IFZCi rd 3 / Cornell University Library HF2611.S37 Wages and trade in manufacturing industr 3 1924 013 820 315 IV V / / ^' !■ AGES AND TRl\i>E Manufacturing Industries AMERICA AND IN EUROPE J. SCHOENHOF ;■ ( OP " WOOL AND WOOLLENS," AND Of" THE DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE OF THE TARIFF '' WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY R. R. BOWKER NEW YORK PUBLISHED FOR THE •--,^... NEW YORK FREE-TRADE CLUB BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 27 & 29 WEST 23D STREET 1884 QUESTIONS OF THE DAY.— NO. X. The Destructive Influence of the Tariff upon Manufacture and Commerce, and the Figures and Facts Relating Thereto. By J. Schoenhof. i2mo, cloth, 7SC.; paper, 40c. " He states Iiis case clearly, and his argument is well fortified with fig- ures and worthy of attention." — Globe- Democrat, St, Louis. " Both friends and opponents of his doctrine will find the slender vol- ume a useful book of reference, owing, to the adn^irably arranged tables and statistics." — Picayune, New Orleans. " Mr. Schoenhof brings forward ' figures and facts ' that will be of in- terest and value eveiito those who disagree with his conclusions. Ilis ap- pendixes, in particular, group data not easily to be had elsewhere." — Star, New York. ''.'-.'■■ "As an argument it is absolutely conclusive. * * * We say em- phatically of thfi whole pamphlet, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it." — Literary Churchman.. ." Packed with well-arranged figures and condensed arguments." — Nation. " We recommend the. book to all who are interested in this great ques- tion of tjie day." — Ne^us and Courier, Charleston.' "Books of this kind cannot be too widely distributed and carefully read, and not only read but thoroughly studied." — Times, Kansas City. " An able presentation of the anti-protection argument. * * * It is well to read it and get a clear idea of the free-traders' case." — Times, Troy. "These figures ■•' * * ought not to be hastily thrown aside. * * * We cordially welcome to the literature of political economy this- brochure of Mr. Schoenhof." — Post, Hartford. f G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York and London. WAGES AND TRADE* Manufacturing Industries AMERICA AND IN EUROPE J. SCHOENHOF AUTHOR OF " WOOL AND WOOLLENS," AND OF " THE DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE OF THE TARIPP'' WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY R. R. BOWKER NEW YORK PUBLISHED FOR THE NEW YORK FREE-TRADE CLUB BY G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 27 & 29 WEST 23D STREET 1884 Press of G. P. Putnam'. Som New York INTRODUCTION. The question of labor and wages is the one question whicli ought most to concern American economists and American states- men. For the great body of our seventeen million male workers are wage-earners averaging less than $400 per year; and "the greatest good of the greatest number" is the purpose of the American nation. The protectionists have claimed that a protective tariff raises wages. This is the " last ditch " of their argument. There began to be doubt about the truth of this claim. Consequently the New York Tribune, the organ of the protectionists, sent a special cor- respondent to Europe to obtain evidence in support of it. Mr. Robert P. Porter, who had been special agent of the Census as to statistics of wealth and secretary of the Tariff Commission, was secured for this purpose. Mr. Porter did what he was sent to do. He presented a picture of the distress of England under free trade and of the prosperity bf France and Germany under a protective tariff that was most of a surprise to those who knew most of those countries. But if a European traveller should to-day visit the cotton-mills of Connecticut and inquire how much women earn there ; inves- tigate the tenement-houses of New York and the making of cigars and artificial flowers ; look into the Alaska St. slums of Philadel- phia, and finally ask in Altoona and Pittsburg and other centres of " protective " industries, in which the vestiges of the riots of 1877 are still to be seen, how many mills are shut down, and how many hands are put of work, and how much the rest are earning, he could easily convince foreigners that democracy is a failure and the United States the unhappiest of nations. " A lie which is all a lie can be met and fought with outright. But a lie that is part a truth is a harder matter to fight." IV To meet these part-truths of Mr. Porter's, Mr. J. Schoenhof, whose papers on "The Destructive Influence of the Tariff on Manufacture and Commerce " have won deserved attention, was asked to show the other side of the case. This he has done by the statistics and facts now gathered together in these pages. ^ I There is nothing more difficult than for the fair-minded econo- mist to obtain absolutely certain comparisons of wages. Differ- ences in hours of labor, in the purchasing power of money, in neighborhood and circumstance, in the division of labor in the same trades, in the modes of production, in the use of machinefy, are a few of the confusing elements. Mr. Schoenhof, a citizen of the United States, a native of Germany, a merchant in and manu- facturer of woollen goods, an employer of labor, a student of economics and of industrial conditions, is, however, well qualified to obtain the actual facts, and he carefully gives the authorities for his tables. Mr. Porter has in some cases done the same ; in other cases it is evident that a careful selection of fields of inquiry supplied data such as he desired. The general truth underlying the specific truths and half-truths brought forward by these two witnesses is, as discerned by free- trade economists, that wages are higher but product cheaper in free-trade England than in protected France and Germany ; and that wages are in some cases lower, in others the same, in most happily higher, but product dearer (where raw materials are taxed, though cheaper where they are not taxed) in the United States than in England or any other country. I may add one striking confirmation of the principle that wages may become higher as prices become lower. More than a generation ago, in Plymouth Co., Mass., the tack-makers were paid from 2 to 3 cents per thousand, and earned $1.25 to $1.50 per day ; the men who now tend the labor-saving machines earn from $4 to $6 per day, though they are paid only f cent per thousand. Mr. Schoenhof's deductions in his previous book are that wages are determined more by the standard of living among wage- earners than by any other consideration ; that this standard in- creases when all agencies have free play, but decreases under re- strictive laws ; that where the standard of living is highest, pro- ductive power and inventions are fullest and production conse- quently cheapest. These deductions are borne out by the statistics in the following pages. I have had myself practical acquaintance with labor in America and in England, and have seen that the nervous force, the ^ingenuity, and other qualities of the American workman enable him to work so much more effectively as to present this paradox of higher wages and cheaper production. The conclusion is that the natural prosperity of the wage- earners in the United States has been decreased by " protective " restriction and would bef increased by free trade. That wages are higher in England under free trade than in the old "protective" days is shown in some of Mr. Porter's own figures, and the differ- ence is something more than can be accounted for by