New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1892-09-07

L r
lowed during the ten succeeding months
of 1888. It is not the province Of tile
undersigned to here discuss the merits OF
q sprotective tariff, or to pronounce for
q against the public policy df a sstarif
for revenue only" A majority of the
American people declared by their votes
/ in 1888 in favor Of the latter policy, and
yet their candidate was defeated by rea-
son Of our electoral system, the minority
candidate and Congress in sympathy
with the Chief Executive being
elected. The canvass was carried
on with relentness vigor by both
sides, and public interest was unusually
aroused IN a question Of great public
| policy, rather than to the personality OF
candidates. The selfish business inter
ests of the manufacturers and their em-
|ploges were appealed to-; larger produc-
ton, wider markets and increased profits
were promised the. employers. More
work, higher wages, shorter hours Of la
| boz and unexampled prosperity were
among the inducements held out to the
wage -earners BY the advocates OF s"Pfo-
tection.n On the other hand, the advo-
Gates Of the policy Of a ..tsriff for rey- rev
cnue only" contended that only through
q reform" Of our tariff laws, i. G., a re-
duction Of our revenues to a basis OF
raising just sufficient money to defray
the expenses of the government, honest
/ ly and economically administered, could
all of these desirable results be OBJ
taiEed
It may be urged by some that an in
vestigation made has not been broad
enough or Of sufficient scope to fairly
warrant the deductions arrived at, by
reason of the fact that the cost of living
including the necessaries that SO to make
ltup, have been given no place in the
work It should be borne in mind, how
ever, that it has been my endeayor to in
vestigatc only that phase Of the subject
which relates simply to the increase or
decrease of production and the rates of
wages paid.
The period covered by investigation
includes the year Immediately prior to
the enactment of what is termed the
McKinley bill" and the year immedi-
ately following its becoming. a law. That
is, the data upon which the report has
been made was for the year commencing
September 1, 1889, up to and including
the 31st day of August, 1890, and the
year commencing September 1st, 1890,
up to and including the. 8 1st OF August,
1891.
The report here embraces q lengthy
table Of figures carefully arranged and
then continues
Il is needless to comment upon the
separate figures or the totals included in
the above table; they tell their own
story simply and with absolute truth.
/ It appears that there was a net increase
in wages Of $6,377 ,925.09 in the year
1881, as compared with the amount
4 paid in 1890, and net increase OF pro-
duction of SO, 81 ,13O.6S in the wear
/ 1891 over that q. 1890. A simple anal
ysis of this table further demonstrates
the interesting fact that of the sixty
seven industries covered, n per cent. of
them show an increase either Of the
wages or product, or both, and that
there were no less than 89,717 instances
Of individual increases Of wages during
the same year.
1t has been my experience, as, I doubt
not, it has been that of every statistician,
more. or less, that one often finds himself
tempted -unc onsciously, perhapsto to
pursue an investigation with view to
establish a preconceived theory How
often failure and positive discontinue
follow, I can safely leave to those who
have engaged in the fascinating study Of
statistics. To the true statistician. how
ever, uninHuenced by social Or political
nsiderations, the profession is an enyi- eni
able one, and carries with it duties and
responsibilities Of the highest order. To
him theories are as nothing without facts
to support them, they become mislead-
ing and therefore, worthless. Facts and
truth are. what he seeks; and having pos
sessed himself Of them he places them,
hard and cold as they oftentimes are, be-
fore the public, satisfied that be has done
but his duty and { thereby attained his
highest ambition.