The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-08-29
THE TARIFF AND WAGES.
REPORT OF COMMrssIONER PECK or
THE LABOR BUREAU.

He Gives Stntistic. Showing Taat Duraue
the First Year Of the Mckinley nm che
Net Increase OF wsxe. In ~ Industriss
In This = nte Was S~0.H11,0a5. and shs
Net Increase In Prod uction % ,1l6, lea
ALBANY. Aug. %. -Charles +. Peck. Commits
sioner Of Labor Of New York State. gave OUT
his annual report tonight. A largo portioa
is devoted to figures of interest in relation to
tho tariff. In order to prove whether pro.
lection " as advocated BY one political party a.
= tariff for revenue only v. would prove OF adj
vantage. statistics have been gathered TO
show In every industry in the state the In
crease or decrease of production and com.
parative increase or decrease in wages. The
report says: WI
The period covered by tho Investigation
includes the year Immediately prior to the en-.
nctm"nt o. what is termed tho Mckinley bill.
and the year Immediately following its be-
coming a law. That Is. the data upon which
tho report has been made was for the year
commencing Sept. /. 1881. up to and including
Aug. 81. 1850. and the year
ing Sept. ]. 1S:W, up to and including
Aug. II. 1891. Tho methods employed
to secure tho necessary data were al.
most entirely those of tho blank system.
1t was not the original purpose. nor
Is IT now pretended. that the data and stalls.
tics present any but purely Wholesale manu-
featuring establishments. To have UNDER
taken to cover the retail and custom manu-.
featuring establishment of the state would
have been II physical and financial impossible.
ity. Some 5000 blanks were addressed and
mailed to us many separate Establishments
throughout the state. and Of this number
COCO. or Is per cont. were returned fully and
correctly answered.
Prom the tanlcs it nrrears that ,hero was Q
net increase in wages OF s,,i.t!i'.a2hMD In the
year 1871. A. compared with the amount paid
S:l. 1913. l;tO.Gs in the year 1871 over that q
$3.50. 4 simple, analysis OF thistalle further
demonstrates, tn" interesting fact that OF the
sixty-sevcn industries covered u per cent. OF
product. or both. and that there we're no less
than StIl7 instanceso OF individual increases
q wage, during tls sam. year While
trades represented amount TO- LII. and give
emnl"ymInt to $500 working men and
cent, Of them show nm Increased average
yearly earning IN the year iss'l. while the e.
a &s :" S@ iHotS"s' was VI ss sas.ii s'' Ths averages ", r sas
Increase of yearly earnings OF the employees
Z Ia IT, % 81 ,t tr1ds ss c s,," W r.i @ an INCREASE 1Ss was
In addition to tho Investigation Of this
srccia! subject. the bureau has continued its
occurring In tho state during tho past year.
The total number Of strikes reported for the
ring in tho year lS!tO. n decrease OF / .731. OF
the total number of strikers 2,375. or 53 per
cent. Of them. were in tho building trades. 4
fact that seems TO follow in natural sequence
the results obtained In the special investiga.
tinn of The effect OF the tariff on labor and
wages" +
The report closes ms follows: 1T has been
my experience. as. ! doubt not. 1t has been
that OF every st.ti ticinn more or less. that one
often fnda himself temrtcd-nn"unsciously.
perhaps to pursue an investigation with o
view To establish II preruncriNCl theory. How
often failure and positive discontinue follow
can safely lcnye to those who have engaged
in tho fascinating study of statistics. To tho
true statistic ian. however. uninfiuenced by
~fession is an cnviabIe one. and carries
with it duties and responsibilities Of the high
Wit 2Rf"utf facts to ,''. su nnD".'' Them ar' ,h hs n ,senms
misleading and therefore worthless. Facts
and truth are what he seeks. and having pos
and cold as they .o~ftentimes. are. before. the
public. satisfied that he has done but his duty,