The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-04
ONE OF THE BLESSINGS.

a st. Paul gentleman engaged in the
tobacco trade calls the attention of the
G o b to an expression of opinion by
one of the largest manufacturers of cigars
and cheToots in the United States, con-
tanned N Tobacco Leaf, a leading trade
journal, concerning the effect that will
be wrought on that trade in the United
States as result of the acquisition by us
of the Philippine islands.
The manufacturer in question is Mr.
Jenkinson company. In the course of his
opinion, that gentleman says, among
other things the following
There are from SO,OOO to Zoe coo cigarmak-
ers in the United States today earn ng
wages year in and year cut, of from ~
to $50 a week What. will they do Wen
they come in competition with wages
the Philippines? In some OF the NO tn
ern states. notably Pennsylvania, Wis
consin. Ohio, Indiana, New York, Ma :.
chusetts and Connecticut, the groNi 6 of
leaf tobacco for cigar purposes is one CT
the largest farming indus sries. What a
nice time our farmers Will nave wh n
they are in competition with the 80
cents-a-day labor of the Philippines and
Porto Rico. All this leaves out of con-
sideration the cigar manufacturers of the
United States, whose name is legion, ana
the capital invested III whose business IS
bOundleSS.
1t is agreed both by the friends and
opponents of this view that there is
enough tobacco in the Philippines to dom
mate the trade of the world. 1t IS also
conceded that labor engaged in the man
ufacture of tobacco on the islands is to
be had at figures ranging from
and 10 to 45 cents a day. The only
proposition advanced against the view Of
Mr.. Jenkinson is that the tobacco OF the
Philippines is too light for our trade,
fact which is by no means admitted.
The conditions set forth as attending
the tobacco trade represent but one phase
of the weighty problem which the i'm
perialist policy has brought this people
face to face with. The closest and ablest
students of economics, as well as OF
colonial control, insist that it Is only by
having labor available at the prevailing
figures in the tropics that territorial pos
sessions such as the Philippines can be
made profitable to the dominant country
In Hawaii the effort is being strenuously
made to maintain the contract labor sys-
tenn. on the ground that such products
as sugar, rice, etc, cannot be produced
profitably for export to the United States
or elsewhere unless such standards OF
labor compensation are maintained.
In the Cape Colony recently the proposal
was put forward by British official that
Kafir labor should be made compulsory
in order to avoid the natural disposition
of natives of warmer climates to refuse to
work steadily at the figures paid, or, in
deed, at any figures Try how we will,
we cannot get away from the fact that
if we are to work the Philippines prof1ta-
bIy it can only be done through native
labor and at rates of pay such as now
prevail. 1t is universal law; and, while
men like Prof Schurman may talk about
the sinfuIness of regarding such acquisi-
tons as a mere source of individual or
national profit, it remains true that there
is not, there never has been, and there
never will be any idea found animatlng
the hearts of the men who are now urging
Us forward on our colonial career other
than the idea of pecuniary profit.