Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-02-10

Of the good Book to sca,t thy bread upon
the waters; Tor thou shalt find it after
many days.
think "a bird in the hand 10 worth two
in the bush" With ; protective tariff We
have . good home market. How
much better OF should We be with
the doubtful increase Of our export trade
and meantime lose in measure our valua.
BILE home trade. or if not lose it, iDjure and
reduce it on account of reducing the pur.
chasing power Of our labor represented by
dollars. The free traders say, THAT,
one dollar under free trade will buy Al
much ~ two dollars under . protective
tariff SO even if labor does receive only hall
- much under free trade they viii be Al
well off, but this 10 fallacious form Of
argument As will show you. A very large
percentage Of the volume Of business trans
acted in this country 10 done on the credit
system, whether that is wise or otherwise
is not germane to this question, but
the fact exists, that countless thousands
of loans, amounting to hundreds Of millions
Of dollars, have been made and are now in
full force and must be paid in accord with
the terms of the bond, state, county, town
and city improvement bonds, all based on
what days work or dollar was worth at
the time these loans we're made. Now if
wages are lowered in conformity with free
trade standards, 10 not the taxpayer obliged
to pay larger per cent. of his earnings to
pay off those mortgages?
If man owes loan and building as
ISOLATION, 10 It not double the hardship to
him to pay his monthly dues?
] can see but one class of citizens in the
country that free trade and a lowering
of the scale of prices will benefit, and
that has in this country attained to quite
respectable proportions in point of numbers,
that is, those people who have their
property now Invested in bonds and
securities affording them fixed and
absolutely unvarying income, or the
large number of office holders whose salar-
les are fixed by law; those people would
then be enabled to buy the same things they
now have, at half the present cost; and
gentlemen of the Protective League these
people are the "shouters" for free trade,
they are backed up by few college gradu-
ates, this latter class would like to have q
world built according to their plans and
specifications. and run it on theory.
OF course it matters not how impractic able
VI CL6uAy IA luC0 may VIC osol eS0 snCAC 81 =
always men to drop into line, and if
political party becomes involved in it. it is
then an issue to be fought out.
So far as free lumber is concerned, if it
had the desired effect of reducing the SELL
ing mill price of lumber to the extent that
the duty is removed not one mill in ten in
the State of Maine could run at anything
near the present prices of labor, this p0r-
ton of the Wilson bill was brought about
by the farmers'of the Western states where
they raised large quantities of wool. They
said if you are going to let wool come in
free we must have free lumber as a small
compensation for our loss of the wool busi-
ness, the original free trader demanded
that wooden and worsted goods should
come in at a great reduction of duty if
not free, then the manufacturers of
wooden goods in this country said If
YOU are to let wooden goods in free. we
must have free wool from Australia and
South America in order to reduce the cost
Of our product, that we may, SO far as we
can, compete with England and Germany
on wooden fabrics. So to mollify the
granger element the edict went forth that
we must have, we needed free lumber more
than anything else. Then they also took
the lofty ground that our forests ought to
have a chance to crest" and grow. Now,
gentlemen, am in the lumber business.
What little | have is invested in timber
lands and saw mills. The mill is no good
unless we have logs to saw. By what
manner of right do these free trade fanatics
say to me you must not cut any more lum-
Der from your lands, they must
"rest?" would ask these wise
gentlemen what l am to do and
what is my family to do while my land is
"resting," l neither know nor care about
future generations, have to deal with this
generation as you have. Idle mills in this
State means a very serious blight to the
prosperity of our people. it is idle to say the
men employ ed in the lumber business can
find work at some other trade, but that is
not as easy to do as you may think. If you
abolish by any process of law the great
lumber business of this State, countless
other trades connected or dependent on the
lumber business would also be paraly zed,
we do not have an over abundance of work
to offer our laborers in this State.
There was time few years ago when
our young men on account OF better wages
offered them, went West, but many of them
are now UhCk uUWc duu uCoheisAAS %
younger crop of men have come on the
scene of action who have been taught BY
their older brothers to stay in Maine. con-
sequently the lumber industry is today Civ
ing more constant employment at better
wages to our own people than at any time
within my knowledge.
There are employed in this State in the
various processes of cutting, hauling, driv-
ing and saving logs, about $4,000 men. 1t
is safe to say that one-half of these men
have families and if four persons constitute
a family 81 800 people are directly depend
ent on this industry for maintenance.
Now as l stated before if the re-
moval of the present duty lowers the
price of spruce lumber to the extent OF the
present duty of two dollars wages must
be cut one-half and then there would
be no profit in the business. Men do not
do business for fun or glory, if it can be
avoided: they do business for what money
they can make, just As laborers DO for
wages.
The mill owners in this State a. rule
have paid good wages, not extravagant,
nor prodigal, but good. fair compensation,
for services. rendered, but the passage OF
the Wilson hill as now framed, abolishes
good wages for any man in the business,
II that - no