Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-06-20


located Siong the Fox river, and they are
together running out 1868 miles OF paper
rs inches wide every tWenty-four hours.
Include the mills out on the Wisconsin
river, forty miles inland, and this prod
uct of one days labor will stretch out
100 miles, or in Il year put twenty CIR
dies of white paper around the globe at
the equator or a paper cork-Scr9W around
old Earth from one pole to the other.
And yet one might fill all these miles OF
paper and still ask for more to Write
down the complaints of the people against
the Democratic party that was to brinS
in the golden age of labor by paralyZlnS
such industries rs this, because the men
who control them are "robber baronS,
paying good wages because of protection.
'5The Mckinley law placed higher
duty on print paper, and even tempted
the great saint of tariff reform, 6royer
Cleveland. and his friends into the FOX
river valley to take advantage ct NC
kinleyism, Wisconsin water power and
Wisconsin spruce. to lay up treasures III
wood pulp. 1t was just about the time
the Mckinley bill was framed, and while
Grover Cleveland was dcnOunclng 1t as
the greatest crime of the age that the
Manufacturing Investment company OF
New York was organized with William
&. Whitney as president and Dan La
mont, Don Dickinson and Grover CleYe-
land among the stockholders, to manu-
facture sulphite pulp here at Appleton.
Their capital was 100000, and they We're
ready to take advantage of the tariff OF
81 ton which the Mckinley bill placed
on bleached chemical wood pulp. They
were like that other apostle of free trade,
Tom l.. Johnson. of Cleveland, o., who
would not allow his antagonism to Nc
Kinleyism prevent him from enjoying the
benefits and adding to his surplue by tax
ing the best possible position under the
folds of the flag of protection.
protection, water power, spruce tor-
ests, and the secret of wood pulp have
planted $10,0O0,0OO in paper and pulp
mills along the five miles of this mill
race called the Fox river, which is sup
piled and regulated by the big mill pond,
81 miles long and II miles wide, called
Winnebago lake This combination has
also planted S3,000,O00 in paper and
pulp mills on the Wisconsin river. max
ing a total of 81, 100000 invested in
this industry in the Eighth Congressional
district of Wisconsin. These mills have
turned out about 525 tons of paper and
$50 tons of pulp every twenty-four hours,
and the product of each day is valued ut
nearly $4,000. In all the work incident
to making of a ton of paper or pulp 1t
is estimated that there is employment
for twenty men, SO that the paper ana
pulp industry of this section of Wlscon-
sin has given labor to more than li,OoO
men, in the forest cutting the spruce, IN
the rafting and on the railroads, IN the
mills, and in handling the product
But Il little matter of employment Tor
1000 men, the investment of Sl3,OOO,-
600 a product valued at $4,000 Il day,
and 100 miles of paper to supply the
printing presses every day is inSlgmh-
cant to Congressman Barnes ana the
Democratic party, which is arrayed
against intelligence.
.AH these mills have been running
oh MI bn oar paving
good wages and keeping the miles OF
white paper constantly rolling out, WITH
out being able to supply the demand
Last year they did not suffer, because the
Worlds fair made an extra demand Tor
print paper but this year they have had
to cut wages. and they are sending their
samples to Europe and trying to compete
with the English and German paper
manufacturers just because they cannon
find a ready market for all their paper at
home They can keep the mills running
all the time easier than half the time and
they can afford to sell paper IN Europe al
\ sacrifice to secure the trade and to get
rid of the surplus. But the properties
have deprecated in value, and one OLD
DaDer manufacturer said that those mills
would not today sell for one-halt what
they cost or would have sold for IN 1917,
simply because the determined warfare
of the Democratic party on the manuIac-
turerS of the country has destroyed the
confidence of the people III this business
as we'll as every other.
''Two years ago George Conrad one OF
the largest German paper manufacturers
at Breslau. visited the Fox River Paper
mills to study the American improve
ments, and while here he made a COM
parison of wages paid by German paper
makers and American paper-makerS. He
furnished the figures that represented
wages paid by himself, and Peter Thorn
furnished the figures paid in the Kimber-
Iy & Clark company mills. of which he is
superintendent. These figures were as fol-