New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-09-30
MORALS FROM ENGLAND.


An English writer has contributed to 1.-The
New Review an instructive account OF an IN
dustry which has been practically destroyed by
Free Trade. This is the production OF SILK
manufactures Small articles in silk were frst
made in England during the fifteenth century,
hut il was not until 1920 that the manufacture
Of broad silks was begun. SO remarkable was
the progsass of the industry that after l'3o
English silks had better reputation and com
manded higher prices than French, Genoese or
Fl. rentine silks. The industry hourished IN
England, and offered superior form OF en-
nloyment for skilled labor until the Frce-Irade
era. During recent years it has rapidly de-
clned owing to the greater cheapness OF I'M
nortations from Germany, Switzerland and
France and the increased weight of the foreign
DIVES. The English manufacturer no longer has
his foreign trade. and has been crowded out
of the home market. The silk woavers OF
Coyentry and Spitalfelds have lost their occu-
patton. The chief cause Of the ruin OF this
industry is the Free-Trade system, as is dis
tinctly stated in a leading article of "The Bel
fast News Letter. Of September ., 1892, as
follows:
Hence the English silk manufacturer finds himself
dlstanccd at home and abroad. Popular notions OF
the superiority OF foreign products are against MN
and against him also Is the foreign competition en-
eouraged by our fiscal system. To the latter can be
Directly traced the serious Injury that has been
done 70 the English silk Industry, which, with any
filing like fair play. could have held Its own In any
market In the world. As matters stand, We pay an
nualy eleven millions sterling for imported SILK goods
and no one knows how much In poor rates ana cbar'
ties Among those relieved are spltaileids SIN
wcavers whose handcraft Is so poorly supported Dy
the uublc a. TO render full employment impossible.
Foreign competition Is destroying the English SILK In
dustry dcprvlng employers OF profits and workers OF
.nuIoymcnt But our Government Is wiser than all
the other governments In the world ana Free Trade
must be our policy bearing testimony to the foiy OF
It's promoters and advocates. who assured Engishineh
that the nations OF the world would follow their ex-
annie They have not done anything OF the Kind and
before the silk industry disappears II II important 10
know something about It's history
Now we have quoted these explicit decara-
tons OF British journal because they have a
direct bearing upon economic policies 10 be
voted upon in the American elections. The
Republican party is unequivOcally committed
10 the maintenance of the Protective system,
under which innumerable industries have been
brought into existence and an endless range OF
romunerative employment has been created for
working population recruited from every
country i'm Europe The Democratic party is
hostile to that policy, and favors the revision
of the tariff on English lines. When Amcri-
cans are asked to make an intelligent choice
between these two antagonstc policies, what
can be more instructive than evidence furnished
by the English press that foreign competition
is DESTROYING under Free Trade industries which
were once prosperous and depriving large bodies
of skilled artisans of employment? With
$50 600. 900 of silks imported from the Con-
tinent without restriction, the English manu-
facturers have been driven out of their home
market and their foreign trade has been Writ
ually destroyed. There is not slk-loom in
operation in English towns which were once
centres of the industry and famous throughout
the world and as "The Newsletter" signifi-
cantly SAYS, "No one knows how much in poor
rates and charities" the loss Of employment has
cost England.
The ruin of the silk trade, the decline of
velvet manufacturing, the closing of the great
plush works at Saltaire, and continuous agri-
cultural depression caused by the destruction of
great industries like wheat farming and hop
raising are morals from England which can be
proftably studied in America at this time.
There are hundreds of industries which are de-
pendent directly or indirectly upon the mainte-
nance of the Protective system. VIII the
country lose or gain by the closing OF thousands
of factories and the surrender of the home
market to European manufacturers? Will the
skilled labor Of the country whose progress is
the pride of American civilization, be better
or worse off if it be deprived by foreign COM
petition of many of its most remunerative occu-
pations? These are plain questions which, in
the light of English experience. seem to be
practical and conclusive. IL any one be in
doubt on that point let him read the lamenta-
tons of 1.-THE Liverpool Echo" reprinted
| in another column. Loss of employment and