Full text of Statements and Speeches of Robert L. Owen : The Tariff : Speech in the Senate of the United States

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SIXTY-FIRST CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION.
The Tariff.

SPEECH
OF

II ON. R O B E R T
OF

L. O W E N ,

OKLAHOM A,

I n the Senate of the U nited States,
Tuesday, June 15, 1909.
The Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, having under consideration
the bill (H . R. 1438) to provide revenue, equalize duties, and encourage
the industries of the United States, and for other purposes—

I

r

Mr. OWEN said:
Mr. P resident : No consideration ivould induce me to propose
or contend for a tariff reduction which would seriously harm
any American industry whose existence is justified by the nat­
ural resources of our country.
Upon my oath as a Senator of the United States, I feel
charged with a solemn responsibility of defending the welfare
o f the people of the United States, including as vigorously and
as distinctly the interests of the people of Maine, of Rhode
Island,' or of California as the interests of the people of Okla­
homa. I shall discharge that duty as an American in a broad
and liberal spirit, with patience, with tolerance, and perfect
fairness.
By that sense of duty I have felt impelled to submit to the
Senate ^he reasons which make it impossible for me to support
H. R. 1438. I can not agree to the passage of this bill without
the registration of a solemn protest against it. I plainly see
the evil results upon the people of the United States, which
have followed the McKinley bill and the Dingley bill, and which
must follow the passage o f a worse measure.
Mr. President, I am not unmindful that what I shall say will
not deter the managers of this bill in the Senate in the least
from their predetermined course, but I deem it my duty to place
upon the records of the Senate and of the United States the
reasons which justify my protest and from which future stu­
dents may perhaps find something of value in determining this
question, when they shall consider it with intellectual and moral
integrity and not in a spirit o f trade, of barter, or of easy com­
pliance with the demand of special interests, whose lobbyists
swarm the corridors of this Capitol.
Resident, mere denunciation of a bill, or of the managers
^
serving no good purpose unless proof is
> :e^ed which shall be convincing to thoughtful and honest men
that the condemnation is thoroughly justified
In pointing out the injurious effects of what I shall demon­
strate to be a monopoly-protecting tariff upon our entire people
including every class of consumers, every class of producers)
every class o f manufacturers or distributers or merchants ex­
cept the masters of monopoly, I shall do so dispassionately,
with a composed temper and with an earnest desire to offer
reasons, at least, to those now trusted by our people with power
why they should not persist in a policy full of injury and harm
to the Republic.
I shall be compelled in this discussion to point out the logical
consequences of a monopoly-protecting tariff; its effect its dan­
gerous effect, in piling up stupendous wealth on the one side in
the hands of its favorites, and in. causing great wretchedness
and poverty on the other side among the weaker and more de­
fenseless classes of our people.
When I point out the unavoidable effect of extreme poverty
as the necessary complement o f unlimited wealth in the hands
of the few accumulated under the shelter of law. I wish it
distinctly understood that the dark picture of human misery
which the truth compels me to portray breathes from me no
spirit of pessimism, because I am full of hope. I recognize the
immediate dawn of better things and an early remedy. The
89032— 8445




increasing intelligence of our people already begins to under­
stand the causes of these conditions and to formulate the
natural and reasonable remedy for their correction. The spirit
of benevolence and of patriotism which characterizes the great
body of our people and, I rejoice to say, moves a multitude of
the beneficiaries of our unwise system gives promise for an
early correction of the injurious consequences tvhich naturally
follow’ a prohibitive tariff, with its necessary brood of success­
ful monopolies, by the reduction of that tariff; if not now,
through the party in power, then by the unwearied Democracy
that has been faithfully pointing out its evils for twenty-five
years. I shall endeavor to point out some of the injurious con­
sequences of the tariff-engendered monopolies and their crush­
ing effect upon human life ; but in doing so I shall not be under­
stood as a pessimist, because I am precisely the contrary.
O P T IM IS T .

Mr. President, I am an optimist; because I feel that the
Anglo-Saxon race and the Teutonic blood represented in this
country by millions of men of the northern races of Europe
and Great Britain and the adopted sons o f other great nations
in our land have an unquenchable love of liberty, of justice,
and of compassion, and will correct every evil of our great
Government; because our forefathers distinguished themselves
by a love of liberty that dared death in every form to establish
it and maintain it in the bosom of this Republic; because our im­
mediate forefathers not only loved liberty, but they practiced that
form of government which made liberty a working force in the
administration of this Government from the days when the town
meeting in New England, in Massachusetts, Mr. President, in Con­
necticut, and in Rhode Island instructed their representatives
according to the will of a free people. In those good old days
when the Representative was not a machine-made politician, but
was a Representative in the highest and best sense—of repre­
senting directly the opinions and the commercial interests of the
common people who sent him.
I am an optimist because of my perfect confidence in the great
body of the American people, whose stability, patriotism, and
common sense will control this country and direct it along sound
paths of good government; because I see in many directions
the gradual restoration of the right and powrnr of the peo­
ple to select their public servants directly, and directly require
them to carry out their will. I rejoice to see the establishment
of the initiative and referendum in Maine and in Oregon and
in other States, as well as in Oklahoma, and the establishment
of the direct primary in so many of our States.
I rejoice to see the people Instructing their legislatures in the
selection of Senators, and while I did not receive any report
from the Senator from Michigan, as chairman of the Committee
on Privileges and Elections, of the proposed amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, I had the honor to submit
during the last Congress, for the election of Senators by direct
vote of the people, I have felt justified in being an optimist
because I was able to point out 24 States in the Union that had
requested from their legislative assemblage this restoration to
the people of their ancient right of rule.
Now, Mr. President, I am an optimist, notwithstanding the
hostile attitude of the leaders now in control o f the Senate, be­
cause already there are 29 States, including Michigan, the State
of the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Privileges
and Elections, in which the election of Senators is controlled by
the direct voice of the people.0 It will only be a few short years
when 46 of the States will be controlled in this manner; and
when that day comes, no Senator in this Chamber will be so
callous as to mock the pledges made to the people in national
platforms.
° Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana. Maryland. Michigan, * Missouri,
Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Okla­
homa, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vir­
ginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Of these California, Nevada, Idaho
and Michigan came in this year— 1909.

CONGEE SSIONAL EE CORD

A I am an optimist, Mr. President, because of tbe magnificent
growth of our Republic under tbe blessings of liberty.
from 5,000,000 people in 1800 we Rave over eiglity-five
millions in 1907. From five billions o f wealth in 1800 we have
a hundred and twenty-five billion in 1900. From a weak nation
we have become potentially the greatest nation in the world;
but above all, Mr. President, has been our increase in the means
of intelligence.
I orests are now converted into paper with lightning speed.
Volumes innumerable, filled with learning upon every subject,
are crowding into the pathway of knowledge; but chief of all
the modern newspapers, filled" with learning, wit, and humor,
illustrated with splendid descriptions and photographs of every­
thing • in the heavens above, the earth beneath, and the waters
•
under the earth,” are thrust into the hands of the wayfaring
man for a price incredibly small, so that he who runs may read
and instantly learn what is transpiring in regard to everything
ot human interest at home and abroad, so that every citizen may
know at breakfast every fact transpiring on earth that he cares
to know, from the diplomatic questions of foreign courts to the
wonderful home run of Casey on the Chicago ball grounds,
from the market quotations of London and New York to the
astonishing description of the last wild beast slain on the
eastern coast of Africa by one of our very distinguished fellowcitizens.
While it is true that thirty-five thousand millions of dollars
of the proceeds of human labor in the United States have passed
into the hands of various corporations, and a very large part
of all of the net proceeds of American labor have been improp­
erly acquired by monopoly; and while 7,000,000 women have
been driven from out the peaceful shelter of the American home
into commercial rivalry with men; and while 5,000,000 children
in like manner are being driven under the commercial whip to
sacrifice their youth, in large part, to the demand of Mammon;
and while there are many millions of men who regard life with
great anxiety, constantly in fear of the drastic power of extreme
poverty and lack of employment, still I see that the American
workman, in the factories of our land, have exhibited a net
output per capita of over twelve hundred dollars, from which
the legitimate demand on him for the support of an American
can be met and still leave a large surplus earning.
-Lhe American people have shown that they are far more than
abundantly capable of sustaining themselves and making the
most substantial contribution to the wealth of the Republic
a a
^ e world and still leave themselves reasonable leisure.
And, finally, Mr. President, I am an optimist because I believe
tnat the American people— who love liberty, who believe in selfgovernment, who believe in mercy and in charity as well as in
austry and providence— will see to it that this Government is
' , conducted by their representatives that in the future there
, ? b . < a morc equitable distribution of the proceeds of human
b
t_ °-! ’ _ia.t we shall change the present policy, whose inevitable
tvm cucy is the useless, the vulgar, and insane enrichment of
r>hv .eW at the expense of the misery and sorrow and of the
i
and m-i
sPiritual degeneration of millions of men, women,
‘
. V ren who are now submei’ged by the devices o f com.
xneicia ism gone mad.
PrY't > fk °lltd not pass,
'H

It never has, Air. President, at any time contemplated so re­
ducing the tariff as to injuriously affect any legitimate industry
whatever. On the contrary, while it has pointed vigorously to
the fraud and false pretenses of the monopoly protecting tariff,
it always has been mindful of the rights of capital legitimately
employed in manufacture, and equally mindful of labor em­
ployed in industries established under the shelter of our tariff
system.
In 1884 the Democratic national platform said:
Alany industries have come to rely upon legislation for successful
continuance, so that any change of law must be at every step regard­
ful of the labor and capital thus Involved. The process of reform must
be subjected in. the execution to this plain dictate of justice ; all taxa­
tion shall be limited to the requirements of economical government.
The necessary reduction of taxation can and must be effected without
depriving American labor of the ability to compete successfully with
foreign labor and without imposing lower rates of duty than will be
ample to cover any increased cost of production which may exist in
consequence of the higher rate of wages prevailing in this country.

The practice of writing these schedules at prohibitive rates
and preventing competition and engendering monopoly has been
fiercely condemned by the Democracy as “ robbery of the great
majority for the benefit of the fe w ” (1892). It has de­
manded a constitutional tariff drawn for the purpose of revenue,
hut has not condemned the unavoidable incidental protection
which any tariff for revenue, or for revenue only, unavoidably
affords, and which will always be found sufficient for the inci­
dental protection of legitimate industry.
The reason why protection AS PRACTICED has been de­
nounced as “ robbery ” is because such schedules have been
drawn not for constitutional revenue purposes, but to shelter
monopoly and permit monopoly to wrongfully tax the people
under the color of a pretended revenue law.
The party to which I have the honor to belong, therefore
(1908), welcomed the promise of tariff reform offered by the
Republican party in 1908 on the basis of “ the difference between
tbe cost of production at home and abroad,” for the obvious
reason that a tariff so drawn would necessarily be a tariff for
revenue with only such incidental protection as justice and
common sense requires.
It was this kind of tariff law drawn in 1846, with which both
parties were well satisfied in 1856. If this law were now so
drawn, the contention between the two great parties on this is­
sue would necessarily cease. [For party platforms compared
see Exhibit 11.]
The party leaders of both great parties declared the purpose
of reducing the tariff downward. No manner of explanation
or evasion can alter the substantial truth that it was the ex­
pressed will of the American people making itself felt through
both party platforms and through both party leaders that there
should be a substantial reduction of tariff duties.
The Republican platform of 190S declares “ unequivocally ” —
a remarkable word in a platform, and suggests the purpose of
equivocation— “ for revision of the tariff by special session of
the Congress immediately following the inauguration of the
next President,” and says:
In all tariff legislation the true principle of protection is best main­
tained by the imposition of such duties as will equal the difference be­
tween cost of production at home and abroad, together with a reason­
able profit to American industries.