other reasons. Give American labor free raw materials to work upon and it will get out of the vastly increased product then exported a very much greater wage. Certainly in purchasing power, probably in actual dollars and cents also. I heard, in Berlin, from a United States officer of legation, a startling commentary on the effect of " protection " on purchasing power. He said it was common talk in that city that the cost of feeding, clothing, and housing the German army was so much greater under the high tariff as to overbalance all that the government gained from it. Mr. Porter's ears were not open to such suggestions. Mr. Porter overlooked another significant fact, which I learned at first-hand. In one of the Peabody tenement buildings in London, meant for the lowest wage-earners, the average earning of heads of families was 23s. 7|d. per week, or about $300 per year, more than in some of our protected industries. Mr. Schoenhof gives the facts which show that the decadence of English commerce exists chiefly as a desire of American pro- tectionists. The development of England in the prosperity of her people during the free-trade era is shown by the facts adduced by Mr. J. S. Moore from the Financial Reform Almanac. In 1840, the birth-rate in England and Wales was 3r.93 per thousand of popu- lation and the death-rate 22.86, showing a balance of 9.07 ; in 1882, the birth-rate was 33.46 and the death-rate 1931, a balance of 14.15. Since 1840, the consumption of articles which indicate " solid comfort " has increased fourfold : In 1840, the consump- VI tion of currants and raisins yrns per capita 1.45 lbs., in 1882, 4.32 ; raw sugar, 15.20 arid 62.10 lbs. ; rice, .09 and 13.49 lbs. ; tea, 1.25 and 4.67 lbs. In 1840, there were in England and Wg.les 27,187 committals for crime out of 15,730,813 population, or i to 580 ; in 1882, 15,260 out of 26,406,820, or only i to 1,730. From 1849 to 1882 the recorded paupers had decreased from 934,419 (or i to*- 18.26) to 799,296 (or I to 33.14). When we add to such evidence, the fact that less than 700,000 workers in this country depend on " protected " industries, that 2,000,000 depend on unprotected mechanical industries, and that 7,670,000 are unprotected farmers, it is a wonder that American wage-earners have so long suffered themselves to be misled. Many workingmen sympathize, many farmers do not sympa- thize, with the views of Mr. Henry George as to the evils of our land system. But workingmen and farmers can alike agree with Mr. George that the protective system is holding us all down. Mr. Schoenhof might well dedicate his book, as free-traders hope they are dedicating their work, " to the greatest good of the greatest number." R. R. BOWKER. • WAGES AND TRADE IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND GERMANY. I propose to give the wages and earnings of working-classes employed in factories by competing nations. Little progress can be made toward a final adjudication of the tariff question until the bugbear of " European pauper labor " is removed from the vision of our public men. I shall bring the matter in divisions to the reader, arranged according to the importance of the various branches. The tables which I shall give are from the best authorities I can find in the United States, England, France, and Germany. My authorities are : FOR THE UNITED STATES. Reports of the Bureau of Statistics of the United States. " * " " " of Labor of Mass. " New Jersey. FOR GREAT BRITAIN. Leone Levi, " Wages and Earnings." Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom. Government Reports to Parliament. Mulhall, Dictionary of Statistics, 1884. Consular Reports to the Department of State of the United States. FOR FRANCE. Moreau de Jonnes, " Statistique de 1' Industrie de la France." Othenin d' Haussonville, " La Vie et les Salaires a Paris." Report of Consul- General Walker. FOR GERMANY. Report of Consul Du Bois and other Consuls to Department of State. Tables of Statistics of Wages of " Concordia." Reports of Chambers of Commerce to Secretary-General. Dr. Heinrich Frankel, " Die tagliche Arbeitszeit." Statistisches Jahrbuch fur 1883. I. THE TRUE CONDITIONS OF BRITISH TRADE. In order to prove that the present tariff system of the United States ought to be continued in force, the New York Tribune sent ex-tariff-Commissioner Mr. Robert P. Porter abroad, to collect statistics in the interest of " protection " ; or rather what " American Protectionists " are pleased to call protection, " equal protection to every thing," manufactured goods and raw materials alike ; frequently giving heaviest rates to the crudest and coarsest fabrics, and lower rates as fabrics increase in fineness and finish- ing process. Advocates of this doctrine seem to forget that the heavy tax on the raw material and on the crude fabric makes the " protective tariff " on higher branches absolutely nugatory. By this system nearly two thirds of our vast industries have to suffer at home from all the disadvantages arising from open iparkets for the competing products of foreign industries, without at the same time sharing in the advantages of free trade for their own prod- ucts, made of these high-taxed materials.* In order to save this * An analysis of the census report on manufacturing industries in the United States, of 1880, and a comparison with that of i860, gives some interesting facts. The large increase from $1,885,000,000 to $5,369,000,000 is ascribed to protection by that school of economists who claim high and burdensome' taxa- tion as synonymous with protection. Now "manufactures" of the census reports have to be subdivided into three classes : 1. Agricultural or mining products, or labor services with small additions of materials, or work that has to be done on the spot, uninfluenced by any pos- sible furtherance by the aid of the law-making power. This class contains such items as : Blacksmithing, Bread and Crackers, Carpentering, Coffee-Roasting, Cooperage, Fertilizers, Flouring, Food and Canning, Liquors, Lumber, Slaughtering, Sugar Refining. 2. Manufactures which are dependent on manufactured material. These materials are so largely protected that the product has no benefit from mongrel system of taxation from annihilation, which it so richly deserves, the whole arsenal of the dictionary has been ransacked to find names and sentences so as to make it more acceptable than experience has proven it to the consumej: and the producer. Neither " horizontal reduction " nor " incidental protection " will help the case, when the march of events categorically demands a thorough and intelligent reform of the tariff, so as to give relief to our manufacturing industries, and encourage the development of the higher branches. To bring all industries of a country into healthy development, attention and encouragement must be given to the higher grades. To these the lower branches must be made tributary. If the higher branches are starved by excessive taxation on their mate- rials, these materials will suffer equally. Other protective nations have shaped their fiscal policy to this end a generation ago, while the tariff, as the additional cost of the material is often higher than the "pro- tection" on the product amounts to. 3. Manufactures of first process, which are wrought from raw materials, such as textiles, crude iron and steel, etc. They bear the following relation, according to a careful classification which I have made, i860 1880 Class I. $657,000,000 $1,800,000,000 " II. 462,000,000 1,790,000,000 " III. 770,000,000 1,800,000,000 