The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-01-16
WORDS OF A WORKER.
A Man Who Has Worked in Both Coun-
tries Refutes Heresy of DOctrinaires.

Mr. James Whitaker would not be mis-
taken for native of this country by any
body who should talk with MIN. He is En-
glish by birth. and lived in England so long
that he has the accent of the worker in
the British factories. where he spent more
than half his years and acquired the skill
which gave him better place in an Amer
lean factory. But Mr. Whitaker is very
proud to call himself an American citizen
now. For several years he has been a wool
buyer for the extensive house of Howell
Bros. & Co, spinners manufacturers and
importers of dry goods, Philadelphia. He
buys hundreds of bales of wool of George
Merritt & Co., and hundreds more of other
dealers every year. He knows the wooden
business from raw material to finished
goods.
Il notice." said Mr. Whitaker, that one
of your papers which knows nothing about
it, asserts that the cotton and wooden
workers in this country make up for their
better wages by giving more work in the
same time. That is absurd. Every man
who has been in wooden mills in England
and here knows that the statement is bosh
1 did as much work in the same line in
a day in a British mill as | did here when
L came, and / came because 1 got much.
better wages, as have thousands and thou
sands of others. But l cannot remember
that any of them ever went back to their
old places.
II in England two years ago, and I
visited a relative living near Bradford, who
is a wool scourer. He was working for $50
a week Where L work in Philadelphia
they pay from 50 to $40 a week for doing
Just the same work. said to him, you
don't get much roast beef out of that to
which he replied that there had not been
fresh meat in the house for three months.
L went TO the meat market and ordered
sent TO his house twelve pounds of the best
beef for roasting, and l paid just L
shillings for it-that is. "A cents a pound.
the factory, yet their wages would not en-
able them TO eat fresh meat once in three
months.
but more about wages in the two coun-
tries: In English wooden mills - cents is
paid for sorting 100 pounds of Australian
wool, but in the United States 90 cents is
paid for the same work IN England .rb
cents has been the price paid for weaving
the same class of upholstery for which 16
and Il cents now. | could run through all
the branches of the industry and show that
much more money is paid for the same
work here than in England"
Mr.. Whitaker then read from the Brad
ford observer, paper published in the
date of Dec 20. in which the passage of the
Wilson hill is predicted and the great ben
eft it viii Ne To the British wooden indus
porter, he said:
You viii note that in the town of Hal
flax. I'm the county OF Yorkshire eight niles
from Bradford is located one of the largest
carpet manufacturers in England. I re-
member when | lived there, twenty-five
years ago. John Crossley X Sons used to
send twenty railroad carloads OF carpets
away 10 the United States every dav but
"A protective tariff has fostered a carpet in
dustry in this country giving employment
to thousands and making the price OF all
but the finest grades much cheaper here
than when England supplied the American
market With a duty Of 80 per cent. the
British maker can compete for the finest
goods, because labor Is 50 much cheaper
there than here. When the duty is made
% per cent. al ValoTem by the Wilson bin.
l tel you we must prepare for lower wages
or give up the carpet industry.
Again. suppose we can make goods a
cheap as England and France under
Wrecker Wilson'S hill. what benefits does
labor get? Reduced wages means the re-
duced purchasing power Of wage earners.
In Philadelphia hundreds of wOrklngmen
have bought houses. paying from $500 TO
$1,000 for them out Of their good wages.
There IS no home buying in the old coun-
try and no building and loan associations
sustained by the savings from good wages
for workers. There have not been such
wages"