Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1895-08-15
VASES AND TARlFFs.
immense Advantage of the Wilson Law
to Workingnen.

immense Advantage of the Wilson Law
to workingnaen.
A contemporary, whose distinction
S the number of things it don't know,
notes the revival in the manufacture Of
pottery. in this country. at East Liver
pool, in Ohio. The potteries have been
idle since the passage of the German
tariff until this week. it says, when
three-fourths of them started up on
full time, and the rest are running
part of the time. Anxious to forestan
any credit that might be claimed by
the democrats that this revival is due
to democratic legislation, it informs
its readers that it is not, but that that
legislation gave it its black eye. The
pottery men, it says, give as the true
reason that, ''in order to renew opera
tions at all, and prevent their factories
from remaining Indefinitely idle, they
were compelled to cut prices to the
level of those of those of imported
goods under the new reduced tariff.
This shows, says our contemporary,
how friendly the democratic revenue
reformers are to the American work
inCman.
We are of one opinion with our con-
temporary in its last statement. The
American workingmen, who vastly ex-
coed in numbers the manufacturers of
pottery, will certainly not regret the
reduction of the cost OF their pottery.
But the really interesting part of this
confused tumble of statement and de-
ductiOn, is the reason assigned by the
pottery men for resuming. They have
been compelled to reduce the price of
their wares to a point where they
could compete with the foreign i'm
ported ware. increased in cost by the
duty imposed. The average ad valorem
tariff on their products under McKin-
leyism was TO per cent, which was re-
duced by the present act to 35 per
cent, making a reduction OF a little
over Al per cent. Under the present
law the cost of every 500 worth OF
pottery imported is increased S55 by
the tax, making it's cost S135. The pot
terry men, if our contemporary is not
giving us another piece of misinforma-
ton, admit that, for every 500 worth
of their ware. they add this $50 of pro-
lection SO as to bring their price up to
the level of that of their competitors;
in other words, the pottery manu-
facturers thus admit that they are
taking, as they have taken, to them
selves the entire benefit of the prOtec
ton afforded.
Apropos of this, and illustrating the
''paralyzing effect" of the latest tariff
act, we have the case of a Trenton, n
j., pottery which, on January 10, 1891
three months after the passage Of the
Mckinley act, proposed to its employees
a reduction of 331S per cent of their
wages. The men went on a strike
which lasted until April 80 that year
when reduction of % per cent. wa:
accepted, but was followed on May l.
by further reduction of Z per cent
On June 16 of this year, the same firm
under this "black-eye" tariff, increased
the wages of its employees from 10 to n
per cent. The effect, then, of the re
duction in the tariff is only to reduc'
the profit of the employers and in
crease wages, while the effect OF thu
Mckinley act was to increase thu
profits and decrease wages We agree
that the comparison does show ''hov
friendly the democratic tariff reform
| ers are to the American workingmen.
st. Paul Globe.