Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-03-24
NEW ENGLAND IRON WORKS.

Have They uccn closing Up ~ Account
OF the obstructive Effect" OF our TnI :
IN.
One uf the latest bulletins issued by
the census bureau gives tho results Of
an exhaustive investigation into the
| status of the New EnVianI ITO. ;..,sr.-
try By DR.. William NJ. Sweet, of Phila-
delphia This report, while It does not
present n uniformly gratifying array
| of facts, will cifectually set at rest the
walls OF the "reformers," who have
been claiming that the partial decad-
once of this New England industry Ia
due 10 the destructive influence of the
tariff. II seems that while the humber
Of establishments has decreased, both
invested capital and value Of products
have increased, as the following table
(which includes blast furnace, iron and
steel rolling mills, Besscmer OPEN
hearth and crucible steel works, and
FORCES and bloomaries) shows:
Iron and Sisl Works. 1851. 1900,
TotS Gt c Ss'RSi'S nTesIed 81 uans 40
Az. No hands employed, s65i 6,6i5
Total wagcaplid. ..;.;..... s9,a57eli ss,e2i,9is
Total value S &c Of products -. iiSisSS lS'ioSi
That such an increase in invested
capital should DO accompanied by de-
crease In the number OF establishments
would be quite uucXplainable were II not
a fact that this decrease was only appar-
emit and not real, the discrepancy being
due TO the different modes Of collecting
the statistics for the two periods. "In
1880, says DIR. Sweet, "whero u rolling
mill was operated in connection with
steel plant the works were tabulated as
two establishments In 1890, owing to
tho growth Of the manufacture Of steel
and the consequent impossibility of
making any accurate division between
the iron and steel establishments works
consisting of n rolling mill and a steel
plant have been considered as one es-
Enlistment" The statistics relating 10
the number of workingmen employed
also require few words in cxplana-
ton. The figures for 1880 include not
only the labor directly employed at the
New England furnaces (which should
be the real basis of comparison), but
also the labor engaged in mining and
other operations conducted in connec-
ton with these works. In tho statistics
for 1890, on the other hand, all data re-
lating TO labor engaged in ore mining,
charcoal burning and other indus
tries dependent on the manufac-
ture Of pig iron, but not directly con-
nected with II, have been omitted.
Tho figures for these two periods, so
far as they relate to the number Of
workingmen employed, can not, there
fore, be compared On the other hand,
when we consider the average wages
paid to the individual, we find a crafty
ing increase. In 1880 the average wages
were sSss per year; in 1890 they were
SASS per year, an increase Of 20 per cent
The cost Of the product, too, has been
steadily declining, while the quality
has not been lowered. In 1880 the mum.
Der OF tons of pig iron produced by the
blast furnaces Of New England was
80, 957, valued Mt 81, O42, 800; in 1890 II
was "a, 1856, valued at 1856, 43S In other
words, the price has fallen over 29 per
cent since 1880.
There Is nothing in these statistics
that will give the calamityite any reason
for rejoicing. While it is true that
there has been some decline, this has
been not nearly so great as was be-
loved, and II has been due not TO the
tariff, but to peculiar circumstances,
chief of which was the enormous growth
OF the industry in other and more fn-
vored parts of the country, which, says
DIR. Sweet has gradually narrowed
the market Of most of the New England
Iron mills to the limits of local demand"