The platform also says that it is the Republican policy—
AMERICAN^PEbpLE^°NTI^^^^ T ^
°
WILL °F T E To preserve which American manufacturers,security aguinst foreign
H competition to without excessive duties the farmers, and producers
tlle American people were promised by both are entitled, but also to maintain the high standard of living of the
wage-workers of this country, who are the most direct beneficiaries of
substantial
of tlle tariff. and had a right to expect the protective system.
iioonlo assomrn!^10? ; The representatives of one-half of the
Excessive duties are here condemned by the leaders of the Re­
o r o n slv in
n at Denver, emphasized this matter most vig- publican party, and in 1904 the Republican platform declared:
' ■ 1
Democratic platform in the following language:
The measure of protection should always at least equal the differ­
r?
i've ^0™ .,ittle belated promise of tariff reform now offered by tbe
e
ence in the cost of production at home and abroad.
Even in the majority report o f the House committee, page
This platform declared:
2, section 1, they declared:
work('t o ea P ie r t f w h i i S? telr intrust the execution of tins important
ra
interests ^ t l ^ R e p u b U c a n pa?ty. oW ga ted to the highlg protected

This platform states:

While duties should be protective, they should he adjusted as nearly
as possible to represent the difference in cost of production at home and
abroad.
IT

V IO LA TE S

THE

REPU BLICA N PLEDGES.

The rates of the hill submitted by the Finance Committee
was postponed* an til a fte r 1thp1^ 1 ^
^
,fa 5? that the PIomised relief
in which the Republican n a r t v electlfin— an election to succeed average higher than the Dingley bill and are not a reduction
beneficiaries of the high p r o ti'c tT r r ^ J l^ the. . s“ me support from the at all.
received from th em ; and to the f n r t w £ 5*
always heretofore
The chairman of the Committee on Finance ostentatiously sets
terrupted power no action whatPVA^Lo filct thjlt, during years of uninforth 379 items on which reductions are made.
dongi-ess to correct the a d m itte d ly ^ isT in g 'tL lff iM quitie^ Kepublican
These reductions, as will appear in the C ongressional R ecord
This platform further declared:
of May 5 and by Exhibit 12, I here submit, are items of no na­
d u ties1^ * 1 immediate revision of the tariff by the reduction of import tional importance.
Two hundred and seventy-four of these
items involve articles whose imports are less than $25,000, or
Which 1 have the lionor to belong has, since severally less than one-thirtieth part of 1 penny gross imports
a pr° per re*orm °t the inequalities, injustices, per capita. The table which I submit gives the items in excess
and false pietenses of a tariff controlled by selfish interests at where the imports of such articles amounted to over $25,000,
the expense of the American people
and the table discloses the fact that the total imports except­
89032—8445




CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
ing lumber was extremely small, and that the pretended reduc­
tions are of no importance, while the increases are of substantial
importance.
Mr. President, this bill should not passs, because it violates the
pledges of the Republican party and of the Republican leader
during the last campaign. The party platform, I have shown
above, is unequivocal. Its reasonable and natural interpreta­
tion is plain. The Senator from Indiana on May 25 set forth
at great length the declarations of the President of the United
States, quoting him as pledging the American people—
Genuine and honest revision
* *
* substantially a revision down­
ward, though there will probably be a few exceptions-—

As delivered by the President September 24, 1908.
No wonder the Republican Senator from Minnesota [Mr. N el ­
s o n ] demands to know what this special session was called for,
if it was merely to rewrite the Dingley bill.
No wonder the Republican Senators from Iowa, Indiana,
Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and other States vehe­
mently protest against this betrayal of the party pledge. The
Senator from Massachusetts will explain in vain to the Ameri­
can people that it was not the purpose of the party to have a
substantial revision downward, as the President said, September
24. 1908, at Milwaukee.
The President in his inaugural address reiterated his con­
struction of the purposes of the party, as was strongly pointed
out by the Senator from Indiana, and stated in the most positive
manner:
It Is imperatively necessary, therefore, that a tariff bill be drawn in
good faith in accordance with promises made before the election by the
party in power.

And on December 17 last the President is quoted as having
said before the Ohio Society:
Better no revision at all, better that the new bill should fail, unless
we have an honest and thorough revision on the basis laid down and
the principles outlined in the party platform.

The Republican platform declared in 1904 for a tariff law
merely “ equal to the difference in the cost of production at
home and abroad,” and in 1908 likewise declared for—
Such duties as will equal the difference between the cost of produc­
tion at home and abroad.

And yet the leaders of that party, neither in the House nor
in the Senate, have concerned themselves to compile “ the dif­
ference in the cost of production at home and abroad,” although
they have submitted many volumes of thousands of pages of
confused miscellany, a small portion under oath, a large portion
not under oath, with no safeguard whatever, and coming from
selfish interests seeking the privilege of monopoly over the
American people.
When I, as a Senator of the United States, representing the
people of the United States, from Maine to California, and en­
titled by the honor and dignity of my position to a proper an­
swer, demand to know “ why the difference in the cost of pro­
duction at home and abroad” had not been compiled as a basis
for the drafting of this statute, the Senator from New Hamp­
shire rises in his place and solemnly advises me that my inquiry
is “ absurd.” [Turning to the Senator from New Hampshire,
Mr. G allinger .] lie will find his remarks on page 2214 of the
C ongressional R ecord.

The suggestion is made by other Republican leaders that the
Information can not be obtained, and when I myself offer over
446 items which had been compiled ten years ago by Carroll D.
i\ right, Commissioner o f Labor, they show themselves ac­
Y
quainted with the matter, confess that this information can be
obtained, and plead that the report is not up to date.
The Senator from Rhode Island, chairman of the Committee
on Finance, rises in his place and, with a fine sense of humor
excited by my request and inquiry why the difference in cost of
production had not been compiled, advises me with amused satire
that he will have a clerk compile for me a list of publications
relating to the tariff, but will be unable to furnish me with the
intelligence to digest them.
I shall not question the intelligence of the chairman of the
Comndttee on Finance, nor shall I reply to him in kind
I
appeal from him to the American people, who will not hold him
guiltless for his callous and reprehensible conduct in this
matter.
Mr. President, I keenly regret to feel impelled to comment in
this manner upon the conduct of public business in the Senate
Not only has the chairman o f the Oommittee on Finance not
furnished the Senate “ the difference in the cost of production
at home and abroad; ” not only has he not made a proper re­
port to the Senate in regard to this matter; not only has he
replied with satirical indifference to a respectful demand for
proper information which he was charged with the duty of ob­
taining, but he has withheld information upon this point ob89032— 8445




3

tained by our Department o f State, through the German Gov­
ernment, for the express purpose of our enlightenment. He has
done, Mr. President, what is infinitely more reprehensible; he
has refused to the Senator of Virginia and to the other Demo­
cratic members of the Senate Finance Committee the privilege
of having the same information as he himself has enjoyed by
virtue of being an officer of this body; and when, Mr. President,
his attention is called to this unjust and unconstitutional con­
duct, he justifies it by quoting from an evil precedent of Demo­
cratic origin and seemed to think he had fully answered for
this breach of duty.
Mr. President, a bad Democratic precedent is no more re­
spectable to me than a bad precedent from any other source.
The conduct of the chairman of the Committee on Finance in
holding secret meetings with regard to this public matter and
in giving repeated confidential audiences to the agents of mo­
nopoly, whose advice is influencing the various paragraphs of
this bill in their own interests against the interests of the Amer­
ican people, is a bad precedent either to set or to follow, and puts
the management of the Senate of the United States under the
suspicion of a want of frankness and of a want of sincerity in
drawing these schedules. It is of the highest national im­
portance that the Senate of the United States and every Member
of it should not only be above suspicion, but, as far as possible,
beyond danger of being deceived or misled.
This evil precedent has already borne bad fruit, and the chair­
man of the Committee on Finance has been induced to put into
this bill and to retain in this bill many so-called “ jokers ” —
that is, words and phrases, innocent in appearance, with farreaching consequences, favorable to the beneficiary and unfavor­
able to the people. These devices have already been pointed out
on the floor, and I shall not pause to enumerate them. No court
of justice, and no high official of government charged with a
sacred trust should permit himself to conduct “ star-chamber
proceedings,” because it is almost sure to bring upon himself the
odium of suspicion and public hostility as a Member of the
United States Senate.
I enter my emphatic protest against this conduct of the public
business as a precedent. It should not be permitted to stand
as a precedent
The poor excuse that the Democratic Members were lately
furnished with the assistance of two statisticians does not in
the least degree excuse this grossly improper method of conduct­
ing the public business. These experts were not furnished until
it was too late to use their services advantageously for the
proper digest and amendment of this bill.
For over a year the Republican Members have given it out
that they were preparing this bill, and yet with all this time
they have never yet furnished either the House or Senate with
“ the difference in the cost of production at home and abroad ”
of the items in the paragraphs of the Dingley bill, which they
were honor bound to do by the platform of 1904 and by the plat­
form of 190S, which required the redrawing of these paragraphs
on this precise basis.
They can furnish no explanation of this astonishing and
shocking neglect of duty, except perhaps the explanation offered
by the Senator from South Carolina, who humorously apolo­
gized for them—
That they could not he expected to furnish a rope with which to hang
themselves.

