The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1892-10-28
SHE BUYS CURTAINS.
DOROTHY SELECTS WINDOW DRAP-
ERlES FOR HER BACK PARLOR.

man May BE AS Enterprising.
Dorothy had determined to have only
''real" things in her home, you know;
but when it came to lace curtains for
her prospective back parlor, she had to
draw the line. They cost several hun
dred dollars pair, and Dorothy's ship
has not come in. While we were con-
sidering the matter l saw a private let
| ter from Marshall Field, the great Chi
cago dry goods merchant, in which a
| clerk said that such curtains as Dorothy
wanted cost "thirty-five cents more a
yard than they did before the Mckinley
| bill"
"And don't believe it," said l.
Neither do L." said Dorothy.
'Let's look it up" we both said. Upon
which we made up our minds that we
wouldn't buy a stitch from anybody
who lied to us about mckinley high
prices"
My official tariff book (you can get one
yourself by writing to Washington for
it) tells me that the duty on lace curtains
has been raised from 40 to go per cent
by the Mckinley law.
"Why was it raised? What was the
result of it?' Dorothy and l wanted to
know If we liked the answers we would
buy the curtains. fit was to make ''the
rich richer" and "the poor poorer" as the
Democrat papers claimed q have been
reading tariff literature lately, we should
certainly not be party to that sort of
thing. If, as the Republican papers
said, this advance in duty was really a
benefit to the men and women who work
at curtain making and to the people who
buy them should do everything in my
power to let the women of the country
know what unprincipled, selfish people
Democratic Mckinley tale fabricators
are.
We went to O'Neills on Sixth avenue
first. They had such curtains as we
wanted, but the price was eighteen cents
yard higher than before the Mckinley
bill. We didn't deal with them.
Next we went to Simpson & Craw"
ford's. A polite man said that "the price
of curtains had not been raised in that
store anyway by the Mckinley bill"
He laughed in funny little way when
we asked the question, and seemed t.
have something in mind which was a
good joke on somebody. Then he said,
mo, indeed, we can't raise the prices on
Sixth avenue; the people would get after
us if we did,"
"Then it isn't necessary to charge
more?" persisted Dorothy.
81 wouldn't like to answer that, miss.
The wholesale people can tell you all
about prices" Then he gave us the adj
dress of Mills & Gibbs, of Broadway and
Grand street.
Eyes, the duty has been raised, and
there was good reason for it," said the
salesman at that store. "There are a
large number of factories trying to es-
tablish themselves here, and they could
not compete successfully with imported
curtains made by laborers who work for
one-third of what our curtain people are
paid. BY raising the tariff the curtain
manufacturer can and does pay his
workmen enough to live comfortably,
even luxuriously, as American citizens
should live. At the same time he can
compete with the imported curtains,
even though the labor on them costs &
foreign maker but one-third as much"
"Why, that is as clear as daylight"
said Dorothy. But when | come to
think of it we who buy lace curtains
have to pay that extra duty, don't WEI"
"No;. the foreign maker lowers his
workIian's or workwoman's wages
enough to pay that duty"
"Well, what keeps the American man.
ufacturer from charging too much"
Competition, miss; sharp COMPETE
ton, such as is stimulated by fairly
high protection"
"Well, them" put in, "why are not
the American workers wages lowered
by this competition
Because there is constant demand
for their services, and if one employer
doesn't do the right thing by man he
can go to another"
"Well, think that tariff is the best
thing know of for working people, and
don't care If it does make the richAem-
ployers keep their eyes wide open. 1t
seems to me that Mr.. Mckinley has
made the poor richer and the rich
trifie more energetic" added.
"Now finally" Dorothy went on, 81
want to know the truth. Is curtain
muslin more expensive than it was be-
fore the Mckinley law went into ef-
;ectT'
"No, it is as cheap, and in many in
stGnces cheaper. For, as told you.
foreign manufacturer pays that extra
duty"
well, them" Dorothy replied tri-
umphantly, "please show me some white
lace curtains of fine net, with fern pat
tern"
We found what we wanted at four
dollars pair; they had been tri1e
higher two years before. And Dorothy
had another treasure for that "home."
On our way to the station we stopped
at Mr.. Horner's gorgeous furniture store
on Twenty-third street to see about
some furniture, and Mr.. Horner himself
told us that he knew of very large
concern ION the other side" that is COM
ing to this country if Mr.. Harrison is
elected. That would mean another big
factory here with employment for ever
so many people.
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