New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-09-18

| complained that the existing tariff has pfe'en'
| or. 10 any great extent, checked iinio' ,,.,
| and nearly every Of them has franky "u''i'''
that nrices of most articles. II not lower 10 'he
/ American consumer. are at least no uea'e' "
! than before the enactment Of the tarin la" Oh
1890 Another proposition. the truth OF Which ''''
been attested by every manufacturer ana "orN'"e
: man who has appeared before the con"it'ee' -
that the cost of domestic production mas oee"
duced 10 the lowest point which will allow ule
o, ~ the nresent rates OF wages, and that
I n reduction of the existing scale or duties wiz
inevitably cause a corresponding reduc'o" VI
"aseS' GREAT INJURY WOULD RESULT.
MT .o.,,,,on, also shows that. irrespective Of
the injury to American producers that wou.n ,,oa
! coused nv the repeal OF the duties on so-caiisi
raw materials" which would thus pe Dioe
into unfair competition with like materiais Pr
duced In the United States. the dement, u w
American manufacturer would be small compareu
.',,s ,ha ,niurv caused by reduction in the rates
=, d,tv On manufactured goods II Is easy 10 see
,bat This would be the when the fact Is CON
sjdered that percentage Of cost OF ra" hh.ei'a'
IN the finished product is relatively snail-oite"
insignificant, in fact, when compareu VIZ" Wv
percentage of cost of labor in the same product
,rb,s &c a fact which. simple and plain as IL APP
nears is studously ignored by most "tarir re-
formers"
/ Another favorte theory of free traders mas re-
ceved rude and stunning blows within inc last
Z
duties whatever were imposed upon imported artl-
cles American manufacturers and producers except
nerhans those along the Atlantic seaboard, would
ba fairly well protected against foreign compet-
ton by the greater cost of transportation OF the
foreign articles as compared with domestic aru-
cles to interior points of distribution and consump
ton. This falracy has been thoroughly exposed
by testimony which cannot be successfully contro-
verted and which conclusively shows that the
European manufacturer and producer enjoys equal
| If not superior advantages. as compared with the
domestic manufacturer and producer. IN the matter
of transportation charges. 1t has been shown that
wool can be transported from London, which Is the
| great wool market of the world, to New-York or
Philadelphia at rates which are only one-twelith
| of the rates on wool from Colorado or any other
| State or Territory west Of the Missouri River TO
| the same cities. and as low or lower than wool
| can be sent from Ohio, Michigan or any of the
other Western States TO the same markets. 'hdI
crockery-ware be shipped from Liverpool Ham
burg Bremen and other European ports to Chicago
| ST. Louis st. Paul. Milwaukee. Detroit. Buhaio ana
other inland cities at less cost for transportation
| than the same ware can be transported from the
potteres of New-Jersey Ohio and Virginia TO the
same places. and that the rate on pottery from
Trenton to New-York averages as high as the rate
from Liverpool to the same city; that marble can
tie transported under through bills of ladlng from
! the Italian ouarres not only to New-iork. Phila-
delpha, Boston. Baltimore, Savannah New-oiieahs
and other coast cities but to Chicago. Milwaukee De-
treit St Paul st. Louis. Cincinnati, Louisville and
| other inland cities. at lower cost than from
quarries in Vermont, Tennessee and Georgia to the
| same cities The free traders never seem to have
investigated this subject and the disclosure OF the
| facts was surprise them. Some of them even
| now appear to think that 1t must cost more TO
transport a ton of imported goods from 81 LOUIS
| to place in the interior of Missouri than it does
to transport ton of domestic goods over the same
route
RELATIVE RATES OF WAGES.
In no previous investigation by any Committee
Of Ways and Means has the testimony in regard
to the relative rates of wages paid to labor in the
United States and in the United Kingdom. France.
Belgium. Germany Italy and Austria. been so
clear, conclusive and tisfactory that submitted
during the pending t,estigation. That American
labor receives from TO 800 per cent more than la
Dor in like industries in the countries named Is a
| fact that has not only been proved by the direct
testimony of who have worked for wages in
| in the same occupations in the United States and in
foreign countries and by thorough Investigations
| made by manufacturers and officials OF the Govern
| ment but has been admitted to be fact by I'm
| porters as well as by one foreign manufacturer,
! Mr.. Latzko who is Austris's Imperial Commission
| er to the Worlds Columbian Exposition. The only
person who has testified to the contrary-and his
testimony co INSISTED of bare assertions, which have
since been completely disproved, agent of for
|
to consist Of part fact to four parts imagina-
4 ton.
Intimately related to the subject OF wages is the
question of the relative efficiency and productive
ness OF American labor and European labor After
| the free-traders forced to admit, most re-
luctantly that wages 100 to 800 per cent higher
in the United States than the wages Of men en-
ployed i'm kindred industries in various countries
of Europe, they made brand-new discovery. 1T
is true" they admitted, that American labor is
paid better. but American does much. pro-
duces much in given time. two three
persons do in Europe and therefore the labor cost
of production here is no greater than there" This
! is a sublimely beautiful theory. and which
strongly appealed to Yankee pride not to say
Yankee vanity but like all of the other beautiful
and captivating theories which the free-traders
construct and invite an admiring world to embrace.
it lacks substance; there facts support or
justify it.
THE THEORY snRINKS AND sHRIVET.s.
No is it exposed to contact with actual
facts than it shrnks and shrives and loses all its
charming features. The concurrent uniform and
| almost unanimous testimony OF the men who have
| appeared before the committee and testified on
! this point, whether they who had them
selves worked in mills and factories in Europe
well AZ in this country manufacturers who had
employed labor In foreign country well as In
the United States, manufacturers whose opinions
based upon careful, patient and Intelligent
| personal observation abroad and experience at
home, this testimony that new theory Is Ut
terly destitute of any substantial foundation ard
| that all the facts opposed to it, And ii may
lie added that the Austrian commissioner Mr..
| Latzko who is a practical manufa cturer and a
| large employer Of labor al home who himself
| worked in Belgium and German factories in his
| earlier years and who has repeatedly visited the
United States and carefully and thoroughly inves-
| tigated this subject, testified To the same effect
| Another favOrite theory of Free Traders which
| has beSn rulc q
cation began is that the American consumer pays
a tariff tax equal TO the amount Of the duty
upon every article he consumes If II be subject TO
duty. whether the particular article he consume :
/ be OF foreign OF domestic manufacture or pTOddc-
ton. Not only have foreign producers asserted
that they. and not the American consumer. pay
the duty, but they have supported their assertions
vii facts that gainaAY but ARents "