Is it possible, Mr. President, that men o f nobility and char­
acter, that Senators trusted by the people with such power,
have knowingly refused to compile “ the difference in the cost
o f production at home and abroad ” on the items of the Dingley
bill for our present guidance because they intended to break
faith with the American people and did not dare to make the
truth manifest by compiling this damning evidence of their
betrayal of their party pledges?
Whatever the purpose, Mr. President, the responsible authori­
ties of the Senate in charge of this bill have furnished every­
thing else except the evidence in point, and have obscured the
issues both in the Senate and House by many volumes of undi­
gested and undigestible matter, as well calculated to confuse
the mind of an intelligent and laborious legislator as the huge
volumes of testimony bundled before the petit jury in the crim­
inal-rich cases, for the purpose of befogging the issue and as­
suring a miscarriage of justice.
In answer to my resolute demand for this information, the
managers of the Senate, presenting and sustaining this bill,
undertook to ridicule and discourage the inquiry. The chair­
man of the Committee on Finance [Mr. A l d r ic h ] indulges in
satire, evasion, and suggests a lack of intelligence in the inquiry.
The Senator from New Hampshire [Mr. G a l lin g er ] declares
the inquiry absurd. The Senator from Montana [Mr. C arter ]
suggests that Senators can not expect to be fed with an intel­

4

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

lectual spoon, and so forth. And this is the utterly contemptible
and pusillanimous manner in which party pledges are redeemed.
This is the answer made to a respectful inquiry, why this infor­
mation is not furnished as to “ the difference in the cost of pro­
duction at home and abroad,” and why this bill is not written
in the light of this evidence, as the party pledged itself to do to
the American people.
Mr. President, the Republican leaders in charge of this bill
occupy a position absolutely and utterly indefensible. They
have boldly and openly violated the pledges of the party and
have sacrificed the interests of the American people to benefit
those selfish interests which are using these high schedules for
the purpose of sheltering monopoly.
Mr. President, I can not help but believe that the Republican
leaders, acting through the subtle influence of machine politics,
have been led into a support of these high ■schedules without
fully realizing that they are violating their party pledges, which
confines them to the difference of the cost of production at home
and abroad, but having made the error, defend it from false
pride of opinion.
They have been, not perhaps quite hypnotized, but over­
whelmed with the “ power of suggestion ” enveloping them and
creating the atmosphere and controlling environment established
by a swarm of attorneys, special pleaders, and fascinating rep­
resentatives of the high-tariff beneficiaries.
They seem to have entirely lost sight of the principle of pro­
tection taught by their forefathers and defended by their own
platform. This bill ought not to pass.
because

it

v i o l a t e s t h e t r u e p r i n c i p l e o f l e g i t i m a t e PR O TE C T IO N ,
W H IC H DOES NOT ENGENDER OR DEFEND MONOPOLY.

This bill ought not to pass, because it violates the principle
of protection from beginning to end.
Mr. President, if there is one thing that ought to be more
thoroughly understood than another in this country it is—
The principle of legitimate protection.

There is not the slightest doubt about what it means from the
days of Alexander Hamilton to this good day. The meaning of
protection is absolutely clear to all students of economy, and
that is a duty under a constitutional revenue tariff, so levied
as to equal “ the difference in cost of production at home and
abroad,” and thus enable the American manufacturer to meet
o-n equal terms the competition of the foreign manufacturer,
who enjoys cheaper labor or more favorable conditions, but
not to establish monopoly by prohibitive duties.
Alexander Hamilton, in his famous report on the encourage­
ment of manufacturers, gives the reasons for this policy. It
accePted by Washington, by Jefferson, by Madison, by
Andrew Jackson, and various Democratic leaders down to the
nays of Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, and has not
een denied, as far as I am informed, by any great Democratic
9e. democratic platform of 1884 vigorously declared that in
reduemg the tariff the reduction—
compete
witl}out depriving American labor of the ability to
rates of <intve?v!*Udy .,witb foreign labor, and without imposing lower
tion which rn«5 an i * •be amPle to cover any increased cost of producW
vailing in this c ° X t in consequence of the higher rate of wages pre-

And the Republican platform o f 1904 says:
ence iV'the^oost
a
i

sbould always, at least, equal the di:
f . P ° 6'action at home and abroad.

following' words^:ne ^ repeated again in the tariff of 1908 iu
of "such^dr?ties'P 1
wi

/C
+!icm best maintained by the imposition
,-is

t l n U i S r a n d a l L T al *** difrercnce letween the cost o fp r o d u c
a

The Republican platform of 1908, however, adds the words:
Together with a reasonable profit to A m e r ic a n in d u s t r ie s .

industry which it has an honest right to ask, as I shall imme­
diately show.
The Democratic doctrine has been the correct one; that is, a
tariff as low as economical government will permit, and not so
low as to injure any legitimate industry established under our
tariff system, contending that a tariff for revenue properly drawn
will meet by incidental protection every legitimate demand.
I shall not pause to discuss the difference between the two
parties. I shall content myself with showing that this bill does
not conform to the principle of legitimate protection, absolute or
incidental, laid down by either party, but under the pretense of
protecting American labor and American capital legitimately
employed it is written in such a manner as to utterly ignore the
principles of protection as taught by the Republicans themselves.
This will be perfectly obvious to any man who will take the
schedules submitted under the head of “ Estimated revenues of
this bill,” of April 12, 1909, showing the rates proposed by this
present bill and the comparison of the rates with the Dingley bill.
T H E D IFFERE N CE IN T H E COST OF PRODUCTION AT H O M E AND ABROAD.

The cost of production depends on materials and labor.
Materials are as cheap in the markets of the world to the
American as to the European, except as we tax import of raw
material by our own statute. Our policy, with few exceptions,
is to admit raw material free, so that the question of the rel­
ative cost of materials is of very small relative importance.
Our manufacturers get free raw materials for their export
business by refund of duties paid.
Many materials are cheaper in the United States than they
are abroad, except where controlled by our unrestrained monop­
olies.
LABOR COST.

Labor cost in wages in the protected industries, measured by
efficiency and the purchasing poxcer of xeages paid to labor, is
approximately the same in the United States as in Europe, ex­
cept where the American wage-earner is highly organized.
1. I shall undertake to show that this is true by showing that
the money paid American labor in protected industries is ap­
proximately on an average but little more than that paid in
Europe.
2. That the American workman is twice as efficient, and be­
cause of efficiency is entitled to twice the wage of the European
workman, and that the difference in labor cost compared to the
value of the product is in favor of the American manufacturer.
3. I shall undertake to show that $150 of wages in the
United States buys only what a hundred dollars buys in Europe
in' manufactured goods, and for this reason the American man­
ufacturer does not pay his labor as much in proportion to work
done as the European manufacturer.
4. I shall undertake to show, finally, that the total percentage
of wages to the gross product of all American manufacturers
is only 17.8 per cent of the gross value of the product, and,
therefore, that the difference in the cost of production in the
United States and abroad must be on an average less than this
percentage. I f labor abroad cost half as much as in the United
States, as the high protectionists pretend, then the difference in
cost of production necessary to be provided for by a purely pro­
tective tariff would be less than the average of 10 per cent,
while a revenue tariff would be between 30 and 40 per cent.
I shall undertake to show the bad effect of a prohibitive
tariff on wages, on commerce, on distribution of wealth, and in
corrupting of public and private life.
3. Effect of prohibitive tariff.
ON W AG ES.

(a) Has lowered wages relative to product.
(b) Has lowered wages in protected industries compared to
unprotected industries.
(c) Has lowered purchasing power of wages.

(d) Has established monopoly, and, consequently,
This latter is not the doctrine of protection. It is the political
1. Has prevented or obstructed the organization of labor.
. 1
inon°Poly. It is the latest political device of those
2. Restricted output and diminished demand for labor.
P .. ave been fraudulently building up monopoly under color
3. Has substituted foreign pauper labor for American labor.
of the doctrine of protection.
4. Has required ruinous hours.
lin n e n ^ w °F rat» hily° sincerely and justly declared “ Repub5. Subjected labor to bad housing, bad water, insanitary con­
t
a fraud and the shelter of monopoly. The
?ratt? tariff fo^ro™ 3USt| be free trade.
tariff foi revenue to ^ nd deceitfully declared the Demo­ ditions. increased mortality o f labor.
y
cratic
6. Has
7. Has destroyed political liberty of its labor in large
* ! j S I . lU< ,ertake’ Mr- President, to show that the tariff under
1S
t e ( ctrine for revenue would be three times as high as a tariff measure.
8. Has impaired labor’s commercial independence.
drawn puiely for purposes of protection under the principles
9. Has appropriated all the net proceeds of labor and accumu­
laid down in the Republican platform of equaling the difference
m the cost of production at home and abroad, if it were honestlv lated it in the hands of the few.
drawn.
J
ON COM M ERCE.
The Democratic doctrine of a tariff for revenue is not free
(a) Has weakened our imports and exports.
trade or anything which approximates it. It is a tariff high
(ft) Has diminished the output of smaller factories, depend­
enough to abundantly afford every protection to any American ing for material on monopolies.