Only the last class has been deriving any great benefit from protection. But the advantage is equally illusory, if brought to the test of analysis. The tax on raw material has dwarfed the development of this class more than any other. Lines which depended on their own exertions have far exceeded the proportion of development of class III. But this class III, if reduced to the valuations of i860, would certainly not amount to more than three fourths of that sum. The inflation of prices in consequence of the much higher cost of the material, with the exception of cotton goods perhaps, would fully account for this difference. Besides, it must be borne in mind, that 1880 was the notorious boom-year. Were we to reduce values of census report to the valuations of 1879 or of 1884, we could certainly not claim more than $1,350,000,000 of protected industries as against the same class in i860 with $770, 000,000, an increase of 75 percent., whilst our population has increased 50 per cent, in the meantime. Comparing this increase of our productive strength with the rapid advance of other nations not so hampered, we can only deplore the blindness of our law-makers and people in obstinately refusing to strike at the real source of the evil : the stupid tax on raw materials. we persist in the reverse. The present stagnation is too eloquent a monitor. It would be well to seek other means of relief, than picturing the miseries and suffering of free-trade England, and painting in glowing colors the condition of protected Germany. This will not bring the slightest aid and relief to our glutted markets, and to our striking or locked-out operatives, even if the doleful news sent us from England by the correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune were true. He pictures the commerce of the United Kingdom declining, its industries decaying, its work- ing-people starving for want of employment, while all nations that have adopted or retained the protective policy are happy and con- tented. The latter take the trade away from the proud ruler of the sea. Their workpeople are constantly employed, and in- creased earnings are the result of the introduction of higher pro- tective taxes against former lower rates. All this sad news is repeatedly unrolled before our eyes, and in reading it our sym- pathetic heart is moved at the sight of the decadence of this great and mighty empire. The waves of destruction which England for a generation has launched upon the commerce and industries of rival nations are at last rolling back upon her, threatening to unhinge that mighty creation of Cobden, Bright, Peel, Gladstone, and their like. The advice given by the men who have discovered this harrowing state of affairs to the English statesmen is, to abandon their free-trade policy, and to adopt the principle of protection and exclusion. But the advice remained unnoticed, although " that strong man of the Tariff Commission " had hurried back from his Continental mission to England, to admon- ish the government and people, and give them warning of their impending doom, unless they adopt the policy of their com- petitors. " Is it not all plenty and happiness in the United States ? " " It is true the latter have no foreign outlet for the surplus product of their mills ; but what is the use of foreign commerce ? The less you export the more you have at home." Argument much like this appeared in the very columns of the Tribune. Now what are the real facts of the case ? What are the conditions of industrial nations so far as their commerce is concerned in manufacturing industries, and what are the wages paid to their operatives ? Is the protective or the free-trade policy more conducive to their happiness and the development of trade ? Are wages deterinined by tariffs or by other agencies ? What are these agencies ? What is it that gives preponderance in industries and trade to the countries whose working-people are used to shorter hours and to a higher standard of living ? All these postulates are totally at variance with theories handed down by protectionists. To prove their correctness, however, is the aim of these brief papers. If correct, our fiscal policy must be shaped accordingly, if we intend to keep a foremost rank in the progress of nations. The first and most prominent discovery of the protectionistic press, the decline of the commerce and jnanufacturing industries of Great Britain, has not the first semblance of truth. I will give the exports of British manufactures for the three years, 1880, 1881, 1882, from a Return to an order of the House of Commons ; Exports of coal and of manufactures from the United Kingdom, year ending December 31st. 1880. 1882. Apparel and Slops Arms, Ammunition, etc. . . . Bags and Sacks ...... Books Chemicals Caoutchouc Manufactures . . Coal and Fuel Copper, etc Cordage Cotton, Yarns and Twist . . " Piece Goods . . . . " Other,Lace,Hosiery, etc. Earthenware, etc Glass Haberdashery Hardware and Cutlery . . . Hats Iron and Steel Jute Yarn and Manufactures Leather and Manufactures . . Linen Yam and " . . Machinery Silk, Twist and Manufactures . Telegraph Wires Woollen, Worsted and Yarns . Total $15,420,000 7,000,000 7,000,000 4,600,000 11,500,000 4,000,000 40,000,000 16,000,000 1,400,000 57,000,000 276,500,000 29,000,000 9,600,000 4,400,000 16,700,000 17,000,000 4,900,000 136,000,000 12,000,000 13,500,000 33,000,000 44,000,000 13,000,000 6,300,000 100,000,000 80,000,000 $17,800,000 6,670,000 7,200,000 .5,250,000 12,000,000 4,500,000 42,000,000 16,500,000 1,600,000 ~ 64,000,000 284,000,000 33,000,000 10, 100,000 4,600,000 20,000,000 18,600,000 5,300,000 132,000,000 12,500,000 17,000,000 33,500,000 47,500,000 17,500,000 9,700,000 103,000,000 000,000 $20,000,000 • 6,850,000 5,650,000 5,600,000 10,700,000 5,000,000 46,000,000 16,000,000 2,000,000 62,000,000 266,000,000 36,000,000 10,600,000 5,200,000 21,000,000 19,800,000 6,400,000 151,000,000 12,000,000 18,250,000 34,000,000 58,000,000 17,000,000 5,000,000 107,000,000 ,000,000 There has been a steady rise in the value of British exports of this class since 1878. In bulk the exports were never so great as in 1882, not even in 1872 and 1873, when they exceeded the values of 1882 by only five per cent. The valuation of English exports of manufactures in 1873 was on the average fully twenty- five per cent, above that of 1882. Nor is the report that the English markets are filled increasingly with foreign fabrics any nearer the truth than the statement re- futed above. The same report of the British Government states : Imports of foreign manufactures into the United Kingdom, year ending December 31st. 1880. 1881. 1882. Chemicals Copper, Manufactured . . . Cotton, " ... Glass and Manufactures . . . Hats $5,200,000 11,600,000 12,100,000 8,400,000 200,000 18,000,000 31,500,000 5,600,000 64,000,000 8,250,000 2,000,000 45,500,000 $6,400,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 8,000,000 160,000 18,200,000 32,000,000 5,400,000 56,000,000 9,000,000 2,200,000 35,000 000 $7,200,000 11,600,000 11,800,000 8,000,000 230,000 19,000,000 36,500,000 5,750,000 54,000,000 12,000,000 2,300,000 37,000,000 Iron and Steel Manufactures Leather and Manufactures . . Paper Silks Tin, Blocks and Bars .... Watches . Woollens and Yarns .... Total $212,300,000 $194,400,000 $205,400,000 It will be seen from this, that there is great latitude between the statements set afloat by the sources mentioned above and the real facts of the case. Equal stress has been laid upon a decline in wages in England and a corresponding rise in Germany. My most diligent investigations have not been able to discover any material foundation for these assertions. The relative conditions of working-people in factories of the various nations coming under the heading of this inquiry can best be estimated from an exam- ination of the tables in the following subdivisions : 'A < ■« o 8 Hi 3-3(3 O CO « ^susuioM ; U3U1 jojoo'C$3Sei3ai3 ! to*S$xs I z£"t'$xoi :i^8"£$x9 ;o9-£$x63 i9£*£$x£i :ci-es|xoi Jig'^^'^gi ; t'S'g^x^ ; ol7Z$xgi : 9i'z$x6 ! zo'ijx^ 1 tt^'i^xs : 3J^ sSuTuiB3 3HX '(^^noii gi P"i3 zi ^Iia^ suios) sinoii 99 JO X^^soiu ':^33av jgd oS*t$ o; oS-i$ mojj SuiXj-EA S3]BJ[ ;B SlllUI .I3M0d UI SJaA133M JO sSuiui-E3 si[; 3AiS *3Jtduia sqi JO suMoi X.ioir)-Bj 1?