The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1892-10-27

act was wrong; In other Worss, they
law contend that the act has been a sue
tess solely because It failed to accomplish
what it was intended TO accomplish.
AIdFich'a False Consultations
Ny purpose here today Is to show thas
the tariff act Of 1890 did, in fact, Interfere
with this natural tendency toward a de-
eiius in the prices Of commodities and a
I:sa in the rates Of wages; that il did, In
fact, make It harder aud more expensive
for the masses Of the people Of the United
EtHteS to live.
THE senator here read an extract from
the speech Of Senator Aldrlch, who claimed
that prices hal so far declined and wages
90 far advanced rs to make q total gain to
the people Of S325, 900 900 per year as a re-
suit Of the Mckinley bill and continued:
Mr.. President, admit that on a single
day after the passage Of the Mckinley bill,
and during the period covered by the in
Vestigation, the retail prices OF the 2I5 ar
ticles selected by the committee, taking
them altogether and giving to each one
the same Importance, 64-lOOths Of ! one
per cent. lower than they were at the be-
ginning Of the period, and that on the
Same day, which was the last day included
In the investigation. the cost Of living in
the United States. Ewing TO each article
Its relative Importance as an element In
expenditures for consumption, had de-
creased A-l00ths Of l per cent. from the
rate prevailing ut the beginning Of the in
Nestigation-th is, the cost Of living, in
Guiding rent, which was not Investigated
by the committee at all, had been reduced
44-lOOths Of per cent. below what II was
during the first three months Of the in
vesIigation. But that single day has been
separated by the senator from Rhode
Island from all the other days embraced
In the twsnty-eight months, and taken as
the basis Of all the tables presented and
statements made by him, as II II was n
fair representative Of the whole period.
The investigation began on the LIST day
Of June, 1889. and continued month by
month in seventy different cities 10 the
United States until the LIST day Of Scptcm-
Der, 1891. embracing n period Of twenty
eight months. The prices Of these 2l5 ar
ticles for the first three months at these
seventy different places and at quite a
number Of establishments in each place
were taken a. the basis Of the investiga-
tiOn-thRt Is to say, the average prices
which prevailed during the months Of
June, July and August, 1889, on all the
articles were taken as the unit Of price,
each unit or index Of price being repre-
sented by 100, and as the prices subse-
quentiy rose Or fell the fact was noted, and
the PERCENTAGE Of rise or fall was recorded
In the tables. Now submit to the senate
and the country that no just or valuable
conclusion for any purpose whatever can
be drawn frIm calculations based upon
prices which prevailed on one single day
during those twenty eight months, that
day being, as have said, the last one on
which an investigation was made.
The Cost Of Living Increased.
senator Carlisle here referred to q
statement Of Senator Aldrich that In the
same time the cost Of living had increased
In England. He declared that the COM
mittee had made no such inquiry; that no
such results could be drawn from any
facts before the committee, and that other
statements In Senator Aldrich's speech
were not in evidences before the committee,
and contlnue'll:
Mr.. President, propose to. show, or at
least endeRvOr to slow, that the prices Of
commodities IN the United States, whether
considered by wholesale or by retail, were
enormously increased by the passage Of
the Mckinley act and the agitation which
preceded IL, and that the cost Of living in
/ the United States, giving to each one Of
these articles its proper degree Of impor-
tance In expenditures for consumption,
was increased during the period covered
by this investigation more than SIS, 600,
COO, and that over els5, 900. 600 Of that in
crease occurred after the passage Of the act
of 1880.
venture to make the statement, which
think nobody can refute, that a very
large proportion Of the increase In prices
Of manufactured articles and in the cost Of
living which occurred before the passage
Of tbH' act WIS on account Of the fact that
It was pendin.: In congress with an almost
absolute knowledge on the part Of the pro-
lucers Of protected articles everywhere
that it would be passed and become n law.
propose TO show, in the second place,
that the rates Of wages in fifteen substan-
TALLY unprotected industries In thia cnun-
try, selected by the committee, , in
creased during the period covered uy the
Investigation, and that during the same
period the rates Of wages In fifteen pro
lected industries In the United States, also
selected by the committee, fell, and that
the fall was greater after the passage Of
the Mckinley bill than It wRs during the
whole period preceding its passage
Unless the 2l5 articles thus selected by
the committee are fairly representative Of
the total quantity Of articles consumed by
the people, our investigation Is worth but
little, so far rs II attempts TO ascertain the
cost Of living. II would Of course be
valuable to show the course Of prices on
those 2l5articles; but repeat, unless they
81 IL. Il.
into consumption. the investigation is Of
but little value 50 far "a 1t attempts to
state the effect Of increase In prices upon
iGe cost Of living.
! 1.-THE senator here presented elaborated
tables showing trick In the committees
method Of proving q decline In prices; 1t
risen in anticipation Of the Mckinley bill,
aud at another in 1891, when they were at
the lowest He added:
To 20 no farther back to find the influ-
enee Of the Mckinley act upon the retail
prices Of commodities, we find that from
and including Oct. I, 1890. until June l.,
1891, the prices increased as follows: On
Oct. l. 1890, the increase was q 1888, 8S3 over
the prices on Sept. l; on Nov. I, 1880, the
increase was t3,4l0,666; on Dec. /, $780,
900; on Jan. 1, 1891, IL was Sl0,0S3 33S; on
Feb. l, 1881, it was SlI, OsS, SsS; on March /,
1891, 1t was Sli, Os6, 068; on April 1t was
el2, eco, 0G6; on May It was $3.50 900. and
on June it was 3,606, 609
what the People Spend.
Mr.. President, there have been many at
tempts made TO ascertain the total annual
expenditures Of the people Of the United
States for articles Of consumption. Mr..
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| Enwhrd Atkinson, gentleman VINO nas
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