Milford chronicle., 1920-12-03
UNCLE TED'S
BEDTIME STORIES
TOYS AND TARIFF

the evening with small bundle il
his hand which aroused the curiosit,
of Ruth and Jack. Slowly unwrap
ping it he placed before them a bean
tiful gyroscope top which had stamp
ed on its shank in small letter,
made in America" With a lons
string he wound up the top and sci
it spinning, placing it first on his
index finger, then upright on the ia
BILE, and finally resting the tip care
fully on the edge of his tobacco can
so that the body of the top was hor-
izontally inclined. There it remain
ed humming merrily to the astonish-
ment and delight of the two children.
who were much at loss to ex-
plain the phenomenon as scientists
of far greater ability have been.
Mercy me-" cried Ruth, what
makes that top behave that way? And
Jack wanted to know what was the
big idea in stamping the words on it.
Il can not answer Ruth's question"
said Uncle Ted. "The working of the
gyroscope are difficult to explain, and
many scientific articles have been
written about it. But 1 can answer
your question, Jack, and as that top
is guaranteed to spin for ten min
utes, will test it out with a ten-min-
ute talk on toys MADE in America"
And as the eyes of the children
flashed from Uncle Ted to the top
and back again, he proceeded:
Some time before the election
which laid the world club fellows on
the shelf 1 gave you talk about the |
tariff and peanuts, if you remember. |
Now 1 am going to give you an il
lUstration of how the European war
'cted as a protective tariff on Amer
ican industries. The toy industry is a
fine esample of this. Because the ma
tions of Europe were so busy fighting
and making things to kill people with
they had no time to make many
things which they had been sending
to this country to sell at prices
which our makers could not meet
because we pay our factory hands
such high wages.
Before the war Santa Claus used
to load his sleigh up high with toys i
made in Germany and other foreign l
countries when he got ready to come S
% the United States, and on Christ
mas morning when you got up you c
ound your stockings bulging with d
dolls and Japanese play b
hings. If Ruth had been real good il
hat year she found a French doll b
which could say mama and papa, p
lad real hair and closed her eyes a
Then put to bed, while Jack found
Oy soldiers made in Japan. All this al
as changed. OF
"The roanufa ctura of tovc and dOIIe til
egan in this country as far back as m
S36, but nothing was done to help m
ne trade for a number of years. But
1897 man named Dingley, who pI
as at the head of the Committee on ca
lays and Means, in Congress, which eV
akes our tariff laws, put a prOtec- an
We duty of 35 per cent on toys ca
hich came in from abroad. At that du
me William Mckinley was Presi- ca
INT, a statesman whom our new pc
Mr.. Harding, much re- 10
mbles. Mckinley was always ready I'M
help American industries. From an
SO to 1909 our toy industry increas- dol
from $4,000,O0O to $S,000,000 year tlo
value of products. This was due rel
iefly to the part which the protec- inc
re tariff played in encouraging Am cal
ican business. oul
Still, large quantities of toys came ed'
from abroad because they were col
lde so cheaply the sellers could Dol
y the tariff duty and yet undersell
my American toys. When the DEM AM
ratio party passed its low tariff
v it did not make any great reduc-
n in the tariff on toys, although it
opted some classiicatiOns which I
re not helpful. But the tariff law ind
ned by President Wilson made hal
les so hard just before the war the
It the toy industry suffered with bef'
rest. However, the war came 600
ng, war prosperity hit this coun- wol
, and toys from Germany were we
d up by the British blockade, al viii
ugh the Japanese imports increas- bull
toy
Now, just consider what American awf
erprise has accomplished while In
ng permitted to develop unhinder- indl
by foreign competition in toys. TIL
rry C.. Ives, president of the toy den
of the United States, Uni
recently that the American pro-
tion of toys for 1920 will reach for
100000 in value. That is ten Ot
es the value for 1909. Our toy max the
this year will have produced S15,- the
900 worth of dolls-everything qua
n the rag doll to mechanical wax any
les that can almost do arithmetic. the
ing the 100000 worth of other $685.
are playthings of all kinds and are
make of honest materials, of fine mad
kmanship and durability, and ex- worl
ting a remarkable amount OF or ed "
ality of idea and design. Just as and
Dads of tops are leaving YER plac'
t. saws Mr.. Ives, carloads OF Just
S are leaving Maine and Michi- Vern
carloads of coaster wagons are ing
ing New York, carloads of wheel coas
wagons are leaving the State OF carlo
, and enormous shipments OF ing
are leaving New York City, ship
year Santa Claus is loading up York
American toys to distribute to son
les of other lands, and he had have
his sleigh with S3,000,000 worth wher
ne end of last September, enough al pl
AXE Dancer and Prancer, Comet er hi
Cupid, Dasher and Vixen, Dun the {
and Blixen strain in their har- have
IS as Old Kris Kringle snaps his Egyp
and starts across the Seven In
If we could take all the toy mani
ries of the United States and point
? them around the toy town OF mesti
lea, Winchester, Mass, it would erica
collection of factories that never
overshadow the toy districts been
y other country says Mr.. Ives. the c
nee the days of the Egyptians, Duri1
have been national to the coun- unite
their origin. The kiddies of Ann lamar
should therefore feel proud in whicl
ing tnvs made in their hnrna -, -