The Republican journal., 1921-08-18
We Demand Protection

We take the following from the Wage
Garner, the official organ of unionized
labor in New England. 1t is we'll worth
careful perusal:
Why do SO many thoughtful labor lead
ers demand protection of American in
dustry2
Why are SO many rabid agitators op-
posed2
Thoughtful leaders, who have fought
in the trenches OF the industrial battles
of this country; who have aided in the
gains made by American workmen for
better wages and better working con-
dltlons; who want to see the wage earn
ers hold all that they have gained, in
dollars and cents, in health and in indus
trial freedom; demand that safeguards be
placed around these gains, an they look
to our United States Congress to create
and'place the safeguards.
No matter if the altruistics cry out that
it Is shameful to measure our successes
in dollars ald cents, the fact remains
that better wages, more sanitary working
conditions and more leisure in which to
enjoy ourselves, all cost our employers
money. When we seek better wages it
/
we demand shorter working hours at the
same weekly wage, or at higher hour
wage, it takes more money from him,
and when we secure fine ventilation
system, or an up-to-date wash room,
again it takes money from him, and he
! and his statesmen must secure either a
higher price for their goods, or get in
creased production out of US.
All this talk about money leads at once
to the question of how much our en-
ployers can sell, either at home or abroad,
and what prices they can get for the
goods you and l, and Others produce.
Ii we demand as workers in the chemi-
cal industry from S3l week for process
men down to $l8 week for common
labor, what will the selling prices of our
productions be, compared to those of the
Sc. so and SIS so week workers in Ger
many for the same classes respectively,
and IS to 81. so workers in Japan. To be
sure the scale in England is quoted at
from $l8 so to $3.50 but very liberal
margin remains in favor of our foreign
competitors. These wages are taken
from the booklet prepared for the use of
the Committee on Ways and Means of
the United States House of Representa-
tives.
In iron and steel schedules mill labor in
the United States reaches an average of
about SAB, in Germany, 1884, in Japan,
$500, and in England, SIT 40. What
effect will be felt in our American iron
and steel mills, and how long can our
labor organizations. or our business mag
mates maintain such great difference in
wages, if the selling field is open to
foreign low-waged competition, and no
protection given the American employer
In the textile industries, quoting from
the same authority, cotton and WOODEN
weaving and spinning in the United
I States averages the wage earners from
$40 Sc to $50 33, in Germany from ST. 35
to S474, in Japan 81 Sc to Sc, and in
England Sl1.24 to SIS So. Are our Ameri-
can weavers and spinners so much more
skilled that they can produce in suffic-
iently greater quantities to equalize SELL
ing prices, against the work of the famous
English, Scotch and Irish textile work.
ers, not to consider the wonderful results
shown by the skilled wage earners of
Germany, France, Japan and China?
In the Outlook, W. c. Gregg says that
he found things We y cheap in Germany
when measured by our dollar standard
potatoes one cent; bread cents; pork rs
cents; chickens, II cents a pound; eggs,
Sc cents dozen; rent, two rooms for a
workman, one dollar a month; street car
fares less than two cents. Is there any
wonder that German tools are being sold
in quantities in Detroit?
Even our standard of living might be
maintained under great reductions in
wages if we could make purchases at
these prices, but it is a question if they
could. However, our wage earners have
reached the stage where thew want the
best there is to be had, they are willing
to put in honest hard work in return for
an honest recompense, and they do not
want the kind of rooms that can be had
for dollar a month, and do not want
such things to figure in our American
viewpoint of living.
wages; our standard of living; our con.