New-York tribune., 1893-12-24

RAW MATERIAL A VARIABLE ARTICLE.
1T Is WORTH NOTHING UNTIL LABOR is Ex
PENDED UPON 1T.


To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir Wha, hue and cry "our friends. the
enemy" alias the Democratic party. makes over
raw materials, What is raw material? Is iron
or. a raw" material? Yes when in the ground
nfty feet from the surface and stl undlsurbed. Is
lumber raw" material? Yes when still standing
aul growing in the forest L. wool material?
Possibly yes. when eth the Sleeps back. But
iron ore lumber and wool white sim material.
are ~ NJ value have no price. and 30 long as they
remain In that state OF use. II there Is
market value attached 20 them II is solely on ac-
count u prospective labor which may be expended
uron them. r. the miner the in ,he ground is
his raw material. and the when landed the
surface of the earth s his finished product. So
with tho sWclter or the plgirQn manufacturer, the
the surface IS his raw material. while pig
iron is his finished product. Then the pig iron is
tine mntcriel for tho rolling mill or the manu-
fac'urcr 81 bar iron. while bar iron is his finished
product which in iis turn becomes raw material
for the blacksmith for his horscshoes other ar;l
cies which may D" desired. This b. followed
through successive transformations alternately from
raw material TO finished product. which Is the raw
material for Tho succeeding artist 81 with lumber.
the tre" In thc forest is the raw material for the
lufnbefman's log. the log Is the material for
ih. siwniil which produces tho finished product of
pluks. which is. IN turn. the raw material for the
carpenter or cabinetnnkcr. and II is the same in
cvcrY line u Manufactured goods Of whatever name
or nature
Raw material is ~ no value 50 long ~ 1t so re-
mains. and appreciates IN value only az labor may
be- expended upon IT. 40 labor. no value. Labor is
the sine qua non IN producing - cents worth
x iron ore. from which more labor may be de-
v,opcI s. ~ worth "f bar lron $40 worth of horse
SHOES $50 worth - table knives. $500 worth ~
Gnc needles. So 80 worth of shirt buttons S2oo0D
worth of watchsprnss. or S2j00ocD worth Of pallet
araors OI,.d In wa,chep. Where shall the llnc be
drawn as to what f., OF is not raw material? Shall
II D." ~ the ore when first dug ont or at the fin
shcl product 4 IN" steel for the raw material FOR
tho waichspring manufacturers Then again. why
shall raw material even at lts first appearance
above ground. be an exception 20 the rule OF pro-
lection of our Industries? II the wages paid to the
miner In England is one-haf or twO-thlrds Of The
wages pnid Ia this country. England will have that
alvaniap" cvery time. arl their VII be used 10
the exclusion Of oar own. mines Will remain un-
Developed. and our laborcrs remain III" along that
linc. And the same principle VIII extend through
every grade or raw material 'so-callcdl ard the fin
ishcl product MANUFACTURED article.
Following out tho lines of thought which may be
suggested by the foregoing | have come to this
conclusion. That there IS nothing that enters into
the cost Of a manufactured article TO make dif-
ference In its cost but labor Raw material. es We
have s~cn is worth norhing and WIN 80 remain "a
long as 1t Is raw material liut the first movement
made hy labor TO obtain that raw material even
the fret blow of tn" picl, to dig II causes II 10
appreciate and II appreciates only In proportion to
the amount and the quality OF tn" labor which may
bc bestowed. If this. as | think. underlying prln-
cp,c can be fully appreciated and enter into our
common thoughts on thls subject. the fact that the
price OF labor in this country is anywhere from %
10 100 per cent more than In any other country will
be found to be the key II all consideration OF tariff
anl its necessity. II i3 an mposslblllty TO import
I.o0D dozen shoves To this country and sell them.
without displaclng 900 dozen shovels which might
Ia, hpen ado I'm
viii hold good through every line OF manufactured
goods
Our Democratic friends said In their platform az;
ter dcnouncing "Repuhlican protection ~ a fraud
that the Federal Government has no constitu-
tional powcr to imiosc ana collect ar' du'',s a 'S
for what other purpose Is our tarin collected other
OF tarn at all was to raise revenue. know OF
no other purpose. IT, however. In laying that tariff
discrimination * made SO ~ to protect the Indus
other lands where tn" wages are from 30 to - per
Of the Democratic party. 40 Democrat has as vet
only" II they deny the right and tho reasonable
ness Of Iaying discriminate tarn in favor OF our
thing alike II there Is imported into this country.
t6e I'nlted states. say are stoOOOOO then we see
hat the iarIn must be aid at 70 per cent to produce
rnuc ony': they mean what The Ncw-I ork sun
says does one from which the principle OF pro
clc which can be produced duplicated in this
country should be- on the free list'' and tariff
M all laid upon IT, because every penny collected
ON such goods be made here Is protective In
ma effect althou1 II be what some OF them
call ''Incidental." by which ! suppose they mean
''acctlental" and II would seem by the conduct OF
the leaders Of the Democratic party that any
benefit that the United states might derive from
their being in power would be accidental rather
than ncntlorel Bring the wages In this country 10
the same cvH as that Of other countries and all
reason FOR anything but horizontal certain per
cent tax on all imports vanishes.
brooklyn Dec. T. 1890. II. n. DEADIE
ELECTRICITY VS.. STEAM ON THE CANAL.
To the Editor OF The Tribune
sir Although own one Of the most economical
and powerful steam canalboats the Erie Canal.
would chccrfully adopt electric power when II