Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-10-06
LABOR IN NEW YORK.
WAGES HIGHER THAN THEY WE'RE
/ BEFORE THE PASSAGE OF THE
M'KlNLEY BILL.

lands Appointees, Tells Plain Truth
TO New York workingmen-Benents Of
Protection Made r-Greate-t In
dustriaI Production Ever Known.
Mr.. Peck, the state tabor commissioner
vho makes the follouing report, Is
cleveland Democrat, hdring been dp
pointed TO the Office he notC holds bp
Grover Clcrcldnd In 1888.
The following is the official abstract of
the report of New York State Labor Com.
missioner Hon. Charles r. Peek This re-.
port has attracted so much attention TINT
the official abstract prepared by Commits
siouer Peck himself IL presented herewith
In full. Especial interest attaches to this
report because its author, although n
Democrat, appointed TO the Office which he
now holds by Mr.. Cleveland while gov
ernor of New York. commcnds the Nc
Kinley tariff and shows in his official re-.
port that under II there has been won.
derful Increase in manufactures, employ.
ment and wages Of employees. The report
and its author have been most bitterly at
tackled by the Democrats, n committee APP
pointed by the national committee to ex.
anime into II having brought Commits
sioner Peck before the courts because OF
his refusal to disclose to them the indi.
vidual business statements made to him
IN confidence by manufacturers, upon
which he based his report;
In pursuance Of law the undersigned has
completed the work attendant upon the is
suing of the ninth annual report Of the bu-
reau Of statistics Of labor aud herewith
gives brief summary of the contents Of
the same. Its completion has been neces-
sarly DELAYED by reason OF the unusual
umpnut mud iuHOrt phupupfar Of tha
work undertaken. OF all the varied sub
jects investigated and reported upon during
the bureaus nine years existence none has
borne closer n lationship to the welfare
OF the wage earnors Of the state or fur
nished the public in general with statistical
data so valuable to n comprehensive under
standing Of the practical workings OF the
one great economic question Of the present
day than the tariff. Tariff, whether levied
'for revenue only" or for revenue and the
incidental protection OF American manu-
facturers and American labor" is certain
n question of such vast import as to enlist
the most thorough and dispassOnnte in.
vestigation mt the hands Of the American
people. And while the present report has
under the law been confined to the state Of
New York, its results can but he taken ~
indicative o; the conditions existing in
every section Of our country where nlauu-
featuring aud industrial pursuits are fol.
lowed. With the exception of limited
number Of the great Industries carried on
III our country, no StNlt III ile | mon OnpIS
Held 50 varied or extensive within which
the statistiCian can carry ON his work with
greater assurances of intelligent success
than is presented by the state of New York
Within its borders ARE TO be found by far
the greatest number Of manufacturing e..
Establishments, the most varied industries
and the largest number Of individual EN-.
poyers and wage uarners OF any Of the
fOrty-fOur commonwealth embraced in tie
United States. SO that whatever the stat i'-
tipAl lufu collected mud fubIIluttl IA A.
prove, relative to the effects Of "prOtCytiOu'
on labor and wages in New York, may ia l.
ly he taken as fairly representative Of the
conditions throughout the whole country
Not for many years had the subject 81
the tariff assumed such great proportions
as attached to IL In 1883. Always an i'm.
portant and interesting question of political
economies for discussion by oar statesmen
yet by reason of the president Of the United
States making IL the sole subject of his an
nual messaget to congress in December 1851
interest In IL became general among the
masses, aud IA memorable campaign Of ed
ucation" followed during the ten succeed
ing months of 1855 IL Is not the province
Of the undersigned to here discuss tn,
merits OF u protective tariff or TO pro
nounce for or against the public policy OF Il
tariff for revenue only" a majority O
the American people declared by theil
votes In 1888 in favor Of the latter policy
and yet their candidate was defeated b,
reason Of orr electoral system, I'll,
UllublllN NtlhlAlNt anu a t0llLTtSN ~
sympathy with the chief eNccutiv,
being elected The canvass was carried ~
with relentless vigOr by both sides am
public interest was unusually aroused in
question of great public policy rather thar
as to tue personality Of the candidates
The selfish business interests Of the manu-
facturers and their employees were Rp
pealed To. Larger production, wider mar
kets and increased profits were prOmiset
the employers. More work, higher wages
shorter hours of labor aud unexample,
prosperity were among the inducemcnt
held out TO the wage earnerS 10y the advu
Gates Of protection" On the other hand
the advocates OF the policy of "A tariff fu
revenue only" contended that only through
reform" Of our tariff laws--i. C., a re
duction OF our revenues to "A basis Of rtIisui
Just sufficient money to delray he expense,
of the government, honestly and pconomi
cally administered-cOuld all OF these de
sirable results he attained. Almost in
Vulnerable queries were made Of thi
bureau by the great writers upon econOmi,
subjects, the leaders Of Thought and dis
cussiOn in our pulplts, ON the rOstrum ant
through the public press, for reliable dat'
and statistics bearing upon this very i'm
portant subject.
And IL was by reason Of this situation, NJ
less than with view to establish the trutl
or falsity Of the premises taken by til,
two great political parties Of the country
that the Undersigned finally decided I,
make the subject OF 'fhe Effect Of tn
IhflI on llhDOl anu NaBeh one OF hleClt
investigation. IL may be urged by SOM
that the investigation made has not beer
broad enough or Of sufficient scope to fairl.
warrant the deductions arrived at, by rea
son of the Mct that the cost of living, In
Guiding the necessaries that go to make /
up, have been given no place in the work
IL should be borne in mind, however, tina
IL has been my. endeaVor to investigat
only that phase of the subject which re
lates simply to the increase or decrease q
production and the rates of wages paid
The period covered by investigation In
cludes the year Immediately prior to tn
enactment OF what is termed the "Mckh
ley bill, :" and the year Immediately follow
ing its becoming law. That il, the dat
upon which the report has been made wa
for the year commencing Sept. |, 1889, n
10 and Including the 3lst of August, 1891
and the year commencing Sept /, 1850, u
to and including the 3lst of August, 1881
The methods employed to secure the nece,
sary data were almost entirely those q
the blank system, which has proved 50 sal
isfactory in nearly all OF the previous il
Vestigations carried on by the burea
since 1883 1t was not the original purpos,
nor is IL now pretended, that the data an
statistics here presented represent any bu
purely wholesale manufacturing estal
lishments. To have undertaken to cove
the retail and custom manufacturing e,
adjustments Of the state would have bee
physical and financial impossiblity /
the present status Of this bureau Som
5000 blanks were addressed and mailed I
ms many separate establishments through
out the state and Of this number GOOO {
75 per cent, were returned fully and CO.
rectly answered. The figures contained !
the following tables are based entrel
upon returns furnished this bureau by owe