89032— 8445

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

5

(c)
Has raised prices in United States 50 per cent above the
American laborer and for the protection o f the American manu­
prices abroad, thus diminishing consumption.
facturer from bankruptcy.
1.
This means a ruinous tax on the man or woman with H E LOW ER WAGES IN EUROPE O FF SE T BY GREATER E F F IC IE N C Y OF A M E R I­
T
fixed income. A man with income of $1,500 has one-third of
CAN LABOR.
income confiscated by monopolies’ high prices.
James G. Blaine once said:
This affects ail men with fixed income. The clerk, the serv­
That the actual labor cost o f the American
is less because
ant, the government employee, the pensioner, the man receiving the effectiveness of American labor was superior product of the working­
to that
fixed return from investment, yields one-third of it all to man of any other nation on earth.
monopoly.
Prof. William G. Clark, indorsed as an authority by the Sen­
ON D IST R IB U T IO N OF W E A L T H .
ator from New Hampshire [Mr. Gallinger], in the Engineering
1. It has piled up enormous wealth in few hands, which now Magazine for May, 1904, submits a table, which he bases on
grows with accumulating force, absorbing all natural oppor­ official data, showing the comparative productivity of American
tunities of life. The oil fields, coal, ore, timber, transportation, labor for the year 1900, as follows, to w it:
and transmission services, municipal franchises, real estate, American, average annual output___________________________________ $2, 450
water powers, with the inevitable result, if not checked, of Canadian, average annual o u tp u t___________________________________ 1, 455
ou
900
commercial mastery and commercial slavery and destruction Australian, average annual tp utp u t__________________________________
French, average annual o u
t______________________________________
640
of political independence.
England, average annual output_____________________________________
556
460
2. It has corrupted our public life, our elections, our cities, German, average annual o u tp u t_____________________________________
our courts, legislatures, and executive officers, and our private
I do not assert that these figures are strictly correct, but be­
citizens.
lieve it will be generally conceded that the American workman
F IR S T . R EL AT IVE LABOR COST.
has at least twice the efficiency of the European workman, be­
Mr. President, I wish to point out the relative labor cost, be­ cause o f the use of superior machinery, modern appliances, and
cause in considering this matter as a student, I have faithfully more effective invention.
undertaken to do so. What I shall say will be as a student of PER CEN T OF WAGES TO VALUE OF PRODUCT NOT CONSIDERED IN T A R IF F
RATES OF PEN D IN G B IL L .
this matter and not as a mere controversialist—and I defy
The percentage which labor receives upon the gross product in
the Committee on Finance to challenge the accuracy of the
figures which I submit to the Senate—the labor cost of material the textiles industry, for example, as compiled by our owm census
is the first great factor that ought to be considered by the Sen­ on manufactures, is only 19.5 per cen t; and yet when the woolen
ate. The percentage which labor bears to various products, as schedule, for example, is examined, the present bill puts yarn, 143
shown by our statistical tables, is carefully set forth in Exhibit per cent (par. 373) ; knit fabrics, 141 per cent (par. 374) ; plushes
1, taken from volumes 7-10 on manufactures of our federal and other pile fabrics, 141 per cent; wool advanced in any man­
ner beyond scouring, 140 per cent; w
’oolen cloths or worsted, 134
census.
It is true that the Census Bureau neglected to work out the per cent (par. 374) ; blankets, 107 per cent; flannels for under­
percentages of labor cost, but that is a mathematical problem wear, 143 per cent; dress goods, coat linings, and so forth, 105
easy of solution, to which I have given industrious attention. per cent (par. 376) ; felts, not woven, 95 per cent; wearing ap­
I call the attention of the Senate to these percentages, which parel, clothes, dolman, jackets, ulsters, and so forth, for ladies
are of vital importance if this bill is to be writen in a spirit and children, SO per cent; hats o f wool, 92 per cent; shawls, 92
of integrity. From this table it appears that labor’s share of per cent; woolen carpets, 114 per cent (par. 389).
Grossly violating the principle of protection, even from the
the gross product in the food industries was 5.7 per cent; in
textiles, 19.5 per cent; in iron and steel, 22.10 per cent; lumber, Republican standpoint, and even in cotton cloth, which is par­
27.4 per cent; leather industries, 1G.5 per cent; in paper and ticularly needed by our poorest people, cotton carpets are taxed
printing, 21.6 per cent; in liquors and beverages, 8.9 per cent; 50 per cent (par. 389). Cotton cloth, 42 per cent, and as high as
in chemicals and allied products, 8 per cent; clay, glass, and 61 per cent for different kinds of cotton cloth; cotton handker­
stone products, 37.1 per cent; in metals and metal products, chiefs, 55 per cent; cotton sleeve linings, 58 per cent.
Mr. President, the cost of labor in transforming wool and
12.7 per cent; tobacco products, 18.9 per cent; for vehicles for
land transportation, 34.4 per cent; in shipbuilding, 35.2 per cent; cotton into cloth is small. It does not exceed an average of 25
in miscellaneous industries, 19.9 per cent.
per cent, and in England it is slightly more than in the United
The average of wages paid to labor, compared with the gross States, because the labor there is not so efficient as in the
product in the 14 great industries, therefore, is only 1 9 . 7 per United States; and the difference in the cost of production at
cent of the gross product. And yet the leaders bring in this home and abroad as far as the labor cost in cotton and woolen
bill with the average three times as high as the total labor cost, cloth is concerned is almost a negligible quantity.
It will not do, Mr. President, to attempt to deceive anyone
and ask us, representing the people of the United States, to
accept it without a murmur and without a protest. They have by pretending that the difference in cost of production of items
neglected to point out the difference of the cost of production on this bill at home and abroad is not available, or that it
at home and abroad. I have undertaken to do so, and to put would take years to compile it, as the managers of this bill have
upon the records of the Senate a lasting memorial of what this asserted on the floor of the Senate during this debate. It is
cost is, that they shall not leave this matter without explana­ available, and it has been collected on many sample products.
tion to the people of the United States. It shall be recorded
I had the honor to submit to the Senate, during the present
and it is recorded by the tables which I shall immediately sub­ session, the report of Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor,
mit.
of 1898, who carefully examined into this question of costs, giv­
Mr. President, before I submit these tables, however, I wish ing the precise amounts of costs in 446 instances. And in re­
to call attention to the report of Carroll I). Wright. I have sug­ gard to w
’oolen goods he show's that No. 1 woolen yarn can be
gested heretofore to the managers of this bill that they mi "lit made at a labor cost of 5.44 per cent of the finished product
consult the tables of Carroll I). Wright with advantage He (S. Doc. 20, 55th Cong., 3d sess., p. 84) ; that woolen yarn
offers 446 different articles, with the total labor cost measured No. 2 could be made with a labor cost of 4.74 per cent of the
to the cent in each and every one of them, taking this informa­ finished product; that woolen yarn No. 3 could be made for
tion from the United States, from Germany, from Belgium, from 7.11 per cent of the finished product; that w’oolen yarn No. 4
England, and he verifies in these particular instances tlie ac­ could be made for 6.49 per cent o f the finished product; that
curacy of our general tables taken from the Census Bureau.
woolen yarn No. 5 could be made at a cost of 7.71 per cent of
Obviously, the difference in the percentage which the wages the finished product; that woolen yarn No. 6 could be made at
of labor abroad would bear to manufactured products in like a labor cost of 9.29 per cent of the finished product; and
great industries will be somewhat similar to the percentage in including the entire cost of labor in transformation materials,
this country. Wages are somewhat cheaper abroad in the pro­ which are shown in No. 426, that woolen cloth in the United
tected industries than they are in this country, and if the aver­ States, 55 inches wide, 24 ounces to the yard, can be made at a
age wage was only half abroad what it is at home, the differ­ labor cost of 16.44 per cent of the finished product.
ence in the cost of wages at home and abroad would not exceed
But the Committee on Finance approve a rate of 143 per cent
10 per cent ad valorem on the gross products of labor in all of on woolen yarn.
our 14 great groups of manufacturing industries; but when it
Mr. President, if I should point out all of such inequalities
is remembered that American labor is twice as productive in between the cost o f production at home and abroad and the
this country as it is abroad, even this 10 per cent disappears. rates fixed by this bill, with its 4,000 items, it would require
Notwithstanding this important and vital fact, the representa­ a volume and many days of time. I therefore content myself
tives of high protection continually declaim that a 50 per cent with a complete demonstration o f the general character of this
tariff is almost solely and exclusively in the interest of the bill in its indifference to the principles of protection as laid
89032— 8445




CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

6

down in the Republican platform, and will then proceed with
other considerations.
I take a few items from Carroll D. Wright’s report, giving the
cost of labor in transforming wool into blankets in the United
States, compiled by him under the instructions of the Senate ten
years ago, and o f woolen cloth.
He explains that this work was obtained directly from the
manufacturers by the Department o f Labor, using “ experts
from the department, detailed for that purpose.”
He shows the total cost of labor in blankets, cloth, and woolen
yarns to be from 5 per cent to 30 per cent.

W oolen goods— Continued.
No. 392.— Blankets: United S tates; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
W h ite ; medium grad e ; all w o o l; same general description as product
No. 390, but made of cheaper quality wool.

Amount.

Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor..................

?J
«nted S,t a te s: 1 8 9 7 ; unit. 1 pound.
m ? 1 ' warP. 16 c u t; filling, 10 c u t; 46 threads
Picks of filling per inch ; size, 72x80 inches ; weight, 6

Amount.

of
materials . . . .
Cost of materials aud all other items exoppt

Amount.

Per cent
of total.

SO.145
.787
. 932

100.00

100.00

Per cent
of total.

80.1417
.3096

Sj.40
68.60
100.00

No. 394.— Blankets: United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
W h ite ; best grad e; cotton warp and wool fillin g: warp No. 1 6 ; fill­
ing, 10 c u t; 52 threads of warp and 42 picks of filling per in ch ; size,
60x72 in ch es; weight, 5 pounds.

W h ite ; n a vy; all wool - warn v i „ + .’ I V ? ,’ 1 ,
rrrurn JIDfl 24
of H is '
i
i Cllt J filling, C
pounds
P
fiUing Per ^ c h ; ’ ize, 58x1
s

Amount.
Amount.

Cost of labor in transforming material*
Cost of materials and all other i t e S S c ^ t k K r ....................

18.57
81.43

.4513

Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor..................

15.56
84.44

Total cost.............

.

No. 393.— Blankets: United S ta te s ; 1897 ; unit. 1 pound.
All w ool; warps, 11 c u t; filling, 9 c u t; 2 3 i threads of warp and 27
picks of filling per in ch ; size 58x76 inches; weight, 2 pounds.

Woolen goods.

8

80.13
.57
.70

[From report of Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor, 1898, by
experts on cost, in answer to Senate resolution.]

nmf
poun'dsP a ^

Per cent
of total.

Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................

$0.0978
.5422

15.28
84.72

.6400

100.00

Total cost...............

No. 3 9 2 .— Blankets: United State* • icn~
,
.
W h ite ; medium grade • a l l w ^ i 1 8 9 ‘ ; u n it 1 1 und-. ,
P°J
uct No. 390, but made of c h L ^ 1 : same Seneral description as prodoneaper qualitv wool.

j

SO.125
.668

15.76
84.24

Total cost....................................................................................

Per cent
of total.

Per cent
of total.

.793

100.00

No. 40 0 .— Blankets: United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
Ilo r s e ; medium grad e; all w o o l; warp and filling, both 5 -c u t: 22
threads of warp and 22 picks of filling per in ch ; size, 84x90 inches;
weight, 7 pounds.
'

Per cent
Amount. of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
------------------- -------- --------- -— — — ___
Cost of labor in transforming material*
Cost of materials and all other items except'labor!

S . 13
O
.57

18.57
81.43

80.0850 ^
.3607

19.07
80.93

.4457

Cost of materials and all other items except labor..................

100.00

Total cost...........................
No. 393.— Blankets: United State* • ia <r

All wool: warp, 11 cut - «i n, ®
t

No. 401.— B lankets: United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
Ilorse; p la id ; all w ool: warp and fiUing. both 4 } -c u t ; 21J threads of
warp and 17 picks of filling per in ch ; size, 78x80 inches; weight, 5
pounds.

.. ,
? unit, 1 pound.

me lies ; weignt, :: pouncis.

Per cent
Amount. of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials
Cost of materials and all other items except labor....................
Total cost

No. 39 4 .— Blankets: United States; 1 897- unit
W h ite ; best grade; cotton warn and

z s m

31.40
68.60

Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................

80.1000
.3669

21.42
78.58

.4513

....................

80.1417
.3096

100.00

Total cost....................................................................................

. 4669

100.00

i nnnmi
P °un<1-

No. 402.— B lankets: United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
Ilo r s e ; low grad e ; mixed wool and c o tto n ; warp and filling, both
j 4 -c u t; 20 threads of warp and 20 picks of filling per inch ; size, 84x90
inches; weight, 7 pounds.

-a?
Amount. Per cent
of total.

Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor....................

80.125
. 668

15.76
84.24

Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................

80.0550
.1164

32. O
S
67.91

Total cost....................................................................................

.1714

100. O
C

N ° 7 ^ i l 5 ~ B fa* ? c t8 ' United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
* v " h: t e ’ , mixed Chtton and w ool; warp, 1 0 cu t- fillin’- 1 0 cu t- c
weight? § poSnP
dsand 3 6 Pk'kS ° f m Uns t * * incb = size” 60x72 'inches

Amount. Per cent
of total.

Total cost..................................................................................

89032— 8445




Per cent
of total.

100.00

Total cost............................................................................

Cost of labor in transforming materials...........
Cost of materials and all other items except la bo r___

Amount.

No. 403.— B lankets: United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
H orse; b lue; cotton warp and wool filling; warp, No. 1 0 ; filling,
4 -c u t; 3 2 } threads of warp and 48 picks of filling per inch ; size, 84x90
in ch es; weight, 7 pounds.
Amount. Per cent
of total.

$0.135
. 673

83.29

SO 0714
.
.2209

24.43
75.57

.808

100.00

.2923

100.00

7

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
Woolen goods— Continued.

Woolen goods— Continued.
No. 404.— Blankets: Belgium ; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
White ; all w o o l; medium quality.
Amount.

Per cent
of total.

No. 411.— Cloth: United S ta tes; November, 1 S 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
C h eviot; 56 inches w ide; weight, 32 ounces per ya rd ; warp yarn,
2-ply No. 24 worsted face and 21-run w o o l; back weft yarn, 23-run
face and 2 -run hack; 8 6 ends of warp and 60 picks of weft per inch.
Amount.

