The Indianapolis journal., 1893-12-11
FREE RAW MATERIALS AND LABOR.


In discussing the relation of labor to
tariff reform" in his recent message. Mr. |
Cleveland said:
The sharp competition and active struggle
ted deand 0an for tbeir en 10 soo m tbe nar
row market to which they confined.
Then follows a suspension of work in mills
and factories, discharge OF employees and
distress in the homes of our worlSingmen.
Even If the often-diSproved assertion could
be made good that lower rate Of wages
would result from free raw materials and
low tariff duties, the intelligence of our
workingmen leads them quickly to discover
that their steady employment, permitted by
free raw materials, is the most important
factor in their relation to tariff legislation.
He had just been saying that the tax on
raw materials. by depriving American man.
them from competing with the foreign man.
ufacturers in the markets of the world and
virtually restricted them to the home mar
ket. This limited demand being supplied,
then follows" he says, "a suspension of
work in mills and factories, discharge Of
employees and distress in the homes of our
workingmen." The same idea was advanced
by Chairman Wilson, of the ways and
There is scarcely one OF our great indus
tries," he said. ''in which the present ca
pacity to produce has not far outstripped
the demand, and remunerative consumption
of the home market. BY the labors and ac-
tlvity of six months they are generally able
to produce one entire years consumption
Mr.. Bynum advanced the same idea in his
speech at Atlanta, a few years ago, when
he told his hearers that the manufactures
in the city where he lived supplied the de-
mand for their products in half the year,
and the other half they were idle, while
their employees walked the streets hunting
for employment. These statements are so
manifestly false that it is not worth while
to controvert them. Everybody knows
that in ordinary times our manufactures
are busy the year round. The present period
of depression is exception, but we speak
Of things as they were before the Cleveland
panic began, when manufactures every
where were running full handed and full
time. Who ever heard of a factory running
one half of the year and closing the other
half because the home market was glutted?
Certainly nobody but free-trade theorists
who draw on their imagination for their
facts
But how about the claim that the removal
/ OF the duty material will give work.
ingmen steadier employment? The theory
is that cheap materials will enable the Amer
ican manufacturer to enter foreign markets.
thereby enabling him to run his factory
full time instead of half time. as is falsely
alleged he now does But suppose he gets
free raw material, he will then only be on
an equality with his foreign competitor in
this particular. while he will still have to
pay much higher wages. Free raw materials
will not place the American manufacturer
on equality with foreign manufacturers.
For instance. 1t is proposed to remove the
duty wool. This would admit Australian
wool free and give the American manu-
| facturer free raw material. But the British
manufacturer gets Australian wool free al
| ready and, as he has advantage in freights
and wages. would still be able to undersell
| the American manufacturer. How is the
American manufacturers market going to
be enlarged by free wool? Is it expected
that he will be able to undersell British
| manufacturers in Great Britain, German
| manufacturers in Germany. or those Of
France in that country? The idea is too
absurd for serious consideration.
Free raw material will not benefit Amer
lean workingmen. The assertion that they
are out of employment half the year is
false. They have steadier employment now,
or have had up to the beginning of the
Cleveland panic. than the workingmen of
any other country. Not only that. but their
wages average from 70 to 100 per cent. high
er than those of the workingmen of any
other country. Free raw materials might
benefit certain classes of manufacturers, but
it would be at the expense of an American
industry crippled. destroyed. and 1t would
not benefit workingmen a particle.