The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-01-27

A eat ~ the Dutv on Plate CHASE Hust ne
Borne hY The Wor1ers IN thnt Iadu strY.

A cot ~ the Du,v or Plate CHASE Hust ne
| Borre ny the worIsrs IN thnt Gadu try.
The situation In the rIste-elass Industry In
this country Is very serious for the man ufactur-
era There is no market for the product and
| prices are dernoralized. Most OF the factories
are closed. and is said that not any oithem can
| be operated on the former scale OF wages with
out facing bankruptcy The Wilson bill has
brought this about by the fear OF Its passage
and the knowledge that u 1t does pass the
duty on plate glass will be reduced between
IS and 40 per cent
Mr.. Ethan A. Hitchcock Of ST. Louis. Presi-
dent OF the Crystal Plate Glass Company.
| stated the case for the manufacturers when
! he appeared before Mr. Wilson and the Ways
and Means Committee last autumn. lie said
that the plato glass makers. by means OF COM
petition and improved machinery. have In the
past few yenrs reduced the cost Of plate Rlass
until the only way left TO reduce II further Is
by cutting down the wages OF the employees
There are eight companies in this country.
operating twelve plants-four in Indiana.
seven in Pennsylvanis. and one in Missouri
Their capacity is 100000 feet OF plate
glass a year. The labor lie principally
American aud all the mater! al used excepting
soda ash. is Also maze here. There Is now
!uildinR large soda. ash plant which. II is
hnued VIII be able TO supply all the rlate.
Thousand persons are en- ployed in this indus
try, SO TINT II 10 safe to say that the present
persons. This is the number that draw their
support directly from the glass making. In
directly concerned are the families OF the men
who quarry the sand. who mine the coal and
Gynsum who caleine the Eypsum. and who
other products npd substances, that are used
in making the glass. When Euronean wages
and American me (, wages IN this Industry are
Americans are paying 10 per cent. more
for labor than the English manufacturers aud
lUl per cent. more than the Begians
But the actual pny rolls in each country show
that there Is greater number OF higli-priced
the total pny rolls for com parison. We are pay.
Ing 200 per cont more than the English and
800 per cent more than the liclGians, Then
factories knocks off on saturday Moons.
whereas the foreign laborer works from Mon-
employers gain eighteen hours n week. or a
little moro thun seven working days, in each
q gain Of % per cent in the amount produced
by the foreign factories Tho American plan
uf ito Gsy SofE PStf nf sE' C oa
men who cast the glass ip these pot have often
d2ns hs n5 by men bu a1S gene lSsy
work twice, az hard get only S44 q month.
The men Mh 9, make the pots got $40 month
The present rates Of duty on plate glass
have not been changed in eighteen years.
facs that Of tecn ilons Of feet rs ny
this country last year 1000. 900 were i'm
ported. The imported glass goes largely to
California by ship from England Mr.. Hitch
cock said to the Wilson committee that " II
these iates are reduced the price Of foreign
imported glass will be red uced. and Just in
proportion as that is reduced we must reduce
our priceh or close our works. or get the diff;
ference out OF the wages we pay for labor"
What shutting up the plate-g glass works Of tho
country-would mean can be inferred from the
fact that this one company. Of which Mr. Hitch
cock is President. has built its plant on what
was sand barren near st. Louis. and
there has erown up n village around the
works, whose men bring into that state
the enormous sum OF SlO.OOO.OOO q year .l5e-
tween 600 and 700 men. representing. per
haps. 1000 persons, are dependent on this
plant, not to speak OF between 300 and 800
men who. at another point. mine the coal that
is used In the works. 1t IL not urged by any
one that the duty on this glass be Increased.
The contention is that Nc should remain as 1t
IL, otherwise prices will be reduced and the
loss must fall on the workmcn. On the other
hand. 1t 10 asserted that there Is no proof that
any manufacturer. or any person interested
in the business in this country. has ask ed Tor
the reduction which the Wilson bill proposes.