The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-01-01
THE LIMIT OF cHEAPNEsS.

Comparison of Prices FaIlacious Cost of
the Ultimate Product is the True Price
The Consumers Interest the Greatest -
Steady Production and n Permanent
Market Essential
In order to calculate the comparative
saving effected by any economic system
it Is evidently necessary to fix point
somewhere at which to estimate cheap
ness Before the raw material of the
field, forest or mine has been changed
into the finished product of manufact-
ure it must have passed through various
stages of transformation: the pig iron,
which is the raw material of the iron
manufacturer, is the finished product of
the smelter, while the steel rail, which
is evidently the finished product of the
manufacturer is but the raw material
OF the railroad company. The question,
therefore. that confronts US when we
attempt to estimate comparative saw
ing is: At what period in this pro-
cess of transformation from raw ma
terial 10 finished product must we com
mence? Clearly At the last point. when
the product enters into the consumption
of the masses Of the people. Thus, If
in the United States raw wool OF Ger
tain grade is higher in price than the
same grade in England. while at the
same time the suit of clothes Of sub
stantial quality. made from this wool.
is cheaper here, it is evident that in the
whole transaction as ultimately viewed
the American consumer is better off.
This enables us to see one funda-
mental fallacy of free traders They
tell US that the market prices of such
and such an article are so much lower
in England at a certain time than in the
United States, and think that by estab-
fishing this point they have proved the
wastefulness of protection. Thus they
say. perhaps, that steel rails were
quoted a few dollars higher in New
York at this or that time than London.
Admitting this, and saying nothing of
the fact that steel rails would never
have been as cheap as they are had 1t
not been for protection, what does II
show? To whom does IL make any diff
ference? Who ever heard of a working
man buying ton of steel rails? The
real question is this: Do those steel
rails in the form in which they Zach
the ultimate consumer cost any more?
What does the workingman care If
steel rails cost a few dollars more
per ton. if at the same time the food and
the products of manufacture which he
consumes are brought 10 him on those
steel rails more cheaply than in any
othercountry in the world? For that our
average freight rate is lower than that of
any other country no one will dispute.
Or what difference does il make to the
workingman that wool ia little dearer
per pound. provided that he can buy
his suit of clothes more cheaply than
ever before? The point at which an
article enters into the consumption of
the people is, therefore. the real point
at which to estimate cheapnesa
But it may be asked, how can a suit
of wooden clothing be cheaper here if
the raw material from which il is made
costs more? 1t is because of the pro
tected methods of manufacture, which
guarantee home manufacturers a safe
and steady market. All business men
know that in proportion as the steadi-
ness and permanence of a market in
crease the average rate of profit dimin-
ishes; in other words. any manufacturer
will prefer steadily to reap smaller
profits than to sell his goods at higher
rate of profit. but have the knowledge
that at any time his market may be
taken away.
We hear very much Just now about
raw materials. 1t is said that if they
were free our manufacturers would be
able to manufacture much more cheap
ly. But is this true? ,.hom could free
raw materials benefit? Evidently not
the original producer for his Occupa-
ton would be taken away; nor the ulti-
mate consumer, for ne Is buying more
cheaplv than ever before the products
made from the very raw materials on
the foreign equivalent of which there
is duty. Surely not the labOrer, be-
cause the labor which is engaged in
producing those raw materials would
be forced into other occupations, and
thus the average rate of wages would
be lowered Nor could the manufac-
turer reap any substantial benefit for
the small additional profit that he
would make would be insignificant
compared with the contraction OF the
market which would result from the di-
minished purchasing power of the la
boring classes
When, therefore, we consider that the
real point at which to estimate saving
in cost is that of the price of ultimate
product, it must be seen that this kind
of cheapness can only be secured by
continuous production and steady mar
ket, and that these conditions have
never been fully realized except when
our markets have been guarded by ade-
quate protective duties from the worlds
surplus production.