New-York tribune., 1910-11-06
GRINDING THE FACE OF LABOR

GRINDING THE FACE OF LABOR.
Where does labor come in in the pro
gramme of tariff revision which Mr..
Dix and his supporters are advocating
II is true that the candidate and his ad-
mirers do not agree entirely as TO the
methods to be followed in a downward
revision. Two years ago Mr.. Dix stood
for an upward revision of the rates on
wallpaper Now he is fervent on the
stump for cut in the protection given
10 all other products. The tariff reform
committee of the Reform Club of this
city wants 10 have tariff duties abol-
ished out of hand. and all the custom
houses raZed. Mr. Dix seems TO favor a
gradual elimination of protection, espe-
cially on other peoples products. The
militant Reform Club tariff smashers
think that return 10 the European Level
of prices and wages should be accom-
plished at one fell swoop
Now. it is evident that If the Demo
cratic revisiOnists have their way labor
here will have to face. sooner or later.
a reduction Of wages to the free trade
told the Ways and Means Committee of
the House of Representatives that the
cost Of labor compelled the wallpaper
manufacturers to ask for an increase Of
duties from % per cent Gd UGlOrem to
81 and 45 per cent. But if the duties
are TO be cut from % per cent TO 10 per
cent and then to nothing, it is evident
la-- n in NFT- v
have TO work fifteen 10 seventeen hours
day TO earn the same compensation
which they now get for working thirteen
hours. An omelet can't be made with
out breaking eggs, and the country can
90 10 the European standard of prices
without bringing American workingmen
10 the European standard Of hours and
wages. And that cut in wages must
be general. because If wages in the
protected manufacturing industries fall,
wages in other industries and occupa-
tiOns must fall in sympathy.
The out-and-out free traders in the
Democratic party. represented by the
Reform Club. would welcome the lower
ing of wages here to the level Of wages
abroad on the ground that European
commodities could then come in more
freely and the import trade of this port
could be increased. But New York's i'm
port trade is a trif1e compared with the
manufacturing output of the industrial
district of which this city is the centre.
The imports at this port were valued al
S607. .239 4S1 in 190S-'09 All the labor
cost of these imports and almost all the
charges for Transporting and handling
them go to the credit Of foreign coun-
tries and foreign steamship lines. But
/ in the industrial district of New York
the manufacturing output for the year
/ 1905 was valued at 50. IA AS. .093. The
wages and salaries paid amounted to
! S3-4, 900 600 and the miscellaneous eX'
/ penses TO &161. $780, .9S1 All this expen-
diture went directly to wage earners
here. while probably not more than 1O
per cent Of the value of the foreign
goods imported went into the pockets OF
residents Of this city who distribute
such goods to the American market.
The stake OF labor in the preservation
of local industries and the maintenance
Of q higher wage scale here is thirty to
forty times as great as it is in the en-
Iargement Of the foreign import trade.
Mr.. Dix and his supporters say that
they are going 10 make the cost Of living
lower. But they are going to make it
lower by cutting American wages and
putting IT beyond the ability Of the
American workingman to spend any
thing like as much as he is able to