£i uiojj suod3>j t 1 C I c2 J i O^ CO ir> O O en M r^ o . . . .en. .N« ., en. ,■<:*■ ....0..00..0..0 ' ' ' *vO • ■ ^ * ' O ' * r^ • • • •co''tHiH'*m'*io « w N « en u U z < • i 00 O oo J5 " « • •-d--Tj-- •Tf- • •f-- -O CO ■ ^ ..en. en. .CO . ..-^ .r-^ o • to 1 •*rj-'Tj-*'«cnm * ^ '^. i g 1 1 "" g oo o 00 .fl " o r^inM "W "OONOm" 'OCM-^'OcoO * "u^cn ^^0■^c^ -rl-•r^C^inc^o^• •cooO'-aoenr^- -r^en o eno "oo 'w-'^'^inM * *r^ON "en-^w * * r^co ■€©. ■■ •■MM-H ••« en loo* ■Th"Oi-^00'^* -NMcq 'OwO * 'i-^en „ N ^ O ■ en . 00 Tt r-.co en . . r-* --^ en • o "^oo - • en en oenui r^ ei-^cn'^cn cot^w cocno moo ^ . . ■ ■ W ■ HI • ■ M i id o ,c 00 <^ H O SO O vD vO O O ""i-O O O O Tf- r>r--. min o^Oeno ^+00 , .in.io. .■^■^, . ..NoONcnN , .00 .om ^ . .o .o . .oo .^ . .'-'ooo'-' . .o .^o CO 00 oo W -^OcOvO-^ O -^-^ • •« -N ■ •a»o^' • *o«or^o • "N "5""^ loin cnen '^i^mw'* t^°en •^^ oo 00 in f si . O 00 O-^OOvOOOl^O -O l^oo rtOThenOMvOOM . . ®*inNincnincnNcncn -MinN o^^o w tlB ^ « '^ '^ ^ . S^o ■ ■ C 1 5 . (-1 •"g M vO :-8 :-g.s : :§- : •.^■s :^^ :::":: :^j •^^ • * • r^oo u u o S o Scutchers, Men Girls . Strippers, Men " Lads . Grinders, Men Lads . Lap and Can Tenders, Lads Draw.FrameTenders.Wom. Roving and Slubbing.Wom. Slubbers . Bobbin Tenders, Girls . Card Winders, Men . " " Women . Overlookers. Men Mule Spinners. Men Creelers, Lads . Piecers, Lads Overlookers Throttle Spinners, Women Doffers, Boys Overlooker . Assistant Engine Driver Fireman and Laborer . 8 WAGES IN THE COTTON INDUSTRIES. In the cotton industries the comparison of figures shows that the wages paid in Massachusetts in 1878 were, on the average, not more than 15 per cent, higher than wages of English cotton operatives. English wages were somewhat higher in 1880 than ^ they were in 1865, higher in 1881 than in 1880. Counting the difference of time and the steadier working habits of our people, then we find American wages below the English— though the weekly earnings are higher to the extent shown in the tables. Applying within the United States the principle of higher efficiency and cheaper production resulting from a high standard of living,* we find Massachusetts holding the same position tow- ard her sister States which England occupies toward the rest of the world,— higher wages and shorter hours producing finer and relatively cheaper goods. The Chief of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor of New Jersey, Mr. Bishop, endorses the views of Mr. Consul Shaw, whom he quotes in his report of 1881 : "The hours of labor in the mills of the other New England States, where the wages are generally less than in Massachusetts, are usually 66 to 69 per week. Undoubtedly, the inequalities in the wages of English and American operatives are more than equalized by the greater efficiency of the latter, and their longer time of labor." Massachusetts produces more than one third of the whole prod- uct of the United States in cotton goods : 74 millions out of 210 millions, and in woollens and worsteds 55 millions out of a total of 196 millions. It will be seen from the table that England pays more than any of its two principal Continental competitors, Germany and France. The industrial development of all other nations, excepting Bel- gium and Switzerland perhaps, is far behind either. I take Ger- many and France therefore as examples. English wages are fully 50 per cent above those of Germany, and on the average at least 30 per cent, above those of France. Besides, the English working week is one of 56 hours, whilst that of Germany is from 66 to 72 (often 78) hours, and that of France of 72 hours. Yet they all guard themselves by protective tariffs, not against their * See the full illustrations of this principle in my book, "The Destructive Influence of the Tariff," G. P. Putnam's Sons. weaker rivals, but against the very country which pays the high- est wages and has the shortest hours. In cotton goods the imports and exports are : Imports. Exports. England $12,000,000 $380,000,000 Germany (not containing yarns) . 23,000,000 France " " " . 19,000,000 15,000,000 England's position in the commerce of the world- in cotton goods is as follows : Wages : from one half to one third higher than in any other European State. Weekly hours : 56 against 66 and 72 on the Continent. English exports in cotton goods and yarns Germany " " " " " hosiery, etc. France " " and yams U. Stales " Holland " " and yarns Belgium Switzerland" " and yams $21,000,000 10,000,000 19,000,000 13,000,000 11,000,000 5,500,000 10,000,000 80,000,000 90,000,000 Excess of English exports in cottons over the rest of the world $290,000,000 If we deduct the exports of yarns, because they are more than balanced by imports from England — nineteen millions — then we have $71,000,000 against $380,000,000. This is a striking illus- tration of the fallacy of the "Pauper-Labor Theory" in the tariff. The causes which lead to England's superiority over the rest of Europe, in an industrial sense, are still more active in the United States, and lead to similar results in all branches where there are no taxes on the immediate raw material, such as cotton goods, or where the labor cost is the greatest part of the value, as in machinery or hardware. Wamsutta Mills | muslin is retailed in London at 6d. The agent's price in New York is 10^ cents less s per cent., and two per cent, for cash. It is largely adver- tised in London as such, and has no equal in English brands of like superior quality and price. British manufacturers are not a little exercised at this. Wamsutta (American) muslin is now a well-established brand in the English home market. Germany's old tariff (according to Commissioner Porter's view, a free-trade one) of 30 marks per Zoll Centner on brown goods ($7.50 per no lbs. avoirdupois) was raised in 1879 to 40. marks and on bleached goods from 48 to 50 marks. A 25-per-cent. protective tariff was not sufficient to keep American cotton goods from the inhospita- ble shores of Germany, whose low-priced labor is unable to com- pete against the high-priced American labor, with its higher standard of living. In Canada American cotton goods are sold side by side with Canadian cotton goods, although the latter are protected by a 25-per-cent. duty. Labor is lower in Canada than in the United States. As far back as 1875 we had commenced to gain a foothold in these very markets. I need not dwell here upon the reasons why we are not more successful as exporters of "American mill produce. The causes are manifold, but the high cost of American labor is not one of them. WAGES IN THE WOOLLEN INDUSTRIES. In woollens, wages on the average are about 30 per cent, higher in the United States than in England ; in England, about 20 to 35 per cent, higher than in France, and fully 50 per cent, higher than in Germany. A great deal more is done under one roof and management in the United States than in England or Germany. If the dead weight of the wool tax were removed, there is little doubt that our woollen fabrics would soon find an outlet through" other markets than the present insufficient ones. In woollen goods and yarns the imports and exports in 1881 were : Imports. Exports. England $35,000,000 |i03,ooo,ooo Germany 25,000,000 64,000,000 France 19,500,000 82,000,000 United States ..... 