The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-04-29

INTO y yarn klltlt VIII stand Ede strain Of
the loom. We have IN this country no
machinery adapted 70 the nanip1iA tion
Of these low grades Of stock, This rot
ton and tender yarn q aklllfuily worked
Into fahFies which only theeottan whrp6
hold together, until Il has been market
% and worried up Into clothing.
f'tt was Insisted with much Yehemence
while the present iarlf was under com
alteration. that the first effect Of It's
adoption would be 70 cnornOuHly reduce
the qw dty OF shoddy worn by our peo-
ple:. ~ [ free wool would. In fact, do
away With the use Of wool substitutes
altogether, by making wool ~ cheap
that everybody could afford 10 Wear'aii-
wool garments, II has operated IN exc
actiy the opposite way; it win continue
to so operate ~ long as L continues to
exist. It has opened our market to fab
RIGS adulterated beyond the possibilities
Of American imitation, aud forced a
general deterioration IN the quality Of
American fabrics compelled to compete
with them"
Idle Looms IN ProytdeneS.
also called on Air. Charles Fletcher,
OF Providence. president Of one Of the
largest wooden factories In the world.
asked Mr.. Fletcher whether the
Htatement published In the Mall and
Express on the authority Of Mr. James
Dodson, ofPhiladelphia, that half OF the
looms in the seventy five wooden mills
in and near Providence are idle, was
correct.
Eyes" 1ir. Fletcher replied, that
statement Is within the mark 1t Is q
conservative estimate 10 say that so per
cent Of the capacity Of the wooden mills
of Rhode Island Is standing still, and
the worst Of It Is that the percentage will
increase instead OF diminish. II would
not be correct to say that 80 per cent OF
the employees are Idle, but nearly all OF
them are Idle half the time. That Is to
say, the men are working only three or
four days a week-ln most cases only
three days That means that they are
earning only 60 per cent ofthelr normal
wages. wouldn't like TO estimate with
any pfetense to accuracy the average
normal wage OF m adult wooden worker;
but, assuming It to be 81 day, or So
a week, you can tTuthfully say that such
a man cannot earn now more than Sc a
week. That. mind you, IS for skilled
adult labor"
HAS this caused great distress in
Rhode Island?'
I'm many cases It has For example,
not all the mills are running, even on
half time. Some have shut down entire
ly, throwing the heads Of hundreds OF
families into the street In enforced idle
ness. Why. only the other day the Sax
ton Worsted Company was forced TO so
out OF business entirely. And for what
reason? Not for any fault In manage
ment, not for any lack Of business en-
terprise or sagacity, not for any deter
loratlon Of plant. It was not one Of the
largest mills, but It was one Of the best
equipped In the United States. with the
finest machinery, turning out a good
product, which ranked high In the WOOL
en- market. The simple trouble was
that the null had no work to do. have
heard that the company, In the eftort to
keep It's mill running, for the principal
purpose Of giving work and wages to ita
employees, has lost since 1888 over $780,
900. Now, those figures concern another
company's affalrs and I don't vouch for
their absolute exactness; but that rs
what Is generally understood. Other
mills have shut down and others must.
They have continued to run at loss,
until they can't stand the strain any
longer. OF course, all this meanS 80 per
cent reduction In the average pay rolls
OF all the mills that are stu running,
but 1t means also the total suspension Of
pay rolls OF mills that have been and
will be forced to stop entirely"
No Buyers In sight.
Mr.. Fletcher went to an inner office
and returned with a letter in his hand.
II will read you this letter." he said, "on
condition that you do not publish the
names" The letter was addressed to a
prominent commission house in Boston,
which represents some Of the largest
wooden mills in the country. 1t was
written from Chicago by an expert who
had been sent out there to investigate
the condition Of the western market for
woolens. The letter stated that the
market is in dreadful condition. There
were no sales at any value. Nobody
was buying. even at less than the cost Of
production. Large wholesale dealers In
wooIenB, the writer said, would willingly
talk by the hour, explaining why they
could not place any ordera The nub OF
their reason was that they could not buy
from others when nobody would buy
from them. The writer advised his Bos-
ton firm to In turn inform the mills they
represented not to put any more mater-
ial Into their looms for the coming sen
son, as they would find no market for
their product II they made It.
Mr.. Fletcher continued: THAT Is only
n typical letter. The same report is re-
peated from men who travel In all CEN
tiers OF trade, east as well as west These
reports disclose 1.-THE immediate trouble
with the wooden industry, which Is that
there IRE no buyers. Now, why are
there no buyers? Because they are sup
piled with cheap foreign goods. The
figures OF importatlonS since Cleveland
came in OF wooden goods from England,
France and Germany tell the story. We
can't keep these foreign goods out under
the present tartff. BY the uae OF shoddy
and inferior woods these foreign mills
can turn out about twice the yardage at
half the cost, Why, the whole country
is being clothed in revamped rags"
burst out Mr.. Fletcher Indignantly.
asked him how he accounted for the
repeated reports In Democratic and
mugwump journals OF a revival OF the
domestic wooden Industry,
THAT, II may use a vulgar term, is
all rot" 1t Is largely outright misreP-
resentatlon. II contains the fraction OF
a truth-and part truth, you know. ls
worse than outright lylng-beeause
dress goods for women have not suffered
SO much, rs domestic product, as have
woolens for men. You may BIO very
hard up. You may not be able to buy
suit OF clothes for yourself But II 10
part OF our American character that you
know perfectly well that whatever hap
pens your wife must have new dress.
And she gets It, even against her unsel-
fish protest. A human sentiment like,
that has a commercial effect. But that
doesn't lessen the facts and figures.
which you can obtain from the best nu-
thorlties, that half the wooden looms In
the country are idle. More would be
idle II the manufacturers responded to
the exact conditions OF the trade. don't
want to make tile wooden manufacturers
pose as philanthroplsts In any false