Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-07-26
LABOR AND TARIFFS.
HIGH PRICED WAGES PRODUCES
CHEAP GOODS.

Good Fay and Satisfied Workmen Mean
and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of Wages
Usually Followed by Bad Reaction.
Mr.. L. l.. Schoomaker, the represent
atlve of the Carnegie association in New
York, made Il statement in regard to the
Homestead troubles, in which he said:
THE day must infallibly comet
may come at the next election-when
the protective tariff which built ON
mills will cease, and it is to prepare for
that repeal that we are making these
tonnage increases, in order TO defy the
competition that on that day-now in
sight-will arise from every corner o.
the land"
This is all nonsense except in so f..3'
as it shows that some of the manUftc-
turers have had their cars 70 the ground
recently and have 81 the pcnt II?
rumblings against the Republican, sys-
tenn of favoritism. Many kinds of iron
and steel goods are manufactured cheap
er here now than in any other country,
and with few raw materials we could in
most lines, as we do now in some, COM
pete in the markets of the world with
out attempting to make any saving by
reducing wages, which is a doubtful
saving at best.
We have heard many good Repub-
Hcan authorities say, as did Blaine and
Evarts, when secretaries of state they
made reports on the condition and eff
cheney of labor here and abroad, that
the difference in efficiency accounted
for the high wages paid in this country.
The New York press has demonstrated
this in the paper and several other in
dustries- The following from The Amer
lean Wool Reporter of July =, 1892, also
protectionist paper, is a plain state
ment of the case:
at Is well known that when a manu-
facturer wishes to lessen the cost of
goods, his first thoughts turn to the
question of a reduction of wages: that
seems to be the easiest solution. 1t saves
trouble IN estimating results from more
complicated methods, and, like many of
the easiest ways, we are inclined to
think it is not always the best way. At
first there is undoubtedly a reduction in
cost, but the reaction is frequently bad.
We could have no better example than
the Old World, where wages have been
reduced to the very lowest figure that
Will prevent starvation. America and
Americans are fast distancing them in
the skilled arts, and can produce a good
many lines cheaper and better than they
can. The reason for this is well illus
trated by the apparently strange course
business Is taking in the large iron pro-
ducing establishments.
1T is an indisputable fact that as
wages have been reduced in England so
has the German and Belgium competi-
ton begun to be felt, and it may be
looked upon as an illustration of cheap
labor against high priced labor.
more illustrations of the fact that
low priced labor is not always product
i've of cheap goods. but that high priced
is, can be had by looking abroad, if we
do not desire to look around our own
country. England has for a great num-
Der of years held markets on the con-
tinent of Europe in competition with the
cheap labor there. Vast quantities of
cotton goods are exported to China, and
no one can question the cheapness of
the labor there.
1T seems rather paradoxical to state
that high priced wages make cheap
goods.
Everything points to this conclusion
very forcibly, that cutting down the pay
of help instead of endeavoring to i'm
prove them and make them worth more
is not always to do business that will
have a continuous success. Manufac-
turers have evidence of it every day;
they see some firms that are prosperous,
the help satisfied and in good circum-
stances, not needing any trades unions
to set the price of their labor, but salts
fed with getting what they earn. And
the increased earnings of the help mean
an increase of production for the factory
and at cheaper rates"
Reform Club Work.