St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-11
FREE LUMBER AND WAGES

George Washington Stevens, of Du-
luth, is in Washington, in company
with Gen. Alger. of match trust and
professional old soldier fame. to ell
. tighten the committee in charge of the
river and harbor bill on the question of
rafting lumber. incidentally, Mr.. Ste
VEINS eonhdeS to correspondent his
forebodIngs of the result of freeing lum-
T Der from taxation on the ever-present
poor workingman. If "times pick up"
the price Oh lumber may not be dinin-
ished, but if they do not The price is apt
to fall, in his judgment, followed by the
somewhat inconsistent opinion that lat
first the producers will probably stand
it (the decrease) in loss of profits, in
hope that return of good times or to
the tariff may put things on their pres
ent basis again; but if the situation is
prolonged. the tariff difference must in
evltably come out of the wages of
labor, or what is the same thing. off the
board of the men in the woods"
We assume that Mr.. Stevens is en-
gagged in the lumber business in some
one Of its various branches, and the
closing remark indicates that his branch
is stumpage; either specializing in that
part of the business or in numbering or
logging. cutting the pine and getting it
to the bank. We infer this from his re-
mark that the reduction in the tariff
VIII be compensated to the operators by
either reducing the wages or the board
of the men in the woods, leaving. by
ImnIinafinn fhn Of
number of men employed in rafting,
saving and handling the lumber out of
the woods unchanged. If the reduction
should be put on the board of the men
in the camps. we suppose it will take
shape in the substitution of treacle for
oleomargarine, of rusty salt pork for
fresh meats, of hard tack for soft bread
and of chicory for coffee.
There are some facts connected with
lumber tariffs and prices and wages
which Mr.. Stevens, if he is engaged in
the Lumber business, must be familiar
with, but which he suppresses with a
disregard of that entire truthfuIness
which distinguished his famous name
sake and gave to our history the incl
dent OF the Ratchet and the cherry tree:
which facts should go along with his
pessimistic opinions of the future of the
poor fellow who gets work and board in
the woods, or RATS the logs to the mill,
or plays a part IN the subsequent
changes the LOGS undergo in their adap.
tatlon to the various wants of a wood
using people as healthful corrective.
1t is the purpose of this article to supply
the omission Of Mr.. Stevens.
The tariff act of 1883 laid a tax Of two
dollars a thousand feet on white pine
lumber in the rough. The McKinlev
act of 1890 reduced this one-half. So
far from this reduction having an effect
to decrease the price of lumber, there
was marked increase in prices follow
ing it. This was due to two causes.
One was that is not the lumber manu-
Iacturer alone who makes the price of
lumber, but the owner of the stumpage.
and the increase was due TO an advance
in the price of pine on the stump.
Another cause was that the tax of one
dollar thousand. plus the cost of
freight, gave the home owner monop-
oily Of the market by barring out Cana
dian lumber. With the tax entirely off.
we apprehend that the owner of the
stumpage will exact from consumers
the advantage he will have in the mat
ter of cost of bringing Canadian lumber
to our market.
Another fact that Mr.. Stevens fails to
note is that following this reduction of
so per cent in the tax, and in spite of his
a.
inevitably come out of the wages Of
labor" there was no reduction Of wages
until the panic of last year was made
the excuse for cutting wages, in some
instances, to the exchange Of work for
mere subsistence. And this result was
entirely independent of tariffs which