Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-11-04

bill the American consumer is obliged
to pay cents more per yard than In
1889.
Black sicilian is used for dresses and
Innings, and is described as follows:
Foreign cost in 1888. 10 cents.
Foreign cost in 1892. ............l Is cents.
Net cost landed In New York in
Under e;: act Of 1858 duty equaled an 'i'S 'en'S'
ad valorem rate OF. .............. 81 per cent
Net cost in 1892 under Mckinley
Under Mckinney; act duty equals '
an ad valorem rate of............E3 per cent.
No voter can study these figures with
out coming to the conclusion that there
is one rate for the rich and another for
the poor. They are confirmed by such
an authority as Walter Stanton, member
Of Worth street firm which probably
represents a greater number of domestic
wooden mills than any other In this coun-
try. To a Times reporter Mr.. Stanton
said:
Here is sample Of wooden suitings,
absolutely pure staple, without adul-
teration of any kind whatever. It is
just what workfngman would like to
have for his best Sunday suit. The
price of it in England is IS cents yard;
the Mckinley duty is Is cents; but with
transportation, commissions and other
charges 1t cannot be handled at profit
in this country for less than $1.45 per
yard With the present duty on raw
materials the same quality of domestic
goods cannot be made and sold for less
than $3.50 to $1.6O"
This represents the tax which the
workingman is obliged to pay the pro-
tected manufacturer. But he is made
to believe that he can buy suit of
clothes of the same pattern he pur-
chased three years ago for the same
price, in spite Of the incontestable fact
that under the operation Of the McKin-
ley tax upon raw wool the price Of
wooden goods could only remain the
same by reducing the quality of the
goods.
The way the wool is pulled over the
eyes of the buyer is as follows: The re-
tail dealer submits sample to the man
ufacturer's agent, saying: II want 500
or 1000 yards of this pattern. How
much will it cost?" After an examina-
ton of the fiber the manufacturers
agent replies that goods of that particu-
lar quality are worth, say, $3.50 yard.
81 cannot pay that price," rejoins the
retailer. my trade will not stand it.;
but make it as nearly like the sample as
you can for ST."
This the manufacturer accordingly
does by grading the quality of the goods
down with greater admixture Of
shoddy to meet the market, and thus the
workingman who buys a suit of clothes
looking just like the suit he bought
three years ago at the same price Is
really paying, without realizing it, for
more cotton and less wool. He is really
paying for $50 suit from So to SIS more
than for the value he received in the
same priced suit three years ago.
John O'Connell, in charge of the
wholesale underwear department of Hill
ton, Hughes & Denning, large buyer
of hosiery and underwear, says: "In
cotton goods the American manufacturer
has the advantage of free raw material,
and therefore the prices of cotton goods,
which advanced shortly after the enact
ment of the Mckinley tariff act, have
now settled back to former prices, but in
wooden goods, which are affected by the
Mckinley act, the case is different.
Wooden hosiery, which formerly sold for
$3.50 to $3.50, now sells for So to $3.50
per dozen, which means that the Amer
lean buyer pays 81 for the same value
which formerly cost but rs cents, and
the same is true of cashmere stockings.
The American buyer now navs for wnnlan