80.0525
.2977
.3502

100.00

Per cent
of total.

14.99
85.01

Amount.

Amount. Per cent
of total.

28.20
71.80

.851

100.00

No. 412.— C loth: United S tates; November, 1897, unit, 1 yard.
C h eviot; 55 inches w ide; weight, 28 ounces per y a rd ; l£-ru n yarn
used in both warp and w e ft; 38 ends of warp and 32 picks of weft
per inch.

Per cent
of total.

6.11

28.00
72.00

1.50
No. 405.— Cloth: United S tates; March, 1 8 9 8 ; unit, 1 yard.
Beaver: 54 inches w ide; weight, 29 ounces per ya rd ; warp yarn. No.
16 colored cotton ; weft yarn,
of 2J run and 5 of 1 run shoddy ; 85
ends of warp and 62 picks of weft per inch.

80.42
1.08

100.00

80.240

No. 406.— C loth: I’ nited S tates; March, 1 8 9 8 ; unit, 1 yard.
Cassimere ; 54 inches w id e : weight, 20A ounces per yard ; warp yarn.
2J run ; weft yarn, 2| run ; 50 ends of warp and 36 picks of weft per
inch.

80.22
.76

80.20
.64

23. 81
76.19

Total cost....................................................................................

.84

Amount.

100.00

No. 407.— Cloth: United S tates; March, 1 8 9 8 ; unit, 1 yard.
Cassim ere; 54 inches wide ; weight, 22 ounces per y a r d ; warp yarn,
2 run ; weft yarn, 21 run ; 50 ends of warp and 36 picks of filling per
inch.

80.2100
.6725
.8825

total cost...........................................................................

23 80
76.20
100.00

No. 408.— Cloth: United States ; 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
Cassimere ; 54 inches wide ; weight. 26 ounces per yard ; warp yarn,
4 -r u n ; weft yarn, 5-run ; 75 ends of warp and 64 picks of weft per
Inch.

Per cent
of total.

80.15
.38

28.30
71.70

.53

Cost of materials and all other items except labor....................

100.00

No. 414.— C loth: United S ta tes; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
C h evio t; piece dyed: 55 inches w id e; weight, 20 ounces per ya rd ; 2
threads of 3| runs each, doubled and twisted, used in both warp and
w e ft ; 40 ends of warp and 30 picks of w eft per inch.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost ot materials and all other items except labor ...................

100.00

No. 413.— C loth: United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
C h evio t; half shoddy: 56 inches w id e; weight, 22 ounces per y a rd ;
lg-run yarn is used in both warp and w e ft; 28 ends of warp and 26
ends of weft per inch.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor....................

22.45
77.55

.98

Total cost....................................................................................

Amount.

Per cent
of total.

Cost of labor in transforming materials........................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor....................

80.1688
.5812

22.51
77.49

Total cost....................................................................................

.7500

100.00

No. 415.— Cloth: United S ta te s ; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
K e r s e y ; high grade; finely finished; 55 inches w id e; weight, 20
ounces per ya rd : 4J-run yarn is used in both warp and w e ft; 48 ends
of warp and' 48 picks of weft per inch.
Per cent
Amount. of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials.....................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor....................

80.3654
. 9252

28.31
71.69

80.54
1.21

30.86
69.14

Total cost.........................................................................

1.2906

100.00

1.75

100.00

No. 409.— Cloth: United States ; 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
Cassimere; 54 inches w ide; weight. 20 ounces per ya rd ; warp yarn,
4 -r u n ; w eft yarn, 5-run ; 60 ends of warp and 52 picks of weft per
inch.

No. 416.— Cloth: United S ta tes; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
K e r s e y ; 55 inches w id e; weight, 27 ounces per y a r d ; warp yarn, 4
run ; weft yarn. 4 j-run face and 2 -run back ; 76 ends of warp and 60
picks of weft per inch.
Amount. Per cent
of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.

Total cost............................................................

:

SO.2801
.7172

28.09
71.91

80.38
.81

31.93
68.07

.9973,

Cost of labor in transforming materials..........................................!
Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................... j

100.00

1.19

100.00

No. 410.— C loth: United S tates; 1 8 9 7 : unit, 1 yard.
Cassim ere; 55 inches w ide; weight, 22 ounces per y a rd ; 4J-run yarn,
single, double, and twisted, is used in both warp and w e ft ; 38 ends of
warp and 38 picks of weft per inch.

No. 417.— C loth: United S ta tes; November, 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
K e r s e y ; piece dyed; 55 inches w id e; weight, 32 ounces per y a rd ;
warp yarn. § of 7 run and h of 2J run ; weft yarn, § of 5 run and J of
2 } run ; 8 8 ends of warp and 6 6 picks of weft per inch.

Amount. Per cent
of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.

80.2163
1.0337




Cost of labor in transforming materials.......................................

80.4202
1.4498

22.47
77.53

1.2500

89032— 8445

17.30
82.70
100.00

Total cost.......................................................... .........................

1.8700

100.00

'

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.

8

W oolen goods— Continued.
No. 418.— Cloth: United States ; 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
K e r s e y ; one-third shoddy; 56 inches w id e; weight, 28 ounces per
yard ; warp yarn, 2 0 ends of 35 run and 2 0 ends of 15 run per inch ;
weft yarn, 2 r u n ; 40 ends of warp and 40 picks of weft per inch.

W oolen goods— -Continued.
No. 425.— Cloth: United S ta te s ; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
Whip co r d ; 55 inches w ide; weight, 22 ounces per ya rd ; warp yarn,
52 run and 9 run, tw isted ; w eft yarn, 4 run ; 98 ends of warp and 40
picks of w eft per inch.
-

Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials.....................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor.................

80.288
.860

25.09
74.91

Total cost..................................................................................

1.148

Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor....................

S tates; November, 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
piece dyed; 55 inches w id e ; weight, 32 ounces
of 3 run and 5 of 1 r u n ; weft yarn, 2J run ;
picks of w eft per inch.

80.38
1.18

24.36
75.64

1.56

100.00

No. 419.— Cloth: United
K e r s e y ; half shoddy;
per y a r d ; warp yarn, §
54 ends of warp and 40

Amount. Per cent
of total.

100.00

No. 426.— C loth: United States ; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
W oolen c lo th ; 55 inches w ide; weight, 23 to 24 ounces per yard ;
warp yarn, 2-ply 35 run w o o l; weft yarn, 2-ply ^ w orsted; 30 picks
per inch.
Amount. Per cent
of total.

\
Per cent
Amount. of total.

80.24
Cost of labor in transforming materials.....................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor..................

80.2388
.6112

28.09
71.91

Total cost...................................................................................

.8500

100.00

No. 420.— Cloth: United States ; November, 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
F r ie ze; 55 inches w ide; weight, 32 ounces per yard ; warp yarn, 3J
ru n ; weft yarn, 15 ru n ; 44 ends of warp and 44 picks of weft per
inch.

1.22

Total cost....................................................................

Total cost.................................................................................. .

1 .0 2

100.00

Total cost....................................................................................

Total cost................................................................................

.9930

Per cent
of total.

80.2233
.5349

29.45
70.55

.7582

100.00

No. 428.— C loth: Great Britain ; 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
M e lto n ; 54 inches w id e; woolen warp and w e ft; warp No. 1 2 ; weft
No. 12 ; 32 picks per inch.
Amount. Per cent
of total.
80.2026
.4752

29.89
70.11

.6778

Amount. Per cent
of total.
25.67
74.33

100.00

Amount.

No. 421.— C loth: United States ; 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
M e lto n ; 54 inches w id e ; weight, 28 ounces per ya r d ; warp yarn, 3
r u n ; weft yarn, 31 r u n ; 58 ends of warp and 54 picks of weft per
inch.

SO.2549
.7381

1.46

No. 427.— Cloth: Great Britain ; 1897 ; unit. 1 yard.
C h eviot; 54 inches w id e ; worsted warp and woolen w e ft ; warp 2 fold
No. 10 w orsted; w eft No. 95 and No. 30 tw is t; 20 picks per inch.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
80.26
25.49
.76
Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................
74.51

16.44
83.56

100.00

No. 429.— C loth: Great Britain ; 1897 ; unit, 1 yard.
Undress w o rsted ; 56 inches w ide; woolen warp and w e ft; warp No.
18 ; weft No. 18 ; 50 picks per inch.

100.00

No. 422.— C loth: United S ta te s; November, 1 8 9 7 ; uc it, 1 yard.
ir
T h ib et; 55 inches w ide; weight, 23 ounces per y£ d ; 35 run yarn
used in both warp and w e ft ; 95 ends of warp and 46 picks of weft
per inch.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials.......................................

25.15
74.85

.9569

Amount. Per cent
of total.

80.2407
.7162

100.00

No. 430.— Woolen ya rn : United S ta te s; 1 8 9 7 -9 8 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 1 yarn.
80.32
.80

28.57
71.43

1 .1 2

Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................

100.00

No. 423.— Cloth: United S tates; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
T h ibet; piece d y e d ; 55 inches w id e; weight, 22 ounces per y a r d ;
warp yarn, 5 run ; weft yarn, 15 run ; 46 ends of warp and 32 picks
of weft per inch.
Amount. Per cent
of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials.................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor.............
Total cost....................................................................................

80.0260
.4522

5.44
94.56

.4782

100.00

No. 431.— W oolen ya rn : United S ta te s; December, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 2 yarn.
A m o u n t . I P etro te n _
A m ount
of c alt

80.1825
.4675

28.08
71.92

.6500

Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor..................

100.00

No. 424.— C loth: United S ta te s; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 yard.
T rico t; piece dyed; 32 inches w ide; weight, 3 J ounces per yard :
6 J run yarn used in both warp and w e ft ; 35 ends of warp and 26
picks of weft per inch.




Amount. Per cent
of total.
80.035
.105
.140

89032— 8445

25.00
75.00
100.00

Cost of labor in transforming materials....................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor.
Total cost.

3.0287
.5773

4.74
95.2(5

.6060

100.00

No. 432.— W oolen ya rn : United S tates; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 2 yarn.
Amount. Per cent
of total.
80.0800
.2866

21.82
78.18

. 3666

100.00

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

9

Woolen goods— Continued.

Woolen goods— Continued.

No. 441.— Woolen ya rn : United S ta te s ; December, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 6 yarn.

No. 433.— W oolen yarn : United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 -9 8 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 3 yarn.
Amount.

Amount. Per cent
of total.

Per cent
of total.

Cost of labor in transforming materials........................................

80.0382
.4987

Total cost....................................................................................

.5369

$0.0637
.6218

9.29
90.71

.6355

7.11
92.89

300.00

100.00

No. 434.— W oolen ya rn : United S ta tes; December, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 3 yarn.

Amount.

No. 442.— Woolen ya rn : United States ; 1 8 9 7 -9 8 ; unit, 1 pound.
Amount. Per cent
of total.

Per cent
of total.
S . 0941
O
.6025

Cost of labor in transforming materials........................................
Total cost....................................................................................

80.0337
.5788

5.50
94.50

.6125

100.00

100.00

No. 443.— Woolen ya rn : United S ta te s ; November, 1897 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 9 yarn.
Amount.

