St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-25

! ~ - ~ ulluSudl lOI " tDauuIdctuTeE 10
| be Iamenting. q reduction In. the cost
Of his material; it is so opposed 10 the
motives which nctuate men, that we
suspect the sincerity Of the ianenta.
| ton OF the North Star people, and this
suspicion is strengthened by the I'M
mense purchases OF this cheap raw
material they are making, and to which
they evidently point With PRIDE"
We regret that the reporter did not
push his inquiry bit further and in
quire what reduction the company has
made in the prices OF It's blankets I'M
der this cut Of over 50 per ceut in the
cost of the raw material. We would be
glad to publish the statement, IL It can
be made. that the company is self
ing its blanket5now 50 or more per cent
cheaper that 1t was In 1891. This would
be more interesting to the public than
the. dOaefai prediction OF impending
ruin and partial paralysis.
There Is an incdutious admission by
this talkatipe member of the company
that 1.-The price OF wool has been goihg
steadily down for number OF years
past or course, it is true; but pro.
tectienists usually do not count that for
much tn their arguments. In 1867, wlen
they began to .protect" our wool grow
efs. the prices ranged from 70 cents tor
fine to 50 Zoe coarse. and while the pro.
lection has been increased the prices
have fallen to to IL cents today. This
gives higher protection than ever,
because as the price falls the specific
tQX utofS II; r~I, A
tax of Ii cents pound is only SO per
cent when the price is SO cents u pound.
but becomes 100 percent when the price
falls to II cents. II the increase in the
Mckinley act was intended TO keep
prices up by shutting out foreign wool,
| 1t is a dismal failure, as the imports
have increased. The imports of clothing
woods were for 1890. the year preceding
MckiDieyism, 3.S94.76O pounds; for
1881. 1919. 9l3 pounds; for 1892. 9. 52S. 773
pounds; and for 1898, 7,S76,676 ponds.
Of carpet and other woods thero were
| imported in the same years respectively,
8, 463,353. 9.759, $50. 8, 795, $751; and II, $780,
1853 pounds.
But it is when this blanket maker
compares the present with the proposed
| schedules of taxes en- the things he
makes. and forecasts the effects, that We
| perceive what tender infant this
blanket business is. and by what pre-
carious threads its life hangs. I'm.
ports OF woolen manufactures have
under protection" two duties to pay,
| specific one on the weight and an ad
valorem one Oh the value. The first is
called a compensatory tax, and Is laid
on tue wool i'll the goods to compensate
our manufacturers for the tax they pay
on The forei-n wool entering their
goods. II the maker did not use for.
eign WOODS. this compensatory tax was
just so much additional protection to
bin ii the price of his domes-
tic wool was not increased to
the extent of the tax on its
foreign-grOwn competitor. This spe-
citic tax ON blankets ranged from l615
cents pound OH blankets costing less
than 30. cents pound to ~ cents
pound OH those worth from 80 to 40
cents pound, and to 3s1s cents On those
costing over 50 cents pound. The ad
valerem tax, designed to protect the
blanket maker. is from IS to 90 per cent
of their value. rhe ilew bill gives him
protection ranging from 25 per cent on
the cheapest to, 80 and IS per cent on tine
dearer goods. That is, lie gets his ma
terIai free OF tax. and the reduction of
competition is cut but per cent. "Can
you conceive OF anything more disas-
trous to the business2'' asks this de-
spairing blanket maker. Labor will
go down as surely as have the taritfs,n
he adds, with that tender afterthought
tor labor which these gentlemen always
affect.
With unprotected farm produce
shrinking 50 per cent ..nnder protec-
tion." most people will conclude that, II
protected blanKets can't stand re-
ductlon of 5 per cent, it is too weak an
infant to be ted longer on the bottle.
But the remark about labor invites
little examination. 1--WE nave been
amply protected up to this time" says
this interesting gentleman, ''aud were
doing large business and giving en-
/ pioyInent to great many skilled hands
who drew good wages" In 1889 the
WOODEN manufacturers made returns to
the census bureau of their business that
year, aud whatever deductions may be
| made they should stand by. as the
! figures are their own. Two facts ap.
pear from these statements One is
that the average of the total wages paid.
including officers, firm members and
clerks. was $S7l year. As no separate
statement is made of the wages paid
Officers, firm members and cIerks"-
| the highest-waged of all-it is evident
that the employees wages averaged less
| than S371. But that is not all the figures
tell. Taking the total wages paid and the
value of the product of their labor, we
! find that the former is but 25 per cent of
| the latter. This is an interesting feat
ure when we 60 back and see that this
| horrible free trade Democracy proposes
| to shelter these blanket makers with a
tax of from Is to 40 per cent ON imports
| of blankets, when the entire labor cost
| in their homemade blankets is but 25
per cent Of the value. They are thus
protected by tax not covering the diff.
| ference in labor cost here and abroad las
the Minneapolis plank asked for. but
from the same to Is per cent more than
the eDtire labor cost. There really
seems to be in this talk of this kinne-
apolis blanket maker great deal of
what Dave Hill sententiously termed
''yap." If there are any entitled to
howl and kick over the proposed tariff
they are the Democrats, because it be-
lies their promises; and the consumers,
because it leaves the blanket makers so
rich an opportunity to pluck them.