Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-04-16
SPRINGER AND THE LAsoRER.

ELLA ARCHAap CoESKR-
SPRINGER AND THE LAeoRER.
What His Tree Uooi Eth Would Mean
to the American wsrkisxnan.
1t does not require much effort 20 see
the ruinons effect which the enactment
Of Mr.. Springer's bill, abolishing the
duty on wool and greatly reducing the
duties on its manufactures, must have
on American wool growing. The i'm
portat;on of $7a. coo. 900 in wool manu-
features in addition 10 the SIS, COX. 600
last year sent TO this country for Mr..
Springer says that tho decrease In the
revenue VIII be made up by an increase
in inlportations. aud on the basis OF last
years imports this increase win be at
least S7e, oGo. 00o). Sil5, 900 in all.
would simply be the importation Of
345, go 900 pounds Of wool, though IN .
manufactured form, TO take the place
of 50 much American wool in our mark
cts. This quantity, increased by even
the amount OF raw wool now annually
imported, 1l9. Coz, 900 pounds-it would
doubtless be more under DIR. Springer's
free wool measure-would give total
of 464 ,000, 900 pounds of wool that worsd
come III. Dsducting this quantity from
sur total consumption CT wool, eoo, o0o.-
700 pounds. we find that there would
remain q market for only l36, 900 coo
pounds Of the 200. 600 900 pounds snnr-
ally produced in this country. These
are the rcsulw which Mr.. Springer him
self admits will follow from his wool
and woolens bill.
But the farmer viii not be tho only
one injured. The additional 81. 000. 900
in manufactured wool which Mr..
Springer says would be imported under
the lower duties which he proposes
would of course supplant an equivalent
quantity Of American goods and compel
American wool manufacturing cstab-
ishments to reduce their output by that
amount. Now, $72, oo0, coo worth OF
foreign goods at the undervalued prices
at which they are imported would be
equivalent to at least sloo. 600. ooe worth
of domestic goods at American whole
sale prices.
American wooden and worsted mills
must therefore make $i00, ooo, 900 le0 In
goods than they make now. That means
that the 60. 600 mill hands which it takes
to make 900. Oco, 900 in finished products
must lose their places and 81, 900, 900 IN
wages. Foreigners would do the work
and receive the pay.
But SIC, 600 900 is only m insignificant
item in the great total loss which labor
would suffer from Mr.. Springms S72,-
600 900 addition to our present imports
Of wool manufactures. II takes account
only Of tho wages paid for direct labor
In manufacturing, about one-ffth Of
the whole amount Of labor involved.
Take . piece Of wooden cloth, trace IL
back to its original elements before they
were touched by tho hand Of man, COM
mencing with the labor of shipping.
handling and placing on the shelf of the
jobbing house the finished piece Of cloth,
following II through all the processes in
the factory. not forgetting tho labor az
the encineerr, hrcmcn, wstchmen,
clerks and overseers employed about the
ESTABLISHING 1t. Tor the labor involved in
producing the coal, wood, oil. belts aud
the score or more of other classes 1t
miscellaneous supplies consumed in the
factory; then following the raw wool ~
it is handled and transported from farm
% factory, including the farmers labor
of tending aad shesring The focks, rails
ing hay and grain crops to feed them.
not emitting even the salt they eat and
the labor of producing tiff ali of these
and ali other elements OF labor are
counted. fully 50 per cent. of the whole
sale selling price Of the goods. which
we have placed at 500. ooo. 600, reprs-
SCENTS labor cost Of production In other
words. Mr.. Springer would take so :
ooo 900 FROM American labor in order
that the worsted and WOODEN mills
and working people Of Bradford aud
HndderssielG and Engiisk and Australian
wool growers might prosper.
To realize what this means 20 Amesi-
can iniustry generally one has oaly -
imagine what the condition would be in
any factory town il ali the factories
should shut dswr. Every tradsnan.
professional man, cic-k, car driver. bar
her, cook aud chamrrmaid IN IRE
place would suffcr. Ths town lives
on The wages received by the work
ing people which are sFsat for
househcid necessxrjes ass general
supplies, and are passed from had
70 hsnd. irnpartine life and nouriss-
ment 20 ell branches ~ industry. The
withdrawal Of an animal disbursement
IL 80 ZOO, coo from the channels n
trade wccld t,e like drawing . corr~-
sp5nding proportion IT life slcod from Q
bealtAy bojy. The results in t-pb cssss
would b siwsiss. Acsivity wsssA eivs
pscs 10 inarsisra, strength ~ vsskssn.
health 10 lsaenishine sickness. TIA b