38,000,000 400,000 England is still far ahead of its rivals in exports of woollens, though, through the change in fashion, from hard lustrous goods (in which she excelled all nations) to soft goods, a marked decline is noticeable. English exports in 1865, were $122,000,000. The decline is certainly not due to the higher wages paid in Eng- lish mills.* The difference in wages in 1865 between English and German labor was as great then as in 1880. The position of the United States in the world's trade in woollens is rather humiliating. * This decline in value is, however, more than balanced in bulk. The de- cline in prices has been especially heavy in woollens and worsteds. Under a protection of a tariff on woollens varying from 50 to 100 per cent., our imports are double those of France, 50 per cent, above those of Germany, and 10 per cent, higher than those of Great Britain. The labor cost of American mill hands is approx- imating that of Great Britain, so much that the plea of higher wages is no longer sufficient argument in upholding the present rates. When the tax on wool is abolished, we may expect to change the $400,000 of our exports into millions, and perhaps into tens of millions. A lucid illustration of the general workings of the tariff, pre- venting exports, but rather facilitating imports, may be seen from this : The tariff-rates on many manufactures, especially in the woollen line, seem extreme. Knit goods, composed wholly or in part of wool, or worsted, etc., pay a specific and an ad-valorem duty, averaging 70 percent., under the "Reform Tariff " of 1883, — an exorbitant tax on so necessary an article of clothing as an undershirt, a cardigan jacket, a knitted shawl, or the like. Sure, the manufacturer of knit goods must roll in wealth. The guillo- tine of " horizontal reduction " ought to be set to work at once to correct this abuse. But the yarns used in these goods have exactly the same rate of duty to pay. They come under the same classification, — "knit goods, yarns, composed etc." 70 per-cent. on Yarns, wholly or in part of wool or worsted. There are three parts to the material and one part to the labor in the composition of the value of the manufactured article, and it may be imagined what great margin, of profit is left to the manu- facturer, and what protection to labor after all these exor- bitant charges have been paid, which are heaped upon Amer- ican manufacture over and above what foreign competition has to 'pay. Yarn comes next to the raw material. Protective Germany has a tariff of 2^ cents (24 marks per 100 kilograms) on a pound of full-worsted yarn. This is equal to a little over 4 per-cent. (against our 70 ^), if we take 60 cents (the average value, for 1880, of British exports of woollen yarns) as a basis of compari- son. German manufacturers, however, are little pleased at this imposition, and energetic complaints are found in the reports of various Chambers of Commerce. They may often feel comforted, however, when they look upon the 70 ^ tax on the raw material B.— wo Values reduced to American dollars : English shil * Piece Work. i. Leone Levi, Great Britain. 1865. 1880. 1880. 1880. 1880. DESCRIPTION OF OCCUPATIONS. Huddersfield, B alley. Dews- Huddersfield. Leeds. I etc. bury. 1 2 2 2 2 Week of Hours. 66 56 54 S6 Wool Sorters, Men . . $5 28 to 7 68 *$7 20 $6 24 $5 76 Scourers, Men . . . 3 84 to 5 04 5 28 5 76 5 28 . . . Dyers, Men . . . . 3 60 to 5 04 5 28 5 28 5 28 > . . Dyers, Foremen . . . • . . 12 00 14 40 12 00 . . Teasers & Willyers, Men 4 00 5 28 5 04 1 5 76 Scribblers, Men . . . 6 00 6 72 Women . . 2 16 3 36 3 00 2 64 Condenser Minders, Lads . i • 2 40 3 00 2 64 2 52 Spinners, Men . . . 5 76 *7 20 7 68 *7 20 9 00 Spinners, Piecers, Lads I g2 2 88 2 40 2 16 2 28 Spinners, Foremen . . 12 OQ 9 60 10 80 I 3 20 Warpers, Women . . 3 26 3 60 3 36 3 61 Beamers, Men . , . 5 52 6 25 Healders, Lads . . . 2 88 *2 40 Fettlers, Men . . . . . . . 5 28 5 28 5 28 WEAVING. Pattern Designers, Men. . 1 • 14 40 14 40 14 40 Pattern Weavers, Men . 5 04 5 76 7 20 6 00 Furriers, Men . . . . 9 60 Weavers, Men . 4 32 *4 80 ~6 00 *6 '25 Weavers, Women 3 60 3 60 3 60 *4 32 ■ 3 50 Burlers, Women . . . . 2 64 2 10 to 3 60 Knotters, Men 5 28 5 00 Menders and Sewers . . . . 3 00 Women 3 12 3 00 FULLING. Fullers, Men . . . • • > *6 00 5 76 5 52 6 00 to 9 60 Fullers, Foremen . . . . . *g 60 14 00 8 40 DRESSING & FINISH'G, Dressers, Men . . . 6 24 5 28 5 04 6 24 Tenterers, Men . ... *6 00 5 25 5 76 Cutters, Men . . . i . 5 72 5 52 5 76 " Lads . . 2 15 2 40 2 88 2 88 Press Setters, Men 6 00 5 52 6 00 Steamers, Men . 6 00 5 52 6 00 Drav^ers, Men • . . *8 40 9 60 7 20 Engine Tenders . 9 60 9 60 8 40 8 40 Stokers .... 5 14 4 32 5 28 5 28 Mechanics . . . 8 40 6 48 6 48 Carters .... • . . 5 28 5 28 5 28 Warehousemen . . 5 28 5 28 6 00 Laborers . . . 4 80 4 80 Wages and Earnings." s. Report to Parliament, 1883. Consul-General Walker. 6. Report to Corps 13 OLLENS. ling and German mark, 24 cents ; franc, 19 cents. United States, Stroud. 2 56. *$6 50 3 84 3 60 20 to 10 80 4 08 3 78 2 52 *5 83, 7 80 *2 18 *4 68 8 40 to 13 20 5 40 *4 32 *3 00 I 92 2 88 Mass. 4 60 84 60 44 08 00 i8 50 6 66 6 66 7 64 3 00 9 50 6 95 4 59 6 34 3 60 to 4 82 6 7 20 to 9 60 . , 5 04 3 60 6 12 3 60 4 32 to 6 10 3 56 Mass. 4 Elboeuf 6 60 7 08 7 50 10 50 8 78 12 33 6 69 43 7 81 $3 18 3 18 9 05 4 81 8 53 7 45 5 13 France. 1870. 72 5 09 7 35 7 53 7 68 II 07 7 97 13 43 8 58 $4 62 to 5 82 4 37 4 62 I 74 32 3 48 Rheims. 5 72 18 4 62 to 6 36 to 2 88 to- 4 92 7 50 4 62 4 62 to 6 36 2 08 to 2 70 Germany. Aix la Chapelle 7 76 iP3 00 8 00- 3 57 2 00 to 2 80 25 Statistical Tables of Concordia. 60 to 78. 5 82 to 6 96 4 62 3 78 to 4 62 2 90 .2 85 4 30 3 60 3 90 2 85 2 90 « o S>o -en S«. S^'rt o 3 ^os o a S~o ^°° -S CO QJ ra ^J TO * ^ ° "^ S O «? p vt-t O ^ P" '^ =! 4. Report of Carroll D. Wright, Cotamissioner of Labor, Mass. s- Report of U. S. LegisUtif . 7. Report of U. S. Consul Dubois. 14 of our manufactures of worsteds, knit goods, gimps, and trim- mings of all kinds. The yarn-spinner, has, however, an equal right to repudiate the imputation that he is benefited by the duty. He has a charge of lo cents on every pound of grease wool. " Pro- tection to the farming interest " exacts from 50 to 70^ of the^ yarn-maker. Upon inquiry, I am informed by the Department of Agriculture, that only one million ranchmen and farmers have made returns of sheep. There are, however, over 4,000,000 of farms in the United States, according to the last census. Natu- rally, but few of the 1,000,000 sheep- owners have large interests ; but giving to this class all the benefits of numbers, it is only 25 ppr cent, of the farms who derive any advantage from this tax, the most hurtful of our cumbersome system. Which manufactur- ing industry is enriched or protected by this " protective system," I must leave to a subtler mind to calculate. I must confess that I am not capable of it. That the horizontal-reduction plan, now so popular among our public men, is wofuUy out of proportion as a means of relief in an emergency like this, must be clear to every mind. In my book, " The Destructive Influence of the tariff," I have shown the same absurdity of so-called tariff-protection to exist in other lines of woollens — fromjthe cloak-industry down to the raw material. The same as to shawls, etc. WAGES IN THE IRON INDUSTRIES. In the iron industries, American wages average fully 75 per cent, more than English wages. Wages in England are fully 75 per cent, higher than those paid in Germany for like work in metals, and perhaps one third higher than in France. I have no very recent tables for France at my command. Judging, how- ever, from an article in the April number of the Revue des Deux Mondes by Mr. Othenin d'Haussonville, " La Vie et les Salaires a Paris," and comparing living expenses of Paris and wages with those of provincial towns of 1873, I consider myself justified in making this average Now what is the result of competition of high-wage countries and low-wage countries in metal-work and machinery? If the theory assailed, that low-wage countries drive their high-labor IS C— MACHINERY. England. U. States. Germany. 