Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1894-02-28

ton to business men. Indeed the
claim that fear of tariff modi6ca-
tons precipitated the depression is
too academic to be seriously consid-
cred by sensible men, and is only
exploded by politicians who would
rule through ruin. Business men,
and particularly manufacturers,
manifest little if any fear of rea-
sonably low import duties, and if
they are alarmed at all it is at the
delay inaugurating the low tariff
policy. This is proved by large
number of interviews with manu-
facturers which the New York
World has enterprisingly collected.
George A. Macbeth, the most ex-
tensive glass manufacturer in the
country, says the reduction made
in the Wilson bill can have no in
furious effect on home trade but
that the glass and iron industry
have more fear of the Carnegies,
who, possessing every conceivable
labor and time-saving device, are
crowding smaller manufacturers to
the wall. David B. Oliver, the head
of the we'll known steel firm, opines
that uncertainty in regard to the
passage of the Wilson bill is doing
more injury than low duties can.
He cannot directly attribute the
depression to that measure" and is
confident that revival will follow
the enactment of the bill. Blaine's
old friend, B. F. Jones, who was
chairman of the national Republic
can committee in 1884, would rather
the bill would not pass, but gives
it as his opinion that the present
stagnation is due more to uncer-
tainty than anything else. "Pitts-
burg" he states, "can hold her own
and is not afraid of tariff reduc-
tions." Elliot G. Clark, treasurer
of the Booth cotton mills at Lowell,
Mass, insists that duties have been
too high. 1t is practically prohib-
itory on cotton goods, and the Will
son bill does not make a material
change. A settlement of the issue
will revive the industry. A score
of others, representatives of various
industries, state that they have
more fear of delay than in low du-
ties. Boot and shoe men as a rule
think low duties will help the trade.
General Martin, of Boston, one of
the largest boot and shoe manufac-
turers says: II do not think the
passage of the Wilson bill will re-
duce the price of labor. II will
open the markets Of the world to
other industries as it has to the
shoe and leather trade by reason of
having cheap raw material" j. H.
Henry, of the Arlington, Mass.
Shoe company, says: III am anx-
ious to see business settled, and |
believe that the passage Of the Will
son bill in any form will be bene-
fetal, simply because the business
world will know just where it
stands. / am a Republican who
favors an equitable adjustment of
the tariff. / have been inclined to
think that duties generally ruled
too high. l believe the panic or
stringency is due as much to agi-
tation as to natural causes" N.
w. Kimball, the head of the boot
and shoe industry at Manchester,
n. H., thinks the bill conservative.
Its passage will remove suspense
and stiffen prices. 1t will not have
a tendency to lower wages, as the
of labor would be increased.
Labor saving machinery and the
discoveries Of science are reducing |
wages and cheapening things and
this will 20 on under high or low
tariffs. These interviews might be
repeated ad libitum. The number
quoted, however, will hardly bear
out the views of the calamity howl
ers who see certain ruin in reform