Per cent
of total.

80.1000
. 3325
Total cost....................................................................................

.6966

Total cost....................................................................................

No. 435.— W oolen ya rn : United S ta tes; November, 1897 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 3£ yarn.

Amount.

13.51
86.49

23.12
76.88

.4325

100.00

No. 43G.— Woolen yarn : United S ta tes; December, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 4 yarn.

Per cent
of total.

SO 1500
.
.6055
.7555

Total cost....................................................................................

19.85
80.15
100.00

No. 8 yarn.
No. 444.— Woolen ya rn : United S ta tes; 1 8 9 7 - 9 8 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 10 yarn.
Amount. Per cent
of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.
SO 1085
.
. 6322
Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................

SO 0412
.
.59:18

Total cost....................................................................................

.6350

100.00

•

Amount, Per cent
of total.

Amount. Per cent
of total.

Total cost...................................................................................

SO.0640
.5469

SO.0700
.1926

No. 44 0 .— Woolen y a m : Belgium ; 1897 ; unit, 1 pound.
Amount. Per cent
of total.
SO 0306
.
.2320

SO.0512
.6133

7.71
92.29

.6645

100.00

No. 439.— Woolen yarn : United S ta tes; November, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 5 i yarn.
Amount. Percent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials.......................................
Total cost..................................................................................

SO 1200
.
.4165

22.37
77.63

.5365

100.00

No. 440.— W oolen yarn: United S ta te s; 1 8 9 7 -9 8 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 6 yarn.
Amount. Per cent
of total.
Cost of labor in transforming materials......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................

SO 0742
.
.5505

1 1.88
8 8 .1 2

Total cost....................................................................................

.6247

100.00

83032— 8445------- 2




CEN SU S

11.65
88.35

.2626

Amount. Per cent
of total.

Total cost...............................................................................

100.00

100.00

No. 438.— W oolen yarn : United S ta tes; December, 1 8 9 7 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 5 yarn.

Cost of labor in transforming materials.......................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor..................

26.66
73.34

.2626

10.48
89.52

.6109

100.00

No. 445.— Woolen ya rn : Belgium ; 1897 ; unit, 1 pound.

No. 437.— Woolen yarn : United S ta te s; 1 8 9 7 -9 8 ; unit, 1 pound.
No. 5 yarn.

Cost of labor in transforming materials........................................
Cost of materials and all other items except labor...................

14.65
85.35

.7407

6.49
93.51

100.00

T A B L E S, S H O W IN G PERCENTAGE OF LABOR TO VALU E OF PRODUCT
I X COST OF PRODU CTION .

Mr. OWEN. Mr. President, I submit the following tables,
taken from Table 150 of the Abstract of the Census of 1900,
relative to 15 groups of industries. While these tables can not
be called microscopically exact, they certainly comprise the best
evidence available to show the relative return to labor and to
capital affected by the tariff, and in so far as they lack pre­
cision are more favorable to capital than to labor, because these
figures were obtained from the reports of manufacturing estab­
lishments controlled by capital, and the evidences, therefore, are
out of the mouths o f the manufacturers themselves, but are
based on watered stocks, and cover returns to capital contained
in salaries and miscellaneous items which can not be determined.
These tables which I shall submit will show the capital al­
leged to be invested in 1890, 1900, and 1905, with the expenses,
including salaries of officers, amounts paid in wages, amounts
paid under the head of “ Miscellaneous,” and the amount paid
for “ materials,” with the value of the product and the profit,
showing the percentage of profit to capital and the percentage
paid to labor out of the proceeds of labor, and the percentage
of wages to the increase o f value by manufacture.
I have been compelled to make these compilations, and am in­
debted for the calculations to Mr. Josiah H. Shinn, of Washing­

10

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

ton, a statistical expert of high standing, and to Mr. J. J. Mc­
Coy, Actuary of the United States Treasury. The Census Bureau
neglected to point out in its tables the comparative reward of
capital and labor, and I have done so, in order to show the
truth with regard to it.
Neither the Committee on Finance nor the Committee on
Mays and Means in the House has seen fit to furnish this in­
formation to the country, and yet only in this direction and
by like methods and tables can be determined “ the difference
in cost of labor or of production at home and abroad” on which
this tariff bill is falsely pretended to be drawn.
The percentage of labor is worked out in every one of the
great tables affecting the 14 groups of industries in the United
States from details gathered with infinite care from the manu­
facturer himself, and are therefore as favorable to him as
they might naturally be expected to be. A very interesting
ratio of the relative wages is found in these tables; that is to
say, that under this high prohibitive tariff, engendering mo­
nopolies, the result has followed which might be expected to
follow—that labor continually receives a diminishing share of
that which it produces. For instance, taking the textile indus­
try, in 1890 labor received 22 per cent of the gross product;
in 1902 it received 20.8 per cent of the gross product; and in
1905 it received 19.5 per cent. So it will be found all through
these tables that the monopolies which have been built up upon
these tariffs have gradually diminished the par1, which labor
;
receives.
Look at these wonderful tables, showing the profits of the
various manufacturers of the country by groups o f industries.
Remember the enormous stock-watering operations shown by
Moody's Manual and by Poor's Manual and the corporation
statistics of the last,fifteen years, and then consider what it
means when this watered capital on food products pays 1G.4
per cent interest, with a fairly estimated profit, considering
water, of 32 per cent; on textiles, o f 12 per cent, which fairly
estimated profit of 24 per cent; on iron and steel, of 10.G per
cent, which would be probably 30 per cent; on lumber, of 18.7
per cent, and probably o f nearly 50 per cent; on the industries
of leather, 13.5 per cent, when it should be at least three times
that; and so all through the list.
These monopolies are shown to have the certain enormous
rates of profits which these tables point out. These tables necesShi ^ inc\ (te a multitude of companies whose profits are reason­
U
able and just in every respect, who are not monopolists, who are
doing business on a fair competitive market, so that the profits
or monopoly are the special profits which swell this total to a
and which stand above, and far above, the averages
winch are given. When there is also taken into consideration
tne fact that on a physical valuation they would not have prob1 ,, y one-third of the capital invested which they pretend to
the * ^ tlleir caPhal stock; when it is remembered that under
1
rn eth i °* sa*aiaes and miscellaneous expenses and other artful
h . 0< 3 of hookkeeping the earnings of these monopolies are
? secretly used and concealed and being invested in vari;
° lms of property, it is no exaggeration to say that the earn•
i
,UJ)aysical valuation are probably three times what they
Pat Pt0 be ° n the face of the census reports.
theJ> t/ KiSideilt’ \ Ca^ *ke attention of Senators in considering
UniVmi
an? invite them to remember that since 1890 the
n,„W !n „ ates ,. as sone through the most remarkable stockthn
lon that tlle civilized world has ever seen. And
■^°VDer ° f laljor and of public franchises has been
litl ,
m, a multitude of monopolies, which have been estab.
x ^ mhmmg competing enterprises into single companies,
A
‘ L . 1 e the capital of 1890 was in a large measure watered
:
'
’ *.,.1S Pr°bably no exaggeration to say that the capital of
average probably 66 per cent of “ w a te r;” so that
en you consider the percentage or profit on the capital in
these tables it should be at least doubled and should be prob­
ably trebled to give a fair estimate.
w£ n°tker Mem which should be kept in mind is that the men
pnf(<
rTV)!ni«1?-oT?nrii0rateT0rg?L
nizations can allow themselves such
, om.ous lewards under the head of salaries that this item is
also an important additional item in favor of capital With
this explanation, it will be seen that labor's share of the return
of the work done in this aggregate group of all the great ffidustnes relating to manufactured products is very small and
after supplying the necessaries of life, leaves labor no surplus ’
the profit of capital, confessedly, is 16.4 per cent.
P
’
Now, Mr. President, I submit a tabulated abstract showing
the profits of capital conceded; also a table o f estimated profits
and a table of probable profits in the 14 great groups of our
national industries.




8903S— 8445

T H E M E AN IN G OF WORDS USED IN T H E T ABL ES.

Salaries.—Covers the salaries of officials, salesmen, book­
keepers, clerks, stenographers; in some cases, superintendents
and foremen.
Wages.—The word “ wages ” means the wages of workingmen.
Miscellaneous.—Means (see Special Report of Census, Manu­
factures, vol. 1, 1905, p. xcix) :
1. Amount paid for rent of factory or works.
2. Amount paid for taxes, not including internal revenue.
3. Amount paid for rent of offices and buildings other than
factory or works, and for interest, insurance, internal-revenue
tax, ordinary repairs of buildings and machinery, advertising,
traveling expenses, and all other sundry expenses not reported
under the head of “ Materials.”
Materials.—The word “ materials,” page ci, means:
1. Cost of components of the product.
2. Cost of fuel, oil, and waste.
3. Packing boxes, and materials to make them.
4. Mrrapping paper.
5. Freights paid by the manufacturers.
6. Rent of power and heat.
The salaried officials include the administration force,
whether o f sales, manufacturing, purchasing, advertising, or
mail orders (p. lxxiv).
See Exhibit I.
E x h i b i t I.
Summary of manufactures by fourteen groups o f industries.

[Special Census Report, Manufactures, pt. 1, 1905, p. 28 et s e q .;
Twelfth Census, 1900, Manufactures, pt. 1, p. 20 et seq., and pp.
cxliv and c x lv ; with special calculations hy Josiah H . Shinn and
J. J. McCoy, actuary of United States Treasury.]
1905.
1.

Food-products industries:
Capital..........................................

1900.

1890.

$1,173,151,276

$940,889,838

$507,678,328

Expenses—
$51,455,814
Officers............................- —
$164,601,813
W a g e s...................................
$131,773,642
Miscellaneous-........- ............
Materials............. ................. $2,304,416,564

$39,313,664
$129,910,070
$77,936,1S5
$1,839,256,143

$33,313,664
$90,373,450
$52,936,982
$1,318,963,830

T o t a l ......................... $2,652,248,833
$192,986,067
Profit..............................................

$2,086,466,062
$191,235,948

$1,495,5*7,926
$140,609,265

Gross product............................. $2,845,234,900
16.4
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross prod5.7
uct, per cent.............................

$2,277,702,010

$1,636,197,191
27.6

5.7

5.5

Value of gross output............... $2,845,234,900
Cost of materials...................... $2,304,416,564

$2,277,702,010
$1,839,250,143

$1,636,197,191
$1,318,963,830

$540,818,336
Increase in value.............
$164,601,813
Cost of labor...............................
Per cent of cost of labor to
30.4
increase in value....................•
2. Textile industries:
Capital.......................................... $1,744,169,234

$438,445,867
$129,910,070

$317,233,361
$90,373,450

33.7

35.1

$1,366,604,058

SI,008,050,268

Expenses—
$69,281,415
Officers....................................
$419,841,630
W ages....................................
$199,066,264
Miscellaneous........................
Materials............................... $1,246,562,061

$49,982,357
$341,734,399
$128,481,214
$895,984,795

$35,496,483
$278,167,769
$78,401,675
$705,004,909

T otal................................... $1,934,751,370
$212,690,048
Profit..............................................