1865. i83o. 1880. 1880. 1878. . 1881. 1880. 1882. 4 Occupations. 1 U1 s in s ^•3 9 3 a 1 « 9 Q t he 5 1 &J3 a .■so 1 2 2 2 4 4 PS c/^ Hours .... 66-72 54 54 54 60 Pattern-makers . $7 92 7 92 6 96 7 S6 15 24 18 10 JJ d (4 d d"S ""o Iron-moulders Brass-moulders . 8 64 8 40 8 40 7 20 6 72 12 30 13 2S 16 10 15 75 P "^ '^M 9 Steam-hammermen , 12 96 So 16 80 "2 Ji^^^d " Smiths .... 8 i6 6 48 4 56 7 32 5 04 6 72 6 72 12 15 7 50 15 75 8 64 ts^. . . - 4.J 1-1 ...r _: Strikers . . . - 3 36 to 4 32 5 04 6 72 7 68 foundry .illed, $1 $300. s of skilled towns : 8 a , 21 at $3. 36 $4.08, 58 a 4 at $5.04, 4, I at $6.4! mpire, $3.85 Turners . . . 7 20 6 72 .S " ° Fitters .... 7 20 7 68 6 24 7 14 10 66 12 82 w S u^ Stokers .... 4 80 5 14 6 12 9 60 8 80 S fl <^ 7 20 7 20 6 72 7 03 earn r me rom i Bricklayers . . 18 00 16 50 ^g,rtcot3 »S Laborers . . J 3 60 to 4 32 3 84 4 08 7 38 8 II ?, U) D 4 80 >i^'^ ^ e >J cs vq ^ S Boiler-makers . . 8 16 6 48 7 32 ■ss o«» Mi© rt << i. Leone Levi, " Wages and Earnings.' ^. Government Report to Parliament, 1883. 4. Report of Commissioner of Labor of Massachusetts. competitors to the wall, is correct, then England ought to be the first country to guard by a protective wall against the influx of German and French cheap work. But the imports and exports in hardware, cutlery, machinery, and other mill- work, give an altogether different showing : Great Britain (1882) Germany (1881) France (l88o) United States (1882) Imports. Jl2,0OO,O0O* 6,500,000 11,500,000 5,000,000 Exports. $77,000,000 25,000,000 23,000,000 25,000,000 * This sum contains many items which do not belong to this class, but as im- ports are not specified sufficiently, I have to take this lump sum. i6 In machinery, England excels all cheap-rate countries, both as to price and quality. Ct)nsul-General Walker, in his report of June 19, 1882, to the Department of State, gives an indication of the cost of machinery in both countries by quoting from M. Pouyer Quertier's • testimony before the French Tariff Com-'^ mission : Machinery bought in England for a cotton factory of 500 looms $40,322 Packing, transportation, and customs duty . . . 16, goo Total $57,222 so that it would still be less than if the plant were produced in France. A great part of this difference in price is due to higher coal, iron, and steel ; but the inferiority of French labor and mill outfit is sufificiently attested by other testimony and by the high protective tariff which France draws around her manufactures as against Great Britain, from the lowest grade, like pig-iron, up to the highest strata of the productive process. Nor does England fear German competition and its still lower labor. Although the latter possesses coal-beds and iron mines in close proximity, with labor about one half the cost of British la- bor, she still considered it necessary in 1879 to impose a duty on pig-iron and other crude forms of iron, and to double the rates on all other forms. That the export of the products of German mills is suffering under this system is attested by all the Chambers of Commerce which represent manufacturing interests of this kind. But how do these low-wage countries affect American foundry and machine-shop produce, hardware, etc.? We certainly have nothing to fear from Germany. The sound and wholesome ad- vice of Professor Reuleux, the German Commissioner at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, may have borne fruitful results. He found our goods excelling theirs in every way. The graceful- ness and solidity of our work stood out in solid relief against Germany's " cheap and poor " wares (" Schlecht und billig " — often translated as " cheap and nasty "). " From all other na- tions who were represented at the Exposition, we found some- thing worth learning — from Germany, nothing." American goods, stoves, ranges, hardware of all kinds, tools. 17 machine-needles, machinery of all sorts, find a ready sale in Ger- many over and above all the transportation charges and the tariff rates which Germany feels compelled to exact so as to protect her cheap labor against American high-cost labor, with its graceful, solid, and at the same time low-priced productions of superior value and finish. German makers are imitating American stamps on their own fabrics — close imitatioiis of ours, but of inferior qual- ity, so as to palm them off for American goods — the best certifi- cate they can give of American skill and genius. Our exports in these higher branches are equalling those of Germany and France, although the materials of which they are composed are subjected to tariff rates ranging from 45 to 75 per cent. All grades of iron are subjected by the American tariff, it should be remembered, to specific rates, which bear the Heavier against the manufacturer of finished fabrics the more foreign prices decline in value, as has been the case in all forms of iron. The percentage of material and labor in these metal goods is as follows (Census of 1880) : Articles. Material, Labor. Agricultural implements 67 33 Cutlery 51 49 Fire-arms ........ 40 60 Sewing-Machines ....... 50J 49^ Foundry produce, machinery, etc 60 40 The higher cost of the material, the much higher price of our labor, every possible obstacle, is overcome by American genius, nerve, and power. Exports of such magnitude in face of all the difficulties that were to be overcome by us only indicate what our condition might be if the burden upon our industry of the tax on raw materials were removed. In metals of cruder form, where the labor cost is smaller, and the material presents by far the highest proportion of cost (pig- iron, bar-iron, steel, labor = 22 per cent., material = 78 percent.), we are heavy importers and not exporters. Imports in pig-iron, bar-iron, etc., steel, and rails in 1882 were $43,000,000, and ex- ports little over $1,000,000, against imports of only $5,000,000 and exports to over $25,000,000 in the above goods of finer finish. i8 WAGES IN THE BOOT AND SHOE INDUSTRY. D. BOOTS AND SHOES. Great Britain. United States. France. 1882. Germany. « Tables of Concordia. Description of Occupation. 1880. 11 1878. S 1 1 ., 1881. S 4 In France wages of shoemakers are between five and six francs a day. (Report of Secretary Evarts, State of Labor in Europe, 1878.) ;s for men in the rom $4, paid in irlsruhef3.84, to 3.00— the latter e manufacturing Hours .... 56 60 ^^^z^.