Evening star., 1932-09-04

vigorously to maintain the opportunity
to work for the vast majority of those
who want to work.
AS an instance, immigration has been
so reduced that In the year 1881 only
43.233 aliens were admitted compared
with 10000 the year before. and no
less than l387,318 in the year 1913!
Certainly the American workingman
and workingwoman also were being ef-
fectually protected in the labor mar
ket as the result of raising the immi-
grafton bars to this extent. And the
Department of Labor has deported and
Is continuing to deport many thou
sands of aliens who came here illegally
or who have no business in this coun-
try.
BY expansion and reorganization OF
the Federal employment :orvice, ap-
proximately 1000, 900 900 jobs have been
furnished to those badly in need OF
employment since April l, 1881
The public building anG road pro-
gram of the United States Government
was so expanded and hastened In ac-
complishment that 100000 men who
otherwise would have been idle were
put to work and paid more than $780,
000, 900 in wages. This, of course, rep
resented only a part of the benefit, and
probably the smaller part-for in the
mills, quarries and factories which sup
piled stone. steel. tools, paint, cement
and countless other materials for the
work of an army of additional men
and women were furnished employ
ment.
A partial list of public works under
taken or supported by the United
States Government shows an expen-
diture of nearly 100000. The
direct pay roll for this work Is equal
to years pay roll of the whole auto
pay roll Of all the industries engaged
in manufacturing rubber goods includ
ing tires, boots and shoes, plus all OF
the industries engaged in m t
slaughtering and packing. And the ex-
penditure is going for useful and neces-
sary purposes-not for unproductive,
pork barrel" tax-breeding and tax
consuming projects.
At a time when many men were
willing to work for almost any wage,
no matter how inadequate, the Gov
ernment insured fair wages by writing
into the contracts for Government con-
struction on public buildings require
ment that the contractor pay the pre-
which the building is being erected.
In recent laws and regulations we
have gone even beyond that and are
limiting hours of work for any man
employed on some projects to 80 week,
and curtailing the use of machinery
whore it might displace men who need
employment for the support of their
families.
Tariff on Manufactures.
One of the bulwarks that has been
.Aof ,4I %~r tl,n Of
lean labor Is the tariff on manufac-
lures from abroad. The need for this
can be seen. by glance at production
costs here and across the sea. The
cost Of cotton rag rugs imported from
Japan and landed in this country Is
cents for the size two feet by three
feet. The cost of manufacture in this
country Is % cents. Knives and forks
made in America cost to manufacture
S7.42 for a set of six. Those imported
from England and landed here cost
S48l. Electric light bulbs can be
bought and brought here from Japan
at cost Of $l55 a hundred, while
ours cost $2.35 to manufacture. Our
cost of manufacturing yard of all
over lace is 80 cents; the landed cost
of such lace from England, based on
deprecated currency, Is 46 cents.
The lack of an effective tariff would
quickly manifest itself in the closing
down of thousands of additional fac
tories in this country, and the reduc-
ton of practically all our industrial
workers to a pauper class.
While our tariff serves as a protec-
ton Of labor In the United States, it is
by no means excessive as compared
with the tariffs Of other nations. We
have a tariff Of Is cents a bushel on
corr, Ita1v hos a tariff NJ 40 cantS and
Spain 10 cents We have a tariff of
$3.50 a hundredweight on raw sugar;
Frances tariff is $6.06 and that of
Spain is $5.26. We have tariff rate
of $l12l2 on ton Of pig iron, and
Italy's tariff Is s7.20 ton. Our tariff
rate on mems ordinary shoes Is 10 per
cent Of the import value: France has o