The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-10-17
THE WEEKLY TRIBUNE
A YARD OF CLOTH.
Y. OCTOBER l7,:ls9l

A YARD OF CLOTH.
Mr.. Mckinley says: ale believed tn
foreigner should pay for the privilege q
the American market That looks yer
pretty on paper, and sounds sweet to tn
ears OF our great manufacturers. Blu
does he pay for the privilege? Mr.. Nc
Kinley was careful not to affirm he does
Every thinking man knows the foreigne
does not pay one cent for the privilege
of our markets; not a cent. Here is thu
prof. A yard of English made white
s~uiting, costing at the manufacturers 3!
cents a yard, is imported into this coun
try. 1t may be imported by an Ameri
can importer or it may be imported by
the English manufacturer. 1t doesn't
make any difference who imports it
When that yard of cloth arrives at the
port of New York the Mckinley tariff
imposes a duty of sl.62 cents upon it
The importer must pay to the customs
house collector The sun of S1.62 before
he is permitted to land it. The amount
is paid. That brings the cost of that
yard of cloth-less frieght-up to s2.01.
Now any sensible man knows the i'm
porter cannot sell that yard of cloth for
less than S2.Ol-with freight added
without losing money. But importers
are not in the business to lose money.
They are in it to make money and they
make it. What does he do? Why he
figures like this
First cost of cloth. 80
Duty pdiu ........... l.Os
Freight. ........... -. OF
Insurance, drayage and profit 10
Total cost........ S2.13
The importer sells the yard of cloth
to the jobber, the jobber sells to the re-
tail merchant, and the retail merchant
sells it to the consumer-the man who
has it made into a garment and wears it.
Before he gets it, however. he must pay
the first cost, 80 cents. the tariff or tax,
Sl.G2, the importers Incidental OUTLAWS
and profit, all amounting to S2.13. And
he does not stop there. The profit of
the iobber must be paid and the profit
of the retailer must be paid, together
with freight, drayage. etc, to get it out
in the country where the consumer lives.
The total cost of the yard of cloth will
now reach about $40. and the purchaser
will think he bought it cheap at that.
Now. who pays the foreigner for the
privilege Of the American market? Does
the importer: Not a cent. Does the
English manufacturer? Not a cent.
Then who pays him? The American
consumer foots the bill-every cent of it.
Who does he pay: In the case just
he pays the government of the
United States 31.G2 in order that he (the
consumer) may have the privilege of buy
ing n yard of English-made winter
suitings in an American market. A
blind man can see that the foreigner
does not pay a nickel for the privilege of
our markets. And Mr.. Mckinley knows
be does not, but he knows it is the kind
Of clap-trap that takes with the people
and he, like every other commonplace
temagogue, shouts it from the stand
INTO the wide-open Ears and mouths of
MS hearers.
Kind reader. please keep your eye up
that yard Of cloth for we are going
% bring another yard of cloth beside it.
We have shown tn It the purchase of the
English made cloth paid S1.G2 tax. The
government gets the benefit of that $l.62.
t wants the money to run the govern
nent, to redeem bonds, to pay interest
N outstanding ones, to pay pensions and
o pay other expenses of the government.
t has to raise s 100000 a day or $780,
a year by just such taxes to get
dong. a billion dollar congress imposed
he enormous tax upon the people. Mr..
Mckinley calls it revenue and protection.
We have seen how the revenue is raised,
low let us see where protection comes
n. We must now 60 to one of the great
yoOlen factories in the New England
tates which Mr.. Mckinley says needs
1t has been established
many years and the corporation owning
t has grown rich and the members live ,
n palatial residences and sport carriages ,
nd fine horses and draw their regular .
uarterly dividends, while their work ,
len labor from 10 to IA hours a day to
.eep body and soul together. ,
Well we are in n Of these great fac
They are making just such cloth
s the English suiting, or something like
t, but it costs them a little more. Eng
and is a free wool country, and her
manufacturers pay no duty on
heir Jaw material. But American man
lfacturers must pay a duty on the wool
which enters into their cloths of the
lind we have named. They must have
ong staple foreign WOOL 10 mix with the
American raw material to make goods