^ Sewing machinists, men Sewing machinists, women Cutters, men . Clickers, men Riveters, men Machine operators, men . Finishers 7.20 3-80 5-04 6.48 *6.oo 6 72 *7 20 ti7.75 7.33 11.05 13:75 11.75 ti5.40 7.81 14.91 II 31 12.18 In Germany w shoe industry va Frankfort (o.m.), Offenbach (o.m. the centre of a 1 industry in this 1 The boot and shoe industry is one of the most important of the United States. In 1880, 133,000 persons were employed in mak- ing boots and shoes at an outlay of $51,000,000 for wages, or $383 per head. The grand total of production amounted to f 197,000,000. This rate of wages is higher than that in most of our protected manufacturing industries, and largely above the prices paid in Europe. American wages, in fact, run to about double the English rates, which in turn exceed both the French and German wages. Nevertheless, Mr. Howard M. Newhall, of Lynn, Mass., states that the labor to make a pair of shoes, though American machines are in use there, is some cents less in America than in England. Mr. Mulhall, " Dictionary of Statistics for 1884," says : "The American machine enables a man to make 300 pairs of boots daily, a single factory in Massachusetts turning out as many pairs yearly as 32,000 bootmakers in Paris. The advance of these ma- chines has been as follows : * Piece work. f McKay operators. ' Report of Government to Parliament, 1883. * Report of Commissioner of Labor, Carroll D. Wright. 19 Year. No. of Machines. Million Pairs Yearly 1862 . 15 i 1865 . 470 15 1870 1220 45 1875 . 2300 100 1880 . 3100 150 '^The Austrian Government makes two million pairs yearly. These machines are now in general use." The French figures given in the table are more than double what wages were in 1855 in France, according to Mr. M. A. Moreau de Jonnfes {Statistique deT Industrie de la France), but still not more than half the wages of shoemakers in a shoe factory in Massachu- setts. But in France the manufacture of shoes, as carried on in the United States, was until recently an unknown art. I know of a case which tells at a glance the world-wide difference in the two modes of production ruling in the two countries. The partner of a New York leather firm, who resided at Paris, had a son, who, like many a Parisian youth, needed a change of air. He was sent to New York, with instructions to the New York partner to make a man of him in the American sense of the word. The young gentleman was willing enough, and he consented to go through the full course of study in a Massachusetts shoe factory. After a thorough apprenticeship — from the cutting to the finishing pro- cess — he bought an outfit of a shoe factory of the Massachusetts pattern, hired a foreman and a force of workmen (who, by the way, would not have left their homes unless they had been sure of receiving better pay than they could get in Massachusetts), took machinery and men to France, and established a shoe factory at Lyons. It need not be said that he is doing exceedingly well, and I learn that he has a Government contract for army boots. THE NEW THEORY OF WAGES AND TRADE. It is not by reducing wages that America is making her con- quests, but by her superior organization, greater efficiency of labor consequent upon the higher standard of living ruling in the ■country. High-priced labor means better food and better living, and these supply the American workman with that energy and nerve-power for which he is so justly celebrated. High- priced-labor countries are everywhere beating "pauper-labor" countries. The former never harm those where the high-standard 20 labor is the rule ; but cheap labor is irretrievably ruined wherever it attempts to fight an even battle with a well-situated antagonist. Thus, while the doctors are consulting which mode of treatment would most benefit their patient, Young America gets up from his couch, puts on his hat, takes his samples of Yankee-notions," machines, cotton goods, and boots and shoes, and tries to earn t penny or two long before the doctors have concluded their able discourses about their codes and the school that ought to have him in hand. A clean bill of health would be a godsend to him, as he could then start in business without having to pay excessive fees in the shape of a heavy tax on his first raw materials. This tax makes his starting-point so much above that of his foreign competitors that his success in this field seems almost miraculous. It is then no more a question of shielding American manufac- turers against the influx of foreign manufactures, which we have never been able to prevent under our ill-adjusted tariff (which puts the highest rates on the coarsest grades), as shown in my tables of imports ; but the question is, how to extend the field foi the export of our manufactures. How change our congestive state into active healthful life ? With many of our industries it is not any longer a question of protection, but of existence. The surplus yield of mills is oppressive, destructive even, and an outlet must be found somewhere. During the past season auction sales in dry goods were resorted to to close out accumulations of stocks which found no ready sales in the open market. They amounted to about 60,000 bales and cases, valued by a trade paper at ^7,000,000. This is a rather low estimate, and I think $10,000,000 more nearly correct. The quick succession of these sales not only reduced the bids offered in each sale, but had an equally depressing influence on the prices of all other domestic dry goods sold in the open market. Our whole annual product of 1880 in cotton goods, woollen goods, and mixed textiles was $480,000,000, so that these auction sales repre- sented but 2 per cent, of the entire output of these two great industries. It was sufficient, however, to cause widespread loss and ruin. Had we had a foreign market for this stuff, how dif- ferent might be the situation. I take the positive ground that there need be no reduction of 2t wages below that paid in 1880, that all we need is the raw material at as cheap a rate as that at which competing nations pro- cure it, in order to enable us to take as commanding a position in the markets of the world as sellers of manufactured goods, as we do in agricultural products. A tariff on manufactures does not bear so heavily on consumers, when raw materials are free. The prices of raw materials are easily kept up to the highest level which the duty guarantees, and combinations to regulate the out- put are more successful than elsewhere. We see this in coal- and ore-mining and in sheep-raising. The multiplied manufacturing interests have too much at stake even to attempt it, and under limited outlets competition follows which reminds more of savage warfare than of the brotherhood of men. With open markets for the raw materials the price in Europe would rise to such a degree that on the one hand the home producer would get but Httle, if any, less than now in our depressed industrial condition, and on the other hand our foreign competitors would have to pay more for their raw materials. This would at once enable us to regard with equanimity the outside competition, which now has us com- pletely at its mercy, with its materials so much below ours. For these reasons nobody is actually benefited by taxed raw materials. It is a national waste — not protection. Taxing the raw material, taxing the manufacturer who uses these raw materials, is forcibly limiting its own (the raw material's) markets ; in other words, killing the goose which lays the golden eggs. What we are capable of has been shown already, and we have hardly raised the fringe of the curtain which shuts the outside world from us. Instead of doing barely 5 per cent, of the export trade of Great Britain in manufactures we might divide honors with her. That we are capable of doing so admits of no doubt. Nor is this the vision of an enthusiast eager for the realization of the great destiny of the Republic. So sober a mind and so able and sincere a protectionist as Mr. ex-Secretary of State William M. Evarts, in the letter of the Secretary of State to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Samuel J. Randall, states this in language so pertinent that I may be excused for giving a few brief extracts : " In order to appreciate the fulness of the successes which have 22 attended our exports of manufactures, we must bear in mind that we essayed to reach the world's markets at a time when they were glutted and fiat, through the business depression and en- forced idleness which prevailed everywhere, and when the several peoples were too much engaged in providing the barest neces-.