The Wahpeton times., 1912-10-31
UNMASklNG The
TARIFF DELUSION
Franklin Pierce Shows That La
Dor Is Not Benefited by
Unjust Tax.
MANUFACTURER KEEPS PROFIT

Proof Of Democratic Platform'e oound
nees Cited In Reports o. Waae %
vestlsatlena
oy FRANKLIN PIERCE.
For hundred years Of our histor3
the manufacturer. believing that thel
received benefit from the protective
tariffs. have ingeniously devised plaus
ible pretexts for imposing increased
prices upon the necessaries Of life. Al
drst they said that industry In oul
country was In its infancy and needed
protection. When those industries had
become strong and needed no aid tho
manufacturers invented the theory
that the foreigner paid the duty. This
theory was exploded. and they declar
Cd that cheap clothing meant cheap
men and was not q blessing.
Driven from every one Of these inde
fensible positions. their final and only
argument left today is that the tarin
is imposed upon foreign imports to en-.
able the manufacturer to increase hia
profits and pay higher wages.
The Democratic platform declares
that: !.
In the most highly protected indus
tries. such a. cotton and wool, steel
and iron, the wages Of the laborers are
the lowest paid In any Of our indus!
tries."
Proof Of this statement II found In
reports Of many recent onlcial invest,
cations Of wages In the United States,
Wages In Cotton Industry. i
Under the existing Payne-AldEich
tari6 law actual imports Of cotton
cloth paid in 1910 average duties Of
t6.l per cent. !
In 1905. when work and wage eondi.
lions In the cotton industry were ex.
cepdonally good, the wages Of 202, III
cotton mill operatives In the United
Statesmen, women and children-av.
eraged only $6.47 week. The average
wage for men was but $7.71 q week,
for women $3.50 and for children, 1921.
As to the profits. seventeen leading
cotton mills, with total capitalization
Of $25. 100000 and total surplus Of 321,,
363,601, paid in nine years dividends
averaging % per cent. !
The cotton manufacturers turned out
in 1905 $442,451,21S worth Of goods and
paid in wages therefore $94, ,337, ,695. or
Il per cent. Of the value of the finished
product. ;
ExtortIon Of Wool Tarlfi.
Outside Of the duties on two or three
commodities Of comparatively little i'm.
portance. the duties on wooden cloth
are the highest Of any In the tariff
schedules. According to Senator Reed
smoot owner Of . wooden mill at
Prevost Utah, and chairman Of the
finance committee in charge Of tariff
legislation in the senate. wearing %.
parel valued at 30 cents a pound now
pays 2oe 20 per cent. duty.
This and other correspondinsly hiRh
duties on the manufactures Of wool
are made to enable the manufactures
to pay his labor an increased vase
over those Of foreign countries. But
the duty on woolen goods ID nearly nvs
times the entire labor cost, while the
American manufacturers in 1905 peid
In wages only 1s per cent. Of the total
value Of their production.
At Lawrence In this most hiehly pro,
sected industry the laborers were
obliged to strike even for a living
wage. Thousands Of adult males were
receiving only from So to 80 q week
and many only IS to So a week. AZ .
result Of the strike the American
Woolen company gave its employees
slight increases In wages,
The wool tariff bill vetoed by Presi.
dent Taft reduced the duties on raw
wool from 1920 to 20 per cent, and on
manufactures Of wool from s7.66 to
1885 per cent Mr.. Taft said he 70.
toed 1t because the proposed rates did
not comply with the findings Of the
tari6 board. Senator La Toilette con.
tradicted the president. saying that
the proposed rates varied from per
cent. lower to 11.6 higher than the
tariff boards findings justified. ,
Low Wages In Steel,
Manufacturers Of iron and steel IN.
1905 paid In wages only 16 per cent
Of the total value Of their production.
while the duty then would averare
about 4b to ~ per cent, and on ail
metals 1t now averages 34.61 Der canf
American wages are rsallv 40
cheapest wages In the world when vo,,
lake Into account the amount a ~.
duotIon per man.
An illustration Of this appear, IN
tne Stanley report, investigating tho
steel trust, % follows:
The labor cost Of PRODUCING uae
ron In Pennsylvania fell from 81 .a6 4
ton In 1909 70 % cents 4 ton n 1oos
yet tho realised value Of the pir hun
output WAS @15.h in 1907. wharses n
!Ias e17.4l In 1909. In othar vr.a.'
waeeworksrs n 1901 got 31.1S sor I'd.
auodng only e1e.el worth Of III ~
~ l.