Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1912-10-25
uNMASkING THE
TARIFF DELuSIoN
Franklin Pierce Shows That La.
Dor Is Not Benefited by
Unjust Tax.

DOT Is NOT bene1lteo py
Unjust Tax.
MANUFACTURER KEEPS PROFIT
Proof Of Democratic Platform's Sound.
ness Cited In Reports Of Wage In.
vestloatlons.
BY FRANKLIN PIERCE.
For hundred years Of our history
the manufacturers, believing that they
received 4 benefit from the protective
tariffs, have ingeniously devised plaus"
ible pretexts for imposing increased
prices upon the necessaries of life. At
first they said that industry In our
country was In its infancy and needed
protection. When those industries had
become strong and needed no aid the
manufacturers invented the theory
that tho foreigner paid the duty. This
theory was exploded, and they declar'
ed that cheap clothing meant cheap
men and was not q blessing.
Driven from every one Of these indie
feasible positions, their final and only
argument left today 10 that the tariff
is imposed upon foreign imports to en-
able the manufacturer to increase his
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, tho wages Of the laborers are
tho lowest paid in any Of our indus
tries."
Proof Of this statement Is found In
reports Of many recent ofhcial invests.
cations Of wages IN the United States.
Wages In Cotton Industry.
Under the existing Payne-Aldrich
tariff law actual imports Of cotton
cloth paid In 1910 average duties Of
66.4 per cent.
In 1905, when work and wage condi-
tons In the cotton industry were ex.
cepttonally good, the wages Of 202, 211
cotton mill operatives in the United
States-men, women and children-av-
eraged only $6.47 a week. The average
wage for men was but $7.71 a week,
for women $3.50 and for children, $3.21.
AS to the profits, seventeen leading
cotton mills, with total capitalization
Of $26, 10000 and total surplus Of $751;
3G3,601, 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, ,695, or
Fl per cent. Of the value of the finished
product.
Extortlon Of Wool Tariff.
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
f"'2edules. According to Senator Reed
DOT, owner of wooden mill at
evost, Utah, and chairman of the
lnce committee in charge of tariff
i islation in the senate, wearing ap-
=! Ell valued at 80 cents a pound now
S 206 2-3 per cent. duty.
his and other correspondingly high
lies on the manufactures of wool
made to enable the manufacturer
pay his labor an increased wage
( er those of foreign countries. But
t duty on wooden goods is nearly five
t; aes the entire labor cost, while the
/ 1erican manufacturers in 1905 paid
J., wages only IS per cent. Of the total
v; Tue of their production.
At Lawrence in this most highly pro-
T. tied industry the laborers were
obliged to strike even for 4 living
:ge. Thousands Of adult males were
r ceiving only from Sc to 50 a week
F. many only IS to So a week. Az q
r suit Of the strike the American
7 oolen company gave its employees
81 ght increases In wages.
The wool tariff bill vetoed by Presi-
1@nt Taft reduced the duties on raw
2ol from 1920 to - per cent and on
anufactures Of wool from s7.e5 to
80 per cent. Mr.. Taft said he ve-
t. cd 1t because the proposed rates did
1T comply with the findings Of the
t. i'll board. Senator La Toilette con-
Indicted tho president, saying that
Q1OHOS0O 1otO9 valley 1IOu l DcT
G 1t. lower to 11.6 higher than the
t. i'll boards findings justified.
Low Wages In Steel.
Manufacturers of iron and steel in
IS paid In wages only IL per cent.
The total value of their production,
lie the duty then would average
{ cut As to AZ per cent, and on all
tails 1t now averages 34.51 per cent.
american wages are really the
c>:apest wages In the world when you
% Into account the amount Of pro-
{ ctlon per man.
An illustration Of this appears in
tie Stanley report, investigating the
s,'el trust, ~ follows:
The labor cost Of producing pig
iron in Pennsylvania fell from $1.25 q
ton In 1902 to 81 cents a ton In 1909,
yet the realized value Of the pig iron
output was 1854 in 1902. whereas It
vas 317.44 In 1909. In other words,
vageworkers In 1902 got $1.16 for pro.
Sucfn~ univ 416A worth Of nie iron