The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-09-29
HOW 1T WORKS.

New York Tribune.
Morsels Of truth from free traders arC
often highly instructive The American
Wool and Cotton Reporter. which clam
cred long and loudly for free wool, ha.
few items this week which merit the
attention Of thos who are constantly as
eerting that the textile manufacturer:
are as prosperous as ever:
ION account Of the many cases of sud.
den shutting down OF wooden, cottor
and fabric mills. many competen. over.
seers, superintendents and designers are
engaged lin various temporary pursuits
while looking for chances in new mills
or old mills starting up. For illustra-
| ton of this fact. a prominent ex-super-
ntendent of Oswego, N. Y, is the pro-
prietor of a large saloon. A former de-
signer of a prominent wooden mil Is a
retailing jobber OF woolens in Blnghamp-
ton, N. Y. and former overseer of a
knitting mill is a conductor on Scran-
ton, Penn. street car of the Scranton
Electric Railway company"
This does not refer to the ordinary
Workingmen, of whom there are multi
tudes in these mil.s, but to men of train
ing and skill. What has become of the
far greater number of men and women
who have lost employment because of the
Sudden shutting down ofs wooden, cot
ton and fabric mills" in such number
as to throw many skilled overseers out
Of employment Is not explained, and
probably the free traders do not care
What they want is realized every week
in the enormously increased importations
OF textile goods. But even with the re-
duction of duties this increase would not
be as great as Il is, but for the constant
undervaluations and fraudulent invoices,
OF which the same paper states:
1T is true that there is a vast amount
OF difficulty in collecting legitimate duties
on dress goods and by fraudulent in
voices importers may bring in vast
amount of goods which can be sod at
a profit at prices already named for the
spring season Only last week one in
voice OF 5000 pieces of dress goods was
Obliged to pay duties on such increased
valuations that the importer acknowl-
edged he was obliged to pocket a loss
Another lot Of $50 pieces was raised 80
per cent above the invoked value, and
the good work has only commenced"
The big imports and fraudulent invoices
caused by ad valorem duties on wooden
goods and the former overseer OF a wool
en- mE. at work as conductor on a street
car are two sides of the same fact. Only,
Ii is fact which affects a great many
thousands of people not as we'll able
to take care Of themselves in an emer-
gency as the street car conductor. 1t
affects many thousand women who have
been supporting children by working in
a mill. 1t affects many thousand men
who have been supporting families. An
these are not abe to shift with ease to
less lucrative employment 'iwhi!e waiting
for chances" They depend upon the
of American industries, and
when the free traders shut up many shops
they suffer
1t has been the habit OF late to pretend |
that all the mills and all the hands are |
now at work, Nobody who has the slight |
est information about the matter can be |
ignorant OF the fact that many mi..s ana |
factories have not been able to do any |
thing since the victory of a Democratic |
potcy c,osed them in 1898. and that many |
others have been able to work only by I
spells, a month or two at a tlme-the |
being always carefully chron-
cled and the stoppage always carefully |
ignored. 10y free trade journals. The !
vhoe story Is told by the increase OF
Importers of wooden cloth since January |
, The people are not wearing more
s!othes I'm that proportion or In any
proportion, but they are
buying more abroad, and as a necessary
are buying less from Amer
can mills and workmen. The exact OBJ
ect for which c.ainorous and cruel free
raiders have been contending Is attained
when the American mill is closed, and
he goods come i'm under lower duties
Ind fraudulent invoices from abroad. But
$ II an object CT which decent AmSrlcans
iced not be ashamed?