$1,416,182,766
$221,301,713

$1,097,073,839
$164,598,665

Gross product............................. $2,147,441,418
12
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross prod­
19.5
uct, per cent............. ...............

$1,637,484,484
16.1

$1,261,672,504
16.3

Value of gross output............... $2,147,441,418
Cost of materials...................... $1,246,562,061

$1,637,484,484
$895,984,796

_ _ _ __7

ip G , o , oi
JG
$419,811,630
Cost of labor-------------------------Per cent of cost of labor to
46.6
increase in value...................
3. Iron and steel industries:
Capital-........................................ $2,331,498,157

20

2 0 .8

.

$741,428,CSS
$341,734,399
46.1

22

$1,261,672,504
$705,004,909
$550,667,595
$278,167,769
50

$1,528,979,076

$997,872,483

Expenses—
$100,444,683
Officers..................................
$482,357,508
W ages----------------- ---------$166,896,587
Miscellaneous........................
Materials............................... $1,179,981,458

$58,090,781
$3S1,875,490
$91,492,127
$987,198,370

$36,583,536
$285,351,714
$57,694,853
$617,554,226

T otal................................... $1,929,680,234
$247,059,492
Profit.............................................

$1,518,656,777
$274,834,131

$997,184,329
$146,872,208

Gross product............................. $2,176,739,726 $1,793,490,908
1 0 .6
17.9
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross prod­
2 1 .2
22.10
uct, per cent.............................
i------------------------

$1,144,056,537
14.7
24.9

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
Summary of manufactures by fourteen groups o f industries— Continued.
1905.
8.

1890.

$1,793,490,908
$987,198,370

$1,144,056,537
$617,554,226

$806,292,538

$526,502,311

8.

Increase in value............
Cost of labor----------------- -------Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value....................
4. Lumber industries:
Capital..........................................

48.5

45

46

$1,013,827,138

$946,116,515

$844,418,472

Expenses—
0 fflcers...................................
Wages.....................................
Miscellaneous.....................
Materials...............................

$48,571,861
$336,058,173
$130,850,824
$518,908,150

$28,962,927
$212,201,768
$42,142,321
$561,501,302

$30,863,184
$201,558,706
$45,510,782
$462,658,350

T otal............... ................... $1,034,389,009
Profit.............................................
$189,341,328

$844,828,318
$186,073,261

$740,591,022
$137,363,898

Gross product............. - .............. $1,223,730,336
Per cent profit on capital stock.
18.7
Labor’s share of gross product, per cent.............................
27.4

$1,030,906,579
19.6

$877,954,920
16.2

2 0 .6

22.9

Value of gross output............... $1,223,730,336
Cost of materials......................
$518,908,150

$1,030,906,579
$561,501,302

$877,954,920
$462,658,350

$469,405,277
$212,201,768

$415,296,570
$201,558,706

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor............. ................
Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value....................
5. Leather industries:
Capital..........................................

Summary of manufactures by fourteen groups of industries— Continued.
1905.

1900.

Iron and steel industries—Continued.
Value of gross output............... $2,176,739,728
Cost of materials
-------------- $1,179,981,458
$996,758,268
$482,357,503

$704,822,186
$336,058,173

II
1900.

Chemicals and allied products:
Capital.......................................... $1,504,728,510

1890.

$198,390,219'

$322,543,674

$49,864,233
$93,965,248
$128,879,323
$609,351,160

$26,335,164
$43,870,002
$19,825,945
$356,192,334

$14,171,587
$33,872,540
$29,508,992
$239,915,791

$882,059,964
$149,905,299

$476,224,045
$76,607,832

$117,468,913
$62,587,534

Gross product________________ $1,031,965,263
Per cent profit on capital stock.
9.9
Labor’s share of gross prodnet, per cent.............................
8

$552,891,877
15.3

$380,056,497
19.4

7.9

8.9

Value of gross ou tp u t............. $1,031,955,263
$609,351,160
Cost of materials......................

$552,891,877
$353,192,334

$380,056,497
$239,915,794

Increase in value...........
Cost of labor...............................
Per cent of cost of labor to

$422,614,103
$93,965,248

$196,699,543
$13,870,602

$140,140,703
$13,872,510

Expenses—
Officers............................. ......
Wages.............................. .
Miscellaneous............. - ........
Materials.............................
T o t a l ........................... .
Profit.............................................

2 2 .2

22.3

°A 0

9. Clay, glass, and stone produets:
Capital..........................................

$553,846,682

$350,902,367

$217,383,297

Expenses—
O f f i c e r s ..............................
Wages----------------------------- Miscellaneous........................
Materials...............................

$21,555,724
$148,471,903
$37,822,036
$123,124,392

$13,718,966
$109,022,582
$19,185,657
$01,615,281

$11,370,622
$90,541,771
$14,094,740
$68,990,146

47.7

45.2

48.5

$440,777,194

$343,600,513

$246,795,713

T otal.................... .............
Profit.............................................

$330,974,055
$60,256,367

$236,542,483
$57,021,749

$184,997,279
$44,808,724

Expenses—
Officers....................................
Wages........... .........................
Miscellaneous........... ..........
Materials...............................

$18,372,723
$116,694,140
$40,737,343
$471,112,921

$14,186,690
$99,759,885
$22,942,594
$395,551,232

$15,348,267
$98,432,593
$18,587,831
$294,446,011

Gross product.............................
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross product, per cent............................

$391,230,422

$293,564,235
16.2

$229,806,003

1 0 .8

37.1

37.4

39.3

T otal...................................
Profit.............................................

$846,917,126
$58,830,344

$5.32,440,401
$51,290,645

$126,814,702
$80,741,328

Value of gross output...............
Cost of materials......................

$391,230,422
$123,124,392

$293,564,235
$94,615,281

$229,806,003
$68,990,146

Gross product.............................
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross product, per cent.............................

$705,747,470
13.3

$583,731,046
14.9

$487,556,030
24.6

$268,106,030
$148,471,903

$198,9-18,954
$109,022,582

$160,815,357
$90,541,771

16.5

16.9

20.1

55.4

54.8

50.3

Value of gross output...............
Cost of materials......................

$705,747,470
$471,112,921

$58.3,731,046
$395,551,232

$487,5.56,030
$294,446,011

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor........................ ......
Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value..................
10. Metals and metal products
other than iron and steel:
Capital..........................................

$598,340,758

$410,646,057

$204,285,820

Expenses:
Officers_____ ______ _____ _
Wages....................................
Miscellaneous........................
Materials...............................

$24,854,590
$117,599,837
$41,595,062
$641,367,583

$16,059,191
$96,749,051
$21,295,403
$196,979,368

$14,924,917
$64,055,644
$14,731,078
$179,160,940

Total...................................
Profit.............................................

$828,417,072
$93,845,384

$631,083,019
$117,712,445

$272,881,579
$44,026,571

Gross product.............................
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross product, per cent..............................

$922,262,456
15.6

$748,795,464
28.6

$316,908,150
21.5

12.7

12.9

20.4

Value of gross output...............
Cost of materials......... ...........

$922,262,456
$644,367,083

$748,795,461
$196,979,368

$316,908,150
$179,169,940

Increase in value.............
Cost o f labor............... ...............
Per cent o f cost of labor to
increase in value.................... .
11. Tobacco:
Capital..........................................

$277,894,873
$117,599,837

$251,816,096
$96,749,051

$137,738,210
$64,055,644

42.3

38.4

46.5

$323,9S3,501

$124,089,871

$93,094,753

Expenses—
Officers....................................
Wages.....................................
Miscellaneous........................
Materials...............................

SS,800,434
$62,640,303
$S0,145,O16
$126,088,608

$8,951,534
$19,852,4S4
$79,495,422
$107,182,656

$10,241,271
$44,550,735
$37,551,631
$92,304,317

T otal...................................

$277,674,361
$53,443,320

$245,182,090
$37,594,450

$184,658,004
$27,083,619

Gross product.............................
Per cent profiton capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross product, per cent.............................

$331,117,681
16.4

$283,076,546
30.2

$211,746,C23
28.1

18.9

17.6

Value of gross output...............
Cost of materials......................

$331,117,681
$126,088,608

$2S3,076,546
$107,182,658

$211,746,023
$92,304,317

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor...............................
Per cent o f cost of labor to
increase in value....................
12. Vehicles for land transportstion:
Capital..........................................

$205,029,073
$62,640,303

$175,803,890
$49,852,434

$119,442,306
$44,550,735

30.5

28.3

37.3

$4-47,697,020

$398,778,072

$248,224,770

Expenses—
Officers....................................
W ages....................................

$24,334,118
$221,800,517

$15,191,444
$164,614,781

$11,172,134
HIS, 212,379

Increase in value.............
Cost o f labor------------- -------- Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value....................
8 . Paper and printing:
Capital..........................................

$234,634,549
$116,694.1,10

$188,179,814
$99,750,885

49.7

53

51

$79S,758,312

$557,610,887

$344,003,723

$48,974,138
$i40,092,453
$76,069,66.3
$214,158,423

$34,625,9S6
$117,611,864
$59,524,277
$149,597,579

$193,110,019
$9S,432,593

Expenses—
Officers....................................
Wages.................... ...............
Miscellaneous............... ........
Materials...............................

$S1,808,311
$185,547,791
$138,245,437
$308,209,655

T otal...................................
Profit..............................................

$713,811,194
$143,301,062

$479,294,677
$127,023,091

$361,359,706
$84,227,724

Gross product.............................
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross product, per cent.............................

$857,112,256
17.9

$005,317,76S
22.7

$445,587,430
24.4

2 1 .6

23.1

26.5

Value of gross output...............
Cost of materials-....................

$857,112,256
$308,209,655

$606,317,768
$214,158,423

$445,587,430
$149,597,579

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor...............................
Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value....................
7. Liquors and beverages:
Capital......................................

$548,902,601
$1S5,547,791

$392,159,345
$140,092,453

$295,989,851
$117,611,864

33.8

35.7

39.7

*

$659,547,620

$534,101,049

$310,002,635

Expenses—
Officers....................................
W a g e s .................................
Miscellaneous........................
Materials...............................

$21,421,353
$45,146,285
$223,416,420
$139,854,147

$16,893,405
$36,946,557
$188,754,387
$122,218,073

$11,118,673
$29,140,916
$117,046,590
$109,830,410

T otal............... ...................
Profit.............................................

$429,868,205
$71,398,400

$364,812,422
$60,691,745

$267,13G,589
$74,018,772

Gross product.............................
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross product, per cent.....................

$501,266,605
1 0 .8

$425,504,167
11.3

$341,155,861
$3.8

8.9

8 .6

8.5

Value of gross output..........
Cost of materials...................

$501,266,605
$139,854,147

$425,504,167
$122,218,073

$341,155,361
$109,830,410

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor...............................
Per cent of cost of labor to
Increase In value.................... .

$361,412,458
$45,146,285

$303,286,094
$36,946,557

$231,324,951
$29,140,916

12.5

1 2 .3

1 2 .6

89032— 8445




Profit.............................................

20.6

2
1

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

12

Summary of manufactures by fourteen groups of industries— Continued.
1900.