^ saries of life to pay any attention to the purchase of new and un- known manufactures. Yet, in the very face of this universal despondency, American manufactures have gone into favor every- where, and have won the highest recognition for strength, grace, and durability. " This immediate and general recognition of the superior quali- ties of American manufactures is a victory in itself pregnant with future profits. All our consular reports agree in this one re- spect, that American cottons, American tools and agricultural machinery, and all the fine manufactures which enter into the ad- vanced utilities of the day, especially in their happy combination of the useful and the beautiful, are recognized as superior to all others. * * * But we have advanced in manufactures, as in agriculture, and we are being forced outward by the irresistible pressure of our internal development, and we find it easier to meet and overcome opposition in the various foreign markets than to cry halt to progress at home. * * * We must win our way by superiority alone — superiority in business, in manufactures, and in all the subsidiary factors which go to build up a perfect commerce. But our manufacturers and exporters possess all the necessary elements to enable them to win the most brilliant success in this branch of our foreign commerce. Happily this is so, for while the European merchant is directed and aided to reach the foreign markets in many essential ways — for that which is the life of all countries, Commerce, appeals to those governments for favorable legislation as a first duty, — the American must inaugurate, intro- duce, and develop the foreign commerce of his country as though it were wholly a personal speculation in which the nation at large had no interest." We must develop our commerce, go abroad, study the wants, the tastes, the modes of business of respective countries, adapt ourselves to each case. The patterns, designs, weight, measures, widths, lengths, packing and folding of dry goods, etc., etc., all 23 are different in different countries, — all these things must be con- sidered. These are matters of accommodation, they cost but lit- tle, but they often determine a trader's preference for British or other goods even if the price be higher than ours. Many and Jirarious are the points that militate against us ; they have to be investigated and may be a fruitful subject of further argument, but I cannot dwell upon them here. I only wish to demonstrate the great strength of our competitive capacity as well as our weak spot, — the tariff on raw materials, heaviest duties on crudest fabrics and smallest on finest fabrics, discouraging the develop- ment of the latter till it seems almost impossible to engage in them. The extension of exports in manufactures is imperative from another point of view. Our exports in cereals and provisions amount to $300,000,000 ; our exports of manufactures of all sorts (including boards, laths, shingles, etc.) about $100,000,000. Our cereals and provisions are bought only by England, Germany, and France. All other countries, if industrial, produce sufficiently for their home demand, or, if agricultural, are eager competitors with us for the trade of the above-nanjed buyers of food supply. Germany and France are endeavoring hard to keep our grain and provisions from the mouths of their poor by laying restrictive laws against the imports of our stores. England is certainly doing her best to develop the resources of India and Australia, which are beginning to become very formidable competitors of our agricul- turists. The impending doom of the present land laws of Great Britain, the more than probable substitution of proprietary farm- ing for tenant farming, will undoubtedly throw a great deal of now unproductive soil into the cultivators' hands. The black soil of the Sarmalian plain, and the Hungarian wheat-fields, all the blessed rich lands from the Ural Mountains to the Adriatic Sea, only wait for the iron-horse and the steam-boat to induce the dwellers of these vast tracts of most fertile soil to rise from their lethargy and become our most formidable rivals. Even now the Russian Government is maturing a plan for the organization of a railroad system which, if executed, will do more for the development of this vast realm than conqueror or statesman has ever done for Holy Russia since the Tartar invasion. The locomotive and 24 steam-ship have made sad havoc with the Malthusian theory, this cosy refuge of laisser-faire' s dull complacency. Every spot of the globe held by civilized government is now tribu- tary, or likely to become tributary, to the food-wants of any country. The highwaymen of our food-exchanges, the "coi** nerers " of the daily bread of the poor, are giving constant cause to other countries for endeavoring to find more satisfactory sources of supplies, sources that are not so apt to be stopped or interfered with at the command of a chieftain of the stock or the produce exchange. It is much more d fficult to get back a trade once lost than to create one new. To show the possibilities of the yield of the above-mentioned new sources of supply, I may state that the exports of cereals of Russia, Austria, India, Australia, and Canada, which were in 1870 $140,000,000, rose to $350,000,000 in 1880, and although India had not more than 9,875 miles of rail- roads in 1881, yet her exports of wheat rose from $5,500,000 in 1880 to $43,000,000 in 1882.* Meantime our exports in bread- stuffs, which were $285,000,000 in 1880, declined to $185,000,000 in 1882, and $207,000,000 in 1883. The American farmer may be obliged one of these days to de- pend on the home market, which only a fully developed export of manufactures can give him. Wise statesmanship will take these matters into serious consideration and will help to supplant a line of commerce which may be fading away from us even now, by one far more enduring and remunerative to the present and to future generations. * Statistical Abstract for Colonial Possessions of the United Kingdom, 1867 to 1881. 25 •paransaoo spa no J ■saApBJado JO 'OM •QAT^-BJado aad 'spun,oj I •paransuoo spunoj 'saAii-Eiado }6 -o^sj '©AijBjado Jsd spunoj •psmnsuoo spuno^i ■S3AT:f^J3dO JO 'ON ■aAp-Bjado jad spnnOjj ■paransuoo spanO(j •S3AT;-BJ[3dO JO 'ON o o o o o o o o^ o^ ^ cT "1 u^ O ut vO O t-> to Tl in to c ■3 i4 C/l T) Tl C a D P S .5 : S O m r— T <;t^ u 2 ■f\ a a ^ rt S r /! ^ u S •3 p. -c d rt Cl, s T3 f> .a a 2 8 09 u ^ C) n j3 H * ■^ a ^ £ & Rj ,^' U ^ Tl Y c ^c-5 ° <» So s, HI w a 6 i. 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