The Butler weekly times., 1897-02-18


vantage at which We were put by
greater cost Of raw material
Il ,h4n aud there told the proprl
etor that the trade would all come to
u- unless be improved his methods,
aud, to make a long story short. 1t
has all come TO Us Our works
manufacture practically all OF that
description Of plow now sold. per
hap- 10000 year.
Nov see what must necessarily
be tue If our plnws sell IN South
| Africa side bv side with those Of
t.ngIlsh make, IA | have shown they
easily do.If our transportation charge
is higher, as it must be when we
| have TO ship by way OF Erg iaud; II
our raw materials, lumber excepted,
are more costly. as any inspection OF
comparative prices Will instantly
prove: then oar firm must either
draw no profit or be at less expense
! for labor No other conclusion Is
possible, unless some way can be
found for making larger subtlactlons
from the same sum and leaving
smaller remaind-rs.
Since cur business affords enough
profit to Justify continuance 10 it,
and the profits of our English rivals
are not iuordinate, the only possible
conclusion is that there is less labor
cost in our plows than in theirs
The fact of cheaper labor, which is
demonstrated by actual observation
in my business, supported by similar
observations in other business on Joy
ing like advantage of more efficient
machinery and superintendence,
must necessarily apply to all labor
employed on exportable products
Work on merchandise for export
is especially highly paid by the day,
and it is exactly this high paid labor
that is really the cheapest labor.
What is called 'pauper labor the
kind that is i'll compensated, is prac
tically a very dear kind. Every
sagacious manufacturer having a
piece of work which brings him
particularly low profit on which
economy in every kind of cost ia
particularly necessary, puts his paid
workmen on just that piece If be
dreams of sparing labor cost by
doing otherwise, he simply converts
his margin of profit into net loss
The fact that we are exporting
steel rails to Canada, Japan and
elsewhere in the face of English
competition, and iron to England
itself-something we never could DO
until the approaching exhaustion OF
England's iron supply-puts US less
at disadvantage for raw material
and the further fact that never in
its history has the country made
any thing like so large an export oi
manufactured goods and machinery
as during the last year, aided by the
cheaper raw material allowed us in
the Wilson bill, show what we could
do with raw material free; show
indeed, that very many, if not the
majority Of manufacturers, would
have no use for protection if We
could 60 to work on that basis.
Again and again l have declared
distinctly and publicly that 1 desire
no import duty on agricultural i'm
plelnents. The duty was swept away
IN the Wilson act with my cordia
approval. The harm that such duties
do to producers who can export il
that they suggest and encourage
retaliatory duties in the countries
that buy of rs. The only possible
good they do is to enable manufac
turers, by combination, to extort
higher prices from their fellow
countrymen than from foreign Gus
toners. 1t is with just that motive
that many man asks Government,
assistance in charging more for his
goods than he sells them for il
Europe and beyond the tropics. 1,
Is just that motive that you cherish
and hold up a. worthy of praise
when you allow drawbacks of dut,
on goods exported. By that piece
| NJ lon,clok,o~ ~~,,