Than
they have been sold for in this country during the
past fifteen years. They expect TO improve ma
chinery and thus enable them to produce TN IJate
abroad II our people had attempted to start the
tin plate industry without first being protected oy
this DUTY the foreign producers. having an ad-
vantage in cheapness of labor, would at once have
put down the price. and in that way would have
prevented our own people from engaging In the
industry, precisely as they did several years ago.
With this duty, IL makes no difference how low
tin plate may be placed by the foreign producer.
in order TO get into our markets, and prevent our
own manufacturers from selling their goods. he
will be compelled t. pay this duty first which
was placed 50 high to give our manufacturers
Oh advantage over those II the Old World Upon
examination it will be found that the men who
work in this industry in the United States are be-
ing paid and will be paid nearly twice as much as
those who work at the same business abroad.
The United States consumes more tin plate than all
the rest of the world combined With this adj
vantage in securing markets, it will give our
manufacturers the ability to run their factories
constantly and very large scale. 1t will
permit them TO take advantage of the
division of labor which 81 cheapens manu-
featured goods and it will also enable them to
bring into full play American ingenuity, which
always improves machinery, and all these
things combined will enable them to make tin
plate for less money than it has been heretofore
sold to the people of this country, and they can
engaged in the work. The profits though small,
on a very large amount of manufactured goods
make the business prosperous, when the same price
on a small production would not enable the manu-
facturer to live at all. Do not misunderstood me.
The large amount of increase in the supply of tin
plate which will be assured if our manufacturers
should succeed in producing even One-half of what
we consume will of itself drive down the price Of
tin-plate all over the world. No doubt the peo-
pie on the other side of the will also take
advantage of all improvements in machinery, and
they will, no doubt, reduce the price in Wales
as fast as it is reduced over here. With their
cheap labor they may keep the price for many
years lower over there than it will be at the same
time over here. But the real question is, where
would the price of tin-plste have been had we
not built up the industry in this country, had
We not increased the supply over here had we
not improved the machinery in the United States
and had left the markets for that article under
the sole control Of foreign producers All other
steel and iron goods in the United States for the
last fifteen years have been getting cheaper and
cheaper; n-pate, which is nearly all iron or
Steel has not been cheapened. The safest way
TO decide about the future Is to be guided by the
experiences Of the past. Just so long as the
tariff is high enough to cover the difference be-
tween wages here and in the Old World, with
enough more added TO it TO give our own manu-
faeturers control of markets, it will always
carry with it something with which to pay the
higher wages in this country.
] predict precisely the same history for the
tin-plate industry that has been furnished by the
steel rail industry. Our workmen have con-
stahtly received nearly twice the amount Of wages
paid for similar work in the old country, and
vet steel rails have been reduced in price from
Sl6O a ton down to $50 ton here in the United
States, and we make all we use.
The price in England las also been getting cheap.
Or and cheaper and the tariff of 81 80 each ton
still enables our people To pay higher wages than
theu do nYer there and vet 70 control our mar