River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1894-09-20
FRENCH FASHIONS.
James Gordon Bennett Wants Us
to Use Them.
Tie Urges larger Importations of French
Silks and the IdIeness of American
Labor Would Close Our silk Fac
tories-The Motto of the
New York Herald.

Mr.. James Gordon Bennett, of the
Franeo-American Herald, is developing
into quite a humorist. This latent tai
ent will be surprise to Mr.. BENEFITS
many friends, bat possibly they have
never heard his discussions upon econ
omic questions wherein lies the hui
NOR, dry humor in this instance, be-
cause it bears only upon silk goods, in
ferentially rpon French silks, but the
humor may develop moisture when il
reaches the wine and spirit schedule,
even should it he extra dry" humor.
As this student passes the A Il of
tariff rudiments we may look for some
profound lectures upon the utility of
French goods carried in French steam
ers to the American market. 1t is. per-
haps, not surprising that the lectures
of Prof. Wilson have befogged School
boy Bennett. who says:
American ladies generally will have TO get
along with few and scant silk dresses IL the
senate's protective tariff becomes law.
This may be true, but not in the way
Mr.. Bennett looks a. the question. lie
says that:
silk goods OF all kinds. which have been very
tariff went into operation, will not be sensibly
cheapened
Here is a deliberate falsehood, writ
ten and printed either through gross
ignorance or with maliciously deceit
full intent. " Mr.. James Gordon Ben
nett We're a married man, and if he
lived in America instead of in France,
his wife would be able to tell him that
the price of silk dress goods has never
been cheaper in the American market
than since the Mckinley tariff became
law. If Mr.. BENEFITS paper speaks of
the price of French silk dress goods in
the French market, of which his bach-s
elor experience may constitute him an
expert authority, we bow to his supe-
rior knowledge, but when he makes
any such statement regarding the
American market it is so grossly false
as to be regarded almost as a species
of French extra dry" after dinner
humor.
The schoolboye e. homist says farther:
There is no shadow of excuse for placing any
protective" duty on silk goods. Our silk man
ufacturers get their raw silks and reeled silk
free of duty and have every facility for manu-
featuring
But what of the labor? Does not this
one item constitute at least as per cent.
of the total cost of manufacturing "sillx
dresses" Does Mr.. James Gordon Ben
nett mean that Americans who earn
their living in our silk factories should
work for few centimes a dav. the
same as the French do? Under no
Other possible conditions is there mo
shadow OF excuse for placing any pro
tective' duty on silk goods"
But let us look a little further and
we find the true inwardness of the
French advocates pleading:
lower rate Of duty would permit larger i'm
portations and yield the treasury more reve-
nue..
so. so. The aim and object of the
Herald is, therefore, to permit larger
importations' of French silk goods, to
close the American silk factories, to
deprive the American workers of the
opportunity to earn AN honest living,
unless at low French wages, and to
provide freight for the French transat-
la ntic subsidized steamship lines.
Under such conditions il is true that
American ladies would shave to get
along with few and seant silk dresses
because their husbands being out of
work, earning nothing, and unable to
purchase from others. the general dull
times that would follow would pre-
clude the purchase of French silk
goods. upon which the French manu-
facturers would promptly mark up the
prices as soon as they had effectually
closed the American factories. That
lobby of French bankers, capitalists
and manufacturers appears to have
been doing more effective work at
home, with the proprietor of the
Franco merican paper. than they even
succeeded i'm accomplishing with Prof.
Wilson at Washington.
We would suggest TO Mr.. James Cor
don Bennett that ne place at the head
of the editorial columns of his paper,
misnamed the New York Herald, the
following motto:
Vire la France A 5ds les Flats Unisi
This would be in full accord with his
sheets editorial teachings-to stifie
American industry and to pauperize
American Ia hOr