The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-09-26

lated Industry, Increased wages and
Diminished the Number Of Strikes.
Mr.. Charles F. Peck is the Democratic
commissioner of labor Of the state of
New York, which is now completely
under Democratic control, and was ap-
pointed by Grover Cleveland in 1888
to the Office which he now holds.
He undertook an investigation into
the "effect of the tariff on labor and
wages" doubtless with the purpose in
view of supplying the Democratic party
with campaign ammunition in the form
of an official report, specifically locating
and describing the numerous wage re-
auctions of which tho calamity tariff
performer" has been prating since Oc-
tober, 1890. But ii seems that the facts
panned out differently from what Mr..
Peck expected. Nevertheless he seems
to have had the honesty to give them to
the public exactly as he found them,
and to allow them to speak for them
selves. The result has been, just as in
the case of the senate report, that pow
erful campaign document Ia placed in
the hands of protectionists. II needs no
comment. The following extracts speak
for themselves:
In pursuance of law. the undersigned hes
completed the work attendant upon the issu-
ing of the ninth annual report OF the bureau of
statistics Of labor, and herewith gives brief
summary of the contents of tho same. Its COM
pietion has been necessarily delayed by reason
of the unusual amount and important charac-
% q h Ill . II. a
subjects investigated and reported upon dur
Ing the bureaus nine years. existence, none
has borne q closer relationship to the welfare
of the wage earners of the state or furnished
the public In general with statistical data 80
valuable TO a comprehensive understanding Of
the practical workings of the one great Geo.
nomic question of the present day than the
tariff.
Tariff, whether levied "for revenue only" or
for revenue and tho incidental protection OF
American manufacturers and American la
Dor, is certainly question of suoh vast import
as to enlist the most thorough and dispassion-
ate Investigation at the hands of the American
people. And while the present report has,
under the law, been confined to the state Of
New York, its results canJpit be taken as In
dicative of the conditions existing in every
section of our country where manufacturing
and Industrial pursuits are followed.
The period covered by investigation includes
the year Immediately prior to the enactment
OF what is termed the MCKINLEY bill, - and
the year Immediately following its becoming
law. That is, the data upon which the report
has been made was for the year commencing
Sept. /, 1889, up to and including Aug. OIL, 1890,
and the year commencing Sept. !, 1890, up to
and including Aug. 81. 1891. The methods en-
ployed TO secure the necessary data were al
most entirely those of the blank system, which
has proved SO satisfactory In nearly all of the
previous investigations carried on by the
bureau since 1885, II was not the original pur-
pose, nor is 1t now pretended, that the data
and statistics here presented represent any
but purely wholesale manufacturing establish
ments To have undertaken to cover the re-
tail and custom manufacturing establishments
OF the state would have been a physical nhd
financial impossibility in the present status oil
this bureau. Some 5000 blanks were addressed
and mailed to Rs many separate establish.
ments throughout the state, and Of this mum.
Der 5000, or rs per cent, were returned fully
and correctly answered. The figures contained
| in the tables given elsewhere are based entire
| iy upon returns furnished this bureau by over
600 substantial, representative and leading
business firms of this state.
1t is needless to comment upon the separate
figures or the totals included in these tables
they tell their own story, simply and with alb
solute truth. 1t appears that there was a net
increase in wages of S6,3T7 ,925.0o In the year
| 1901 as compared with the amount paid IL
| 1890 and net increase of production of S3l,-
| 8l5, l3U6S in the year 1891 over that of 1890.
simple analysis of these tables further demon.
| strates the interesting fact that of the sixty.
seven industries covered n per cent. of then
show an increase either of the wages or prod
uct. or both, and that there were no less thar
s9,7l7 instances of Individual increases OF
wages during the same year.
| OF the sixty-eight industries included, rs pei
cent of them show an increased average year
| lea tn 1haa ot.
erage increase of yearly earnings of the es5. O0C
employees was SELL. The average increase Of
yearly earnings of the employees In the fifty.
one trades showing an increase was $500 IL
1891 RS compared with 1890
In addition 10 the investigation of this ape
cial subject, the bureau has continued Its an
nunl investigation of all labor disturbances &C
curing In the state during the past year. The
total number of strikes reported for the yeal
| 1891 was 45l0 as against q 25S occurring In the
year 1890, decrease of l,740. or the total mum
ber-. 5l9-23 75. 80 per cent. of them, were In
the building trades, a fact that seems TO follow
in natural sequence the results obtained in the
special investigation of the effect of the tariff
on labor and wages"
1t has been my experience as doubt not Il
has been that of every statistician more NJ
less, that one often finds himself tempted-un,
consciously perhaps-to pursue an inyestiga-
/ ton with view to establish preconceived
theory. How often failure and positive dis
] comtture follow | can safely leave to those
who have engaged in the fascinating study OF
statistics. To tho true statistician, however
uninfiuenced by social or political considera
tons, the profession is an enviahle one, and
carries with it duties and responsibilities OF
| the highest order. To him theories arc rs moth
ing; without facts to support thSJn they be.
come misleading and therefore worthless
Facts and truth are what he seeks, and having
possessed himself of them he places them. hard
and cold, as they oftentimes are, before thu
public, satisfied that he has done but his duty
and thereby attained his highest ambition.
CHARLES f. PECK, Commissioner.