The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1916-07-06
FILES .MADE IN AMERICA"

speedier process. and We have the ME-
one Of mankind's oldest implements. II
/ is found in all trades. from the making
| OF shoes to the building Of locomotives,
From twenty-five to thirty manufac-
turers in Illinois. Indiana. Massachu'
Isetts. Michigan. New Jersey. Ohio. New
York. Pennsylvania. Wisconsin and
Rhode Island. employing over 5000
skilled hands, make the bulk q The
files produced in this country. From
tho time . nle b cut from . bar q
specially rolled steel until nnfshsd
and ready for shipmsut. It passes
through from twenty 20 twenty-six pro.
ceases. and ls handled from seventy
five to ninety times. On some q TIE
finer grades the value Of the metal IL
enhanced 372 times. There Il . smaller
proportion Of labor cost entering into
the manufacture Of the coarser than In
the finer grades Of fles. For this rea-
son. and ON account Of the republicas
protective tariff. our domestic market
ON the coarser grades has been In the
hands Of American producers. On the
finer grades our chief competitor has
been Switzerland.
A comparative statement of wages IN
the production Of lne hlss In the
United States and In Switzerland
shows that the minimum advantage In
wage rate in the latter country 10. for
machinists and die makers, $1.SS per
dav; forsers. $1.1s; grinders. sS cents:
blank Anishers. ~ cents: cutters BY
hand. $1.ss: cutters BY machine. S3.06:
etchers. $1.7s; straishtsners and trim
mers. % cents: hardeness. el1e. and
cleaners. $1-1l. Ths MAXIMUM ID
vantage varies from $1.34 to $2.78 in
favor Of the Svitseriand operatives.
A few years ago the American Swiss
Tfle and Tool company Of Elixabeth-
port. N. J.. embarked in the business Of
making these finer grades Of nles. and
the pre-eminence Of the Swiss manu-
facturers In the American market was
In dispute. When the democratic party
had the Underwood tarifi-for-less-than-
revenue bin under consideration. this
company. and others Interested in the
industry. presented uncontrovertible
proof Of the necessity for increasing
the duties ON these finer grades. agree
ing to accept reductions ON the coarser
grades Of files. But with that slap
dash rit-and-miss method characteris
tic Of the democrats in framing tariff
legislation. they discarded the specific
duties. and provided nat I'd valorsm
rate Of Is Per cent on the four grades
Of files enumerated in the bill A hoof
rasp pays no moro duty than = jswsl-
er's iile with teeth 90 flne - to b Il.
most invisible. Based on imports. this
tarifE reduction approximatsd SO Per
cent.
The Underwood law took effect Octo-
Der T. 1913. During the remainder Of
that fiscal year. ending June 80. 1914
orr imports Of hles amounted to over
10l. .000. 900 dozen. valued At Ss5.65s. on
which duty Of "a. AS was collected.
During q similar nine months under
the republican law. October !. 1919. 10
June 80. 1913. our imports Of Alee
totsled l6.170 dozen. valued At $ao,6:S.
and yielding q duty Of 3sA $50. Here
was an increase Of 40 per cent in the
value Of hles imported under the dem.
ccratic law. while the duties collected
thereon fell Oh II per cent. A. the
bulk Of these imported hles were Of
the 6ner grades. American enterprise
and labor were correspondinsly In
tured. This shows the fallacy Of dem
ocretic argument.
Our domestic production Of Alss
totals about $500. 900 annually. and
on the face Of It. the import Hgurss do
not appear to be dangerous. but that IL
not the point. samuel Nicholson OF the
Nicholson File company. hit the nail
ON the head when be stated:
"You can easily understand why. II
you should let the bars down in this
country on hles and vs should ct
over here 100000 dozen illes-no more,
no lsss-those prices would % broad
cast through the United States. 10
hold our trade. We would hsvs to meet
those pricss; you know that Now, II
We lower our prices do W not, from
necessity. have to lower our cost Of
Droductioni"
And that means lower wages to labor
and smallsr dividends 70 stock holders.
Tho hls industry demands protsctivs
duties. aad ths sstusp % power q ths
rspubliean party. "a