Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-10-13


vember, 1890, the authors of that t.riff = ~
were swept from the house of renresenta-
tlves by majority of more than $50 noo
votes. Never IN the history of the conn
try has there been such storm of ,,o,,1,1a.
Indignation against any single act of ieo,is
latlon as that which overwhelmed the ad-
Vocates OF TINS measure in 1890, and as a
result we now have the senator from Rhode
Island and all the other friends of the NO
tective system who have recently smoke,
upon the subject confessing that bigb
prices are not beneficial to the people md
That the original and avowed purnosT of
the act was wrong; in other words +bov
now contend that the act has been a sue
cess solely because it failed to accomplish
"hat IL was intended to accomplish
Aldrich's False Conclusions.
MY purpose here today is to show that
the tariH act of 1890 did, in fact, interfere
with this natural tendency toward a de-
cine In the prices of commodities and a
rise IN the rates of wages; that it did. in
fact, make it harder and more expensive
Tor the masses of the people of the United
States to live.
1.-The senator here read an extract from
the speech of Senator Aldrich, who claimed
that prices had so far declined and WAGES
so lar advanced as to make a total gain to
the people of S325, DOC, 600 per wear as n re-
suit of the Mckinley bill and continued:
Mr.. President, l admit that on a single
day after the passage of the Mckinley bin.
and during the period covered by the in
Vestlgation, the retail prices of the 2I5 ar
tlcles selected by the committee, taking
them altogether and giving to each one
the same Importance, 6+-1O0ths of l one
per cent. lower than they were at the be-
ginning of the period, and that on the
same day, which was the last day included
in the investigation. the cost of living in
the l nlted States, giving to each article
Its relative Importance as element in
expenditures for consumption, had de-
creased 44-l00ths of l per cent. from the
rate prevailing ut the beginning of the in
vestiSation-that is, the cost of living, in
Guiding rent, which was not investigated
by the committee at all, had been reduced
44-loOths of per cent. below what it was
during the first three months of the in
vestigation. But that single day has been
separated by the senator from Rhode
Island from all the other days embraced
In the twenty-eight months, and taken as
the basis of all the tables presented and
statements made by him, as if it was u
fair representative of the whole period.
The investigation began on the 1st day
of June, 1889, and continued month by
month in seventy different cities in the
United States until the LIST day of Septem-
Der, 1891, embracing period of twenty
eight months The prices of these 2l5 ar
ticles for the first three months at these
seventy different places and at quite a
number of establishments in each place
were taken as the basis of the investigs-
tion-that is to say, the average prices
which prevailed during the months of
June, July and August, 1899, on all the
articles were taken as the unit Of price
each unit or index of price being repre-
scented by 100, and as the prices subse-
quently rose or fell the fact was noted, and
the percentage of rise or fall was recorded
in the tables. Now l submit to the senate
and the country that no just or valuable
conclusion for any purpose whatever can
be drawn from calculations based upon
prices which prevailed on one single day
during those twenty eight months, that
day being, as have said, the last one on
which an investigation was made.
The Cost of Living Increased.
GSenator Carlisle here referred to a
statement Of Senator Aldrich that in the
same timeth cost of living had increased
in England. He declared that the COM
mittee had made no such inquiry; that no
such results could be drawn from any
facts before the committee, and that other
statements in Senator Aldrich's speech
were not in evidence before the committee
and continued:
Mr.. President, propose to show, or at
letlSG 10 SHOW, Cndt the prices OF
commodities in the United States, whether
considered by wholesale or by retail. were
enormously increased by the passage of
the Mckinley act and the agitation which |
preceded it, and that the cost of living in !
the United States, giving to each one of
these articles its proper degree of impor- |
tance in expenditures for consumption, |
was increased during the period covered |
by this investigation more than SIS, 600 |
900, and that over s1S5, 900, 900 of that in
crease occurred after the passage of the act |
of 1890
l venture to make the statement, which |
| think nobody can refute, that q very
large proportion of the increase in prices |
of manufactured articles and in the cost of |
living which occurred before the passage |
of that act was on account of the fact that |
it was pending in congress with an almost |
absolute knowledge on the part of the pro- |
ducers of protected articles everywhere !
that it would be passed and become a law. |
L propose to show, in the second place, |
that the rates of wages in fifteen substan- |
italy unprotected industries in this coun- |
try, selected by the committee, were in |
creased during the period covered by the |
investigation. and that during the same |
period the rates of wages in fifteen pro- |
tected industries in the United States, also |
selected by the committee, fell, and that |
the fall was greater after the passage of |
the Mckinley bill than it was during the |
whole period preceding its passage
Unless the 215 articles thus selected by |
the committee are fairly representative of |
the total quantity of articles consumed by |
the people, our investigation is worth but |
little, so far as it attempts to ascertain the |
cost of living. 1t would of course be |
valuable to show the course of prices on |
those 215 articles; but 1 repeat, unless they |
fairly represent all the articles which enter
into consumption. the investigation is of |
but little value far as it attempts to |
state the effect of increase In prices upon |