The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1893-12-08
Will Kill Our Industry.

1
contains in its free entry schedule four
of the raw and prepared materials
that constitute the chief industries of
the state of Washington. These are
the lumber, lead, coal and wool indus
tries, and men who have their capital
invested in them are naturally appre-
hensive regarding the effect that will
be produced by competition in the
home market with foreign products or
a like nature. That the results will
prove detrimental to the local produc-
er and tend to cheaper the present
price of labor in order to meet the for
egn article upon an equal footing in
an open market is fact admitted by
students of economics.
The lumber interests, the chief in
dustry of the state, will, it is said, be
affected in a most destructive manner.
as the home markets will be Oren to
the British Columbia producer, who
i can it is claimed, place that product
qor sale here in Tacoma at a less price
that it can be produced for by the
American Lumbermen, owing to the
cheaper cost of the Canadian labor
and to certain other advantages the
Canadian lumberman has over the
local manufacturer.
In speaking about the effect of the
Wilson tariff bill, Percy d. Norton, as
sistant treasurer OF the st. Paul and
Tacoma Lumber company and presi-
dent of the State Lumberman's asso-
citation, said, Friday evening:
"There is a good deal of division of
opinion in relation to the effect of the
removal of the tariff upon the lum-
Der industry. AS far as trade to for
eign ports is concerned, we will stand
in very nearly the same relation as at
the present time. The removal of the
tariff will not give our British Column
bia competitors any more advantage
than it has now in foreign trade, eX-
cepting, inasmuch as their production
and capacity may lie increased by
their increased trade in the United
States.
f British Columbia producers get
their logs and lumber much cheaper
| than we do here; first, by reason OF
/ cheaper labor, and then again by
S cheaper stumpage, which reduces the
4 cost of their logs. The way their tim
/ Der grants or limits are given by theil
t government is most favorable to them
0 as for a number of years to come they
e will only be cutting their most avail
It able timber; that is the timber thai
t. lies contiguous to the water and car
be gotten most cheaply to the mills
That this is q fact is demonstrated
u very often by the purchase of British
% Columbus logs by some of the mill
II on the Sound.
- with the reduction of the tariff
u the British Columbia producer will bt
= able to place his lumber in Californi;
70 ports at less cost to him than the mill
= of Washington can do. The Sound
- mills, in shipping lumber to Califor
~ MIA, are obliged to ship entirely il
'e American bottoms, while the mil
~ men in British Columbia can ship il
- vessels flying any flag; and this 0
v itself will give them advantage enough
% to secure the trade, and certainly
- ~ together with their cheap labor, Civ
~ them quite leverage over us.
/ "Again, one of the great market
for our lumber is in the eastern states
H. to which we ship both by water (whicl
! shipments are of course subject to tn
H. same disadvantage as in shipping t
y u California; and by rail. British Col
~ umbia mills can ship their lumbe
u over the Canadian Pacific road t
II where it crosses the line into tn
10 United States, untrammeled by an
u interstate commerce law, and whe
~ the price at which lumber is placed i
~ the east approXimates so near to tn
cost of production as it does at pre-
sent, the concession thus derived b
the foreigners give them very appal
ent advantage.
NC "There has been in the past fe,
- years, great increase of the manu-
~ featuring capacity of lumber mills OF
~, Puget Sound. 1t is very evident t
~ men interested in the business tina
~ the destruction of the present tart
~, W. will compel them to decrease thei
~ output or else bring the cost of pre-
n duction down to the minimum poin
10 IN order to compete with the foreig
- article In the home market. OF course
~ the men engaged in the lumber indus
~ try of the United States, or, speakin
+ more especially, of the Pacific coast
40 will not sit down and allow their trad
i, to be taken away from them without
: fight, and their only way to win will
be to reduce the wage of the working
~ men down equal to that received b
~ the British Columbia workman, as a
p present SO per cent. of the cost of lum
y, =, Der delivered on board cars or vessel
- is represented by labor. 1t may b
-. even necessary for the local lumber
~ men to go below the scale paid by O
- northern neighbor in order to over
q come the advantage they will have il
the cost of transportation when Amer
o lean ports are thrown open free to the
. output. 1t makes no matter from
y what point of view you may look a
the question, it will all simmer dowr
: and hit labor every time.
!, GAS a matter of fact, Americans vii
;, not sit down and see their large invest
. ments lying idle. They will make 6
: strenuous fight to hold all the trade
> they have and to increase it, and the
= passage of the Wilson bill will only de.
! lay for some years the return of pros.
porous times to this section. You can
: ask any business man or banker what
business most nearly indexes the con.
dition of the Sound country, and he
, will tell you to watch the price of the