The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-12-30
PROSPECTS FOR "a
Change for the Better AntiCi-
pated by Jersey City's
Leading Citizens.
WANT THE WILSON BILL PASSED.
Tariff Reform on the Lines of
President Cleveland's Mes
sage Will Restore Con-
fdenee.
WANT THE WILSON BILL PASSED.
Manufacturers, Lawyers, Business
Men and Bank Presidents In
teryiewed By "The News"

Without doubt there is no more important
question agitating the public mind at present
than the prospects of business for next year.
This is a matter which concerns every class
of our citizens-the professional man as well
as the artisan. To positively say that a
change for the better will take place next
Tuesday would be nonsensical. But to say
that a change for the better will take place
III the near future is an assertion that the
signs of the day bear out.
The advent of the Democratic party into
control of the machinery of government gave,
as it were, the controlling party AN attack of
chills and fever. Glass legislation, as sym
bolized in the Mckinley tariff bill, had
placed in control of the martS of trade, capt.
tai, and had driven out from any say in the
concern of the people, labor. Result was
control of all channel of trade by trusts,
thus killing competition. Dictatorship is
never good, 40 matter in what shape or form
it endeavors to make itself felt.
The placing in power of the Democratic
party by the people meant an end to this
state of affairs, but it could not be attained
without a stubborn fight. That fight has
caused the depression in business, but FORUM
ately it is about over, and the early passage
of the Wilson bill will be the knockout blow
to class legislation, and the victory of the
wageeaTners over unjust capital.
This is not mere theorizing on cause ard
effect. Facts are stubborn arguments, and
the facts which bear out the above asser-
lions are contained in the interviews set
forth below. The ''bright young mem of
The JERSEY CITY NEWS were instructed to
visit prominent manufacturers lawyers and
business men, and request them to answer
the following queStions:-
First-How long will the present "pinch''
last2
Second-When will a change take place?
Third-What are the prospects for the
spring business?
Fourth-What will bring about the change?
The answers to these questions will be
found in the following Interviews
PRINTING AND BOoKBINDING.
Nh. Edward Barr of the Barr-Dinwiddie
Printing and Bookbinding Company of
Greenville, which is one of the largest con-
Germs of the kind in the State and employs a
large force of employees, when interviewed,
said:-'I am happy to say that my business
is better than it has been for some time.
When the business depression set it last sum-
mer we slightly reduced our working force,
but only a few weeks elapsed before we
were compelled to take all our employees
back and in addition a number of new hands.
Now that the holiday rush is over / expect
that the usual dullness will set in and con-
tinue two or three months at the most.
This will not affect our employees, however.
We will have steady employment for them
When asked how the Wilson bill, if it be-
comes a law, would affect his business. he
said:-
Il am heartily in favor of this measure.
1t viii not only help us as manufacturers,
but our employees as well. We will be able
to make books cheaper, thereby increasing
the demand and likewise our profit. Our
employees will, of course, receive as much
benefit as We do. The Wilson bill provides
for the admission of raw leather free of duty.
Leather ought TO be free. We use a large
quantity of this material, and | hope that
the bill will pass"
RAS GOODS MANUFACTURE.
/ next visited the prosperous firm of
OBrien & Williams, manufacturers of brass
chandeliers and gas fixtures, of Gator ave-
nue.. Mr.. Thomas F.. O'Brien said that his
factory is running on full time, and that the
outlook for a brisk spring trade is good.
''The one great obstacle that confronts our
trade at present" said he, lis over-produc-
ton. Improved machinery is making the
manufacture of gas chandeliers much easier.
and as a result there is an over-production.
Articles that furnished a man with one
weeks work can now be turned out by ma
chinery in a day. This, of course, has revo-
lutionized our trade, but in spite of
the improved machinery our men are kept
busy. l nave carefully studied the Wilson
bill, and I am of the opinion that it would
help our business. The admission of raw
copper will help us. There is not enough
copper in this country to supply the demand,
and England and other foreign countries
could send over here all the copper that we
need and which our country cannot furnish.
DEPRESSION DUE TO TRUSTS.
81 am firmly convinced that the present
depression in business is due, not to antici-
pated tariff legislation, but to that octopus
which is fastening its tentacles about the
Threats of our workmen, the trust. This is
the greatest enemy of prosperity, and when
I say this 1 speak from experience. The
trust does away with competition, and as