The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-07
Gossip at
the Capital

| of the senate continue to "work' the
| treasury figures which show an Increase
| in expectations, making this now their
| chief argument against the protective the
| ory as exemplihed In the pending tariff
| bill. Senators Cafferey, Gray, Jones and
Vest have, during the past week, expa-
| tiated ut length upon the remarkable
growth In the expectation of American
manufactures under the Wilson law and
assume that this increase Is due in some
| mysterious way, to the reduced duties on
importatlons which the Wilson law pro-
| vides. While 1t is a fact that the total
value Of expectations of domestic manu-
| factures has increased since the enact
| ment of the Wilson law, the gentlemen
| who parade figures, sometimes correct,
| sometimes incorrect, upon this subject
| are very careful to omit details as to the
| causes. An analysis of the foreign COM
| merce of the United States in manufac-
| tured articles since the enactment of the
| Wilson law furnishes an array of facts
which not only fails to sustain their the
| ory, but proves that the causes of in
| crease are not due to the opening of new
markets abroad by reason of our own re-
| duction in the tariff rates. There are
| three distinct causes for the increase OF
| the expectation of domestic manufactures
of the United States during the past two
| or three years.
| First-the enormous increase In the i'm
| portation Of manufactured goods from
| abroad, thus compelling American man.
ufacturers to either seek a market outside
| of their own country or else suspend op-
| erations.
| Second-the increased prices received
| for certain articles which have been for
years exported in large quantities, this
| advance in price making a much larger
increase in the receipts than in the actual
| increase in expectation of the articles
| themselves.
| Third-The special demand abroad for
| articles more readily supplied by the nat
ural resources of the United States than
by any other part of the world.
That the increase in importation of
| manufactured goods under the reduced
| rates of the Wilson law should have had
| the effect of forcing American manufac-
| turers to seek a market abroad Is appar-
| ent by an examination of the statistics of
| imports since the Wilson law went into
| effect. The importations classified by the
| statistical Abstract as articles manufac-
| tured ready for consumption" and "arti-
| cles of voluntary use, luXuries, ETC." in
| creased in the fiscal year 1896 over eighty
| millions of dollars as compared with the
| last fiscal year under the Mckinley law,
| 1894. The importations of articles manu-
| factured ready for consumption in 1894
| amounted to $99, 800 455, and in 1896 to
| Sl60, 0S.65l, while in articles Of voluntary
| use, luxuries, etc, the increase was from
SEQ, 097, 7l9 in 1894 to $S9, 9,2S2213 in 1896 This
| enormous increase of eighty million dol
lars in the importation of manufactured
| articles is of itself sufficient to much more
| than crowd out of the country the manu-
| factu"ed goods to the amount of the in
| crease thus boasted Of The expectation of
domestic manufactures in the fiscal year
1894 under the Mckinley law was S183 49,
SOS and in 1896 s22S, 81, ITS, showing an in
| CT ease OF expectations of manufactured
| articles p0ual To nnly nhOIt One-half n
the incres Sc in importations of manu-
| factured articles. To put 1t in a single
sentence, there was an increase of over
eighty million dollars in importations of
manufactured gccds. Every dollars
| worth of increase in expectation of do
mestic manufactures was preceded by
two dollars worth of increased importa-
ton of foreign manufactures. That the
increase of expectation of foreign manu-
factures is largely due to the in
crease of importation of manufac-
tured articles from abroad is
further shown by the fact that during
the enormous importatons of the past
March and April, which have exceeded
any month In the history of the country,
the expectation of manufactured articles
has also been greater than in any month
in the history Of the country. This fact
is recognized by an article from the New
York Journal of Commerce quoted IN the
| Congressional Record in the debate Of
the past week. by Senator Cafferey. which
article says: THE total for the month
has been surpassed only once in the re-
cent commercial history of the United
States this was during the month OF
March preceding, when the great amount
of imports naturally invited a counter
movement of exports"
This fact is further shown by the Of
fetal figures of the bureau of statistics
| ,fnh ipAi to th,t Il, fhn toll 40
in which occurred the large increase in
expectation of manufactures in the first
| two years of the Wilson law the increase
in importations was much greater. The
| Increased importations in twenty chief
articles of domestic manufactured exports
in 1896 amounted to s35, O,976 as compared
with 1894 under the Mckinley law which
the increase of impCrtations of these very
same classes of articles in 1896 was S4,-
29i, ,632, as compared with 1894 under the
Mckinley law. These articles are manu-
factures Of cotton, copper, flax, hemp,
glass, iron, steel, leather, paper, wood,
rubber, tobacco end wool also agricuitur-
al implements, art works, chemicals, fish,
! | soap and grease. The increase of impor-
tations in these articles alone in 1896 from
1894 was more than double the increase In
the expectations in the corresponding
years, and this is true with a large pro-
portion of the manufactured articles
which have shown an increase in expor-
| tation,
Another cause of the apparent increase
in expectations is the fact that the prices
obtained abroad for certain lines of man.
ufactures of this country have very large
, | ly increased in the past two years thus
making a phenomenal increase in the re-
ceipts while in point of fact there has
| not been an Increase in the expectations
of the articles themselves. While nobody
objects to the fact that American manu-
facturers are getting better prices abroad
for their goods, the theory of the free
traders assumes that a low tariff will
open new markets and increase the guam
tity of expectations. 1t Is a remarkable
fact. however that the articles which. in
! 1896 show the largest increase in exporta-
tion as measured by dollars. show an ac-
tual falling off In expectation as meas
ured by quantities. For instance, the tig-
ures of the Statistical Abstract show an
increase of $lS.000,O00, in the receipts for
Illuminating OF! exported in the year 1881
as compared with the fiscal year 1894, tbs
last year under the Mckinley law, yet
| the quantity exported in 1896 was actually
, less than in 1894. The value of illuminate
ing oil exported in 1894 was $50 GIG, ,2l7 and In
; 1896, $4S, $50 800, being an increase of 60 pei
| cent in the money received for illuminat-
ing oil by the manufacturers of the United
States; the number of gallons exported
in 1894 was 73O, 1868, 626, while in 1896 the mum.
| ber of gallons was 7l6,455, ,555 Here Is ar
increase Of 60 per cent. in the number OF
: | dollars received for a single article. while
| the quantity was actually reduced. The
| same is true of napthas, which increased
materially in the number of dollars re-
ceived, bus fell 20 per cent in the mum
| ber of gallons exported The total ex'
portations Of mineral oils manufacturer
actually decreased In 1896 as compared
| with 1894, while the money received fol