Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-08-14
Cut Blast Help Losd- Labor Tim
tiers. ers. erS ers. ers. berers.
1885,. s2 80 s2G 81 20 81 20 S, 81 81 0c
1852 "a 2@ LIS $50 Lee 2U
$780,. % 2O7 III Us Ia 2O4
1884,. SO 225 1T 1SS l.5 FL

July Q, Is9l-All but one of the flint and win
dow glass factories in Findlay, o.. have shut
down for the summer. Over 1900 employees
will get q two months vacation.
Glass factories always shut down dur
ing the summer months. The rules of
the glassmakers' unions require it.
Dec. IL. lssl-The coopers employed at Mat
thiesen 81 Weichers sugar refinery, Jersey
City, on strike against reduction Of
wages, brought about, it is alleged, by the in
PRODUCTION OF machinery.
April TO- lS92-Fifty OF the best paid work.
men at the Edgar Thomson Steel works Of
Andrew Carnegie. at Braddock, Pa, were dis
charged this week. They were replaced by the
improved machinery of a direct process" for
making steel from pig iron.
Did the Mckinley tariff invent the
new machinery? Would Mr.. Warner
have kept it out of the cooper shop and
the steel works?
Dec. 81, ls9l-At Syracuse, n. ", $50 coopers,
unorganized, were surprised last week by the
announcement Of a 10 per cent. reduction Of
wages They left the shop, organized hastily.
demanded the same wages and a nine hour
day, and resumed work within thirty six
hours, their demands having been granted.
This reads like an increase instead Of
q decrease.
May Z. lsei-From the formation Of the trust
in straw goods the workers of that trade are
expecting general reduction of wages
throughout the country and the dismissal Of
many union men. as black list has been pre-
pared by the managers of the trust.
This, it appears, is merely one Of The
Worlds typical reports but Mr.. War
ner needed it to swell his list and for his
own purposes. So we might go on and
show the absurdity of item after item.
But that is not the main point we wish
to make in this connection.
Even if Mr.. Warmers 413 items repre-
sented each bona fide strike or lockout
the smallness of the number would still
be tribute to the Mckinley law. His
search embraced a period of twenty
months. covered the whole Union and
could find only 473 cases which he could
construe as strikes. Lsckouts or wages
reductions. Why, in the single state of
New York, according to the report of
the bureau of statistics of labor. there
occurred in 1889. before the Mckinley
tariff had been heard of, 1874 strikes in
only twelve months.
Yet Mr.. Warner could find only 413 in
twenty months under the Mckinley tar
III in the whole United States. Is it not
pretty good showing for that measured
The only unusual feature about Mr..
Warmers compilation is that it foots up
only 473. for strikes have occurred ia
past years In far greater numbers II Is
safe IL say that no other period Of twenty
months in the last half century could
be selected during which as careful a
search as Mr. Warner made would not
have revealed more than 473 labor dis
turbsnces. II is beneath the dignity q
the place he occupies in public life to re-
sort to such disreputsble method in his
efforts to create prejudice against the
new tariff.
Third That the Mckinley tariff has
reduced wages.
Mr.. Warner says that during the time
the new tariff has been IN operation s'tLe
museum men have sought In vain for
workingmen in protected Industries
whose wages have been raised lie
knows better. This paper has cited many
cases q increased wages under the new
law. We have shown above that wages
IN the Illinois coal uaires were higher il
1921 than in three vears before. We
know of no other Official report covering
the period in controversy. Bnt here are
a few individual cases which we hope
M. Warner viii bring 20 the attention