Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-10-09

pOrtatlOnS IN 1894 was SS.OfI, 25S, ana
in 1895 it was So. $40, ass. The value
of imports of wooden manufactures OF
all classes for the calendar years named
was as follows, the first four years
being under the Mckinley tariff, and
the last under the Wilson tariff
Year 49, CO.. ,-.,sF Value
1891 "a 90!
'''' oao'4r
1915 COMMUNICATIONS. 5Os3s'oOo
Co.
1870 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS oo-ot'Sfi
The large inportations have had the
effect of para yzing the manufacture
of wooden good in the factories, both
east and west, in this country. The
following from the Keene, n. H., Sen
tinel, is a fair statement of the condi-
tions that exist in all the wooden goods
districts of the country. 1t is part of
an editorial under the caption of So
lent Looms.
NO important business has been SO
1isastrously affected by the Wilson
,iorman tariff law as the manufacture
of woolens. All over the country the
experience seems to be the same-in-
ability TO cope with English COMPETE
ton and the consequent closing of the
mills in whole or in part, or, if the
mills keep up their production, the
profits are miserably small. Our mills
in Cheshire county have suffered with
the rest. Mill owners have lost profits,
laborers have lost work and storekeep-
crs have lost trade Hinsdale and
Ashuelot have been struck the hardest
blow. They were lively places a year
ago. Now their principal industrial
establishments are closed and the
towns are quiet beyond precedent.
Everybody in the two villages feels the
hard times and almost everybody
curses the Wilson law. The loss in
labor and wages owing to the depres-
sion in the wooden business is astonish-
ingly large. In good times, say in the
fall of 1892, the wooden mills of the
of the county were employing 1900
hands and paying out in wages about
$50. 900 a month. At present the same
mills are employing not quite 400
hands and are paying in wages be-
tween Sl1, 900 and $4,000 a month.
In other words, the number of labc r
ers employed and the aggregate
amount of wages have been reduced
| two thirds"
Meantime, the tariff measure, which
has paralyzed the American wooden in
dustry, has had a revivifying effect on
the Bradford manufacturing district in
England Here is what the London
correspondent of the New York Trib-
me has to say on the subject:
1.-The American tariff was changed
m 1890, and the Bradford trade with
the United States in mems coatings,
which had amounted to Sc, SOC, 900 in
$50 dropped to s.. 500, 900 in 1891. and
after a temporary revival during the
next two years fell again TO 81 800. 900
in 1894 In like manner the exports of
stuff goods, which had averaged $1,000
600 in 1890, sank to the low level Of
81. POO. 900 in 1894. The old and the
new industries of Bradford suffered
alike from the Mckinley tariff. which
! largely increased the duties on stuff
goods and coatings. 1t was period of
profound gloom for the entire district.
! The reaction came when the duties on
goods for the American market were
reduced about One-half in the Wilson
tariff a well-informed specialist,
whose figures | take from an exhaust.
i've review of the Bradford trade pub
Hshed i'm the London Times, states
that the exports of coatings TO the
United States rose from Sl.2T5, 626 for
the year ended Sept. 30. 1894, to So, 515,
O52 in 1895 at a corresponding date.
This increase of nearly 900 per cent re-
veals the full effect of the Wilson tariff
during the first year when it was in oper-
alton. The export of stuff goods during
the same period ran up from 3. 200. 900
to =. 31j. 600. ON the basis of the con-
sular statistics for the year ended Dec.
80. 1888. the results of the repeal of the
Mckinley tariff may be enlarged con-
siderably. The export of worsted
coatings To the United States was
S.. SCI 2?S; that of stuff goods, S9.7iS,-
527. The entire bradford trade with
the United States during 1s95 ran up
from Ss.2l5,234 10 S?7.745, O9G.
An eXultant English correspondent,
referring To some of the figures, says:
"Undcr the Republican tariff Brad
ford exported worsteds worth -. 2OO,-
900 TO the United States. Under
the Wilson tariff last year bradford
exported Ss.355.O0O of worNteds to the
United states. Bradford has IT. 10. 900
in pocket that she would not have had if
Prof. Wilson were not a statesman.
Hurrah for Bradford lIurrah for
Professor Wilson And damn the
United states
Do the farmers and manufacturers
of Michigan want four years more OF
the Wilson tariff
The revolutions which may take
place i'm the comparative value of gold