1905.
12. Vehicles for land transporta­
tion—Continued.
Expenses—Continued.
Miscellaneous.......................
Materials_______ _____ ___

Summary of manufactures by fourteen groups of industries— Continued.

1890.

If SO
.

13. Shipbuilding—Continued.
Labor’s share of gross prod­
uct, per cent.............................

35.2

33.3

36.7

Value of gross output...............
Cost of materials...................... .

$82,769,239
$37,463,179

$74,578,158
$33,483,772

$40,342,115
$46,925,109

$45,306,060
$29,241,087

$41,091,383
$24,839,163

$23,417,006
$14,833,977

$29,107,649
$334,244,377

$19,842,332
$268,278,205

$9,460,374
$174,624,639

Total.
Profit.

$609,486,661
$34,437,781

$467,926,762
$40,722,367

$313,469,526
$31,006,717

Gross product.............................
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross prod­
uct, per cent.............................

$643,924,442
7.0

$508,649,129
1 0 .2

$344,476,243
12.4

34.4

32.4

34.3

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor............. .................
Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value......................
14. Miscellaneous:
Capital..........................................

Value of gross output.
Cost of materials.........

$643,924,442
$334,244,377

$508,649,129
$268,278,205

$344,476,243
$174,624,639

Expenses—
O dicers....................................
Wages.....................................

$309,680,065
$221,800,517

$240,370,924
$164,614,781

$169,851,604
$118,212,379

71.0

08.5

69.6

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor.............................
Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value............... .
13. Shipbuilding:
Capital........................................ .

1900.

1905.

$121,623,700

$77,362,701

$53,393,074

Expenses—
Officers.............
Wages..............
Miscellaneous.
Materials........

$3,339,741
$29,241,087
$5,255,506
$37,463,179

$2,008,537
$24,839,163
$3,685,661
$33,483,77t

$1,194,870
$14,833,977
$1,392,551
$16,925,109

TotalProfit.

$75,299,513
$7,469,726

$64,020,133
$10,558,025

$34,346,507
$5,995,608

Gross product.................
Per cent profit on capital stock

$82,769,239

$74,578,15$
13.6

$40,342,115

6 .1

. 64.5

60.4

63.3

$974,316,571

$1,348,920,721

$708,870,920

$50,655,229
$187,514,312
$101,198,364
$460,205,501

$49,199,283
$202,745,162
$81,933,611
$490,073,705

$33,303,252
$133,643,444
$49,025,323
$ DO,231,851

T otal...................................
Profit..............................................

$799,573,493
$142,031,457

$823,952,701
$180,139,533

$519,233,870
$123,310,583

Gross product.............................
Per cent profit on capital stock.
Labor’s share of gross prod­
uct, per cent.............................

$941,004,873
14.5

$1,004,092,294
13.3

$345,574,453
16.4

19.9

24.6

21.1

Value of gross output...............
Cost of m aterials....................

$941,604,873
$460,205,501

$1,004,092,294
$490,073,705

$345,574,453
$309,231,851

Increase in value.............
Cost of labor____ ____________
Per cent of cost of labor to
increase in value....................

$481,309,372
$187,514,312

$514,018,589
$202,746,102

$345,342,692
$136,643,444

38.9

39.4

39.5

Materials...............................

11.2

Average percentage of wages to labor compared to gross product in the U great classes of industries.
---------- _ ---------------------------------------------

Profit on
capital,
1905.

Industries.

Ratio of wages to gross product.

1905.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Food products........... ........... ......................
Textiles........... ...............................................
Iron and steel------------------------- ----- —
Lumber............................................................
Leather............................................................
Paper and printing......................................
Liquors and beverages................................
Chemicals and allied products...................
Clay, glass, and stone................................
Metal and metal products other than
iron and steel...................................... .......
Tobaee ............. .......................- .................
Vehicles for land transportation-----------Shipbuilding...................................................
Miscellaneous-------------- -------- ------------------

For full details see Exhibit 1.
and value of products.

16.4
12
1 0 .6

18.7
13.3
17.9
1 0 .8

9.9

5.7
19.5
22.1

27.4
13.5
21.6

8.9

1900.
5.7

16.9
23.1

20.1

8 .6

7.9
37.4

15.6
16.4
7.6
b .l
14.5

12.7
13.9
31.4
85.2
19.9

12.9
17.6
32.4
33.3
24.6

8

24.9
22.9
26.5
8.5
8.9
39.3
20.4
21

34.3
36.7
21.1

Per cent of
labor
wages to
product.

32.8
24

2 0 .6

49.2
36
31.8
56.1
39.9
53.7
32.4
29.7
32.4

31.2
32.8
15.2

2 2 .8

21.2

37.4
26.6
35.8
2 0 .6

19.8

12.2

29

46.8
49.2
18.3
43.5

5.7
19.5

Per cent of wages to increase of
value in manufactured by la­
bor.
1905.

8.9

30.4
46.6
48.5
47.7
49.7
33.8
12.5

8

2 2 .2

22.1

27.4
16.5
2 1 .6

1900.

1890.

33.7
40.1
45
45.2
53
35.7

35.1
50
46
48.5
51
39.7

1 2 .2

1 2 .6

37.1

55.4

22.3
54.8

24.2
56.3

12.7
18.9
34.4
35.2
19.9

42.3
30.5
71.6
64.5
38.9

88.4
28.3
68.5
60.4
39.4

46.5
37.3
69.6
63.3
39.5

Average rate of wages to gross product in all industries, 17.8 per cent, calculating from table of totals of wages

R E L A T IV E LABOR COST.

Mr. OWEN. The first important deduction shown from these
tables is the relative cost of labor as compared with the gross
product. It is less than G per cent in food products, and yet
the tariff on food products is an average of 32 per cent, in order
to measure the cost o f difference at home and abroad.
The total labor cost in textiles is 19.5 per cent, and yet the
tariff in this bill on flax manufactures is over 44 per cent, on
cotton manufactures over 47 per cent, on wool manufactures
over 58 per cent, and on silk manufactures over G per cent to
O
measure the difference in the cost of production at home and
abroad; a patent and ridiculous fraud on its face, .vliicliJms not
been explained, which will not be explained, and w h ic h can not
be explained by the managers o f this bill, and so it goes all
through this table.
The total percentage of the value of the product paid in wages
in textiles is 19.5 per cent.
If we concede that the labor cost in Europe is absolutely
nothing; if we concede that the foreigner would not have to
pay any freight to bring his goods to America, would pay noth­
ing for*ocean insurance, for breakage, wharfage, dockage, leak­
age. rattage, or stealage, still 19.5 per cent would be high enough
to protect the American manufacturer on an average.
Granting, however, that the European laborer earns half
as much, then one-half of 19.5 per cent would be sufficient.
Granting that the American laborer has twice the efficiency
of the European laborer, then no tariff whatever is necessary to
89032—8445




5.5
22

37.1

Probable
profit on
capital.

1890.

2 0 .8
21.2
20.6

1 0 .8

Estimated
profit on
capital.

protect the American manufacturer; and granting that the
wages paid in Europe buy more of manufactured products and
as much of food products as in America, the European manu­
facturer would be entitled to a bonus from his home government
to put him on a parity with the American manufacturer.
In some cases a duty is necessary for protective purposes, but
the cases are few- and the rate not high. A tariff for revenue
intelligently drawn will be more than three times as high as a
tariff for pure protection drawn in a spirit of perfect honesty.
If the Finance Committee can show any justification for the
schedules on the basis of the “ difference of the cost of produc­
tion at home and abroad,” I am willing to concede this measure
of incidental protection under a tariff for revenue, but to con­
ceal the facts, to refuse to hear, to ridicule the inquiry, and
ignore the facts when proven is surely indefensible.
This abstract briefly exhibits the ratio of wages to gross
products and affords a basis of comparison with the ratio of
wages to gross products in countries competing with ours. This
supplies a basis for a generalization showing the difference in
the cost of production at home and abroad.
It will be seen, for example, that the average ratio of wages
paid to the gross product in the textile industry averages 19.5
per cent, less than 20 per cent. The difference in the wage
cost in the United States and abroad, conceding that the for­
eign workman receives a wage only half of that paid the Ameri­
can workman and conceding that he is equally efficient and
conceding that his wages (half in money) has a purchasing
power of half the wages of the American workman, the differ-

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
ence in the cost of production based on such wages would be an
average of less than 10 per cent.
But it is not true that the wages paid foreign workmen
buys only half as much, but the fact is that every dollar paid
the foreign workman buys at least 50 per cent more than the
dollar paid the American workman, so that $10 paid an Euro­
pean workman is equivalent to $15 in purchasing power in the
United States.
So that the difference in the amount paid in wages because
of this factor as compared to the value of the gross product
is less than an average of 10 per cent, as above estimated.
Another factor of vitin importance is the superior efficiency
of the American workman. Ten dollars paid to him turns out
twice as much goods as that paid the European workman;
consequently the difference in wages compared to gross product
is not only not against the American workman, but it is in his
favor, although he does not get the benefit of it from the man
who employs him.
It is not surprising, in view of these calculations based upon
our national statistics and well-established facts, that the man­
agers in charge of this bill dare not answer the question wheth­
er this bill is being written in accordance with the pledge of
the party that the rates should be determined by the differ­
ence in the cost of production at home and abroad.
The monopolist can not and does not consume his profit. So
that the result is that the capital of monopoly is rolling up like
a huge snowball, picking up every opportunity offered by God
to mankind in our natural resources—the forests, the mines,
the water powers, the highways, and the land, both of city and
of the countryside; and labor, the creator of wealth, languishes
and grows weaker as the creature of wealth grows stronger and
exercises a natural but unrestrained appetite by “ acquiring ”
the title to every visible and invisible natural resource.
Mr. President, I am a firm friend of capital and always ready
to befriend its just rights. I believe in giving it safety and
stability, protecting it in its right to earn a fair reward upon its
employment. It is of great importance that the incentive should
be removed neither from the capitalist nor from the business
man who uses capital nor from the laborer who is employed by
capital, but I do not believe that all of the net proceeds of human
labor and every opportunity of human life should be appro­
priated by capital and all the reasonable opportunities o f life
cut off from millions of wage-earners who have no more wisdom
or knowledge of how to protect themselves against the crafty
schemes of monopoly than if they were so many blind girl
babies. The Senate and the Senators on this floor, it seems to
me, are under a solemn personal responsibility to find the way
to protect the weaker elements o f society, and they ought not to
write the laws of this country to serve monopoly at the expense
of the defenseless citizen wage-earner.
The incentive ought not to be taken away from capital; neither
should the incentive be taken away from the small business man
who may be crushed by gigantic organizations of capital, and
above all the incentive of a reasonable reward, of a reasonable
return for labor, of the power to support a family by labor, in­
dustry, and providence. The power to have some leisure for
playtime should not be taken away from the American working­
man or t<he American working woman or the American working
child by the grinding process of unthinking corporate monopoly.
Under the head of “ Miscellany ” are concealed many items
favorable to capital by increasing the capital itself under color
of repairs, and so forth.
The estimate of the profit on capital is also too small, because
more than half of the capital claimed is water.
All of the return on capital, except a small percentage, neces­
sary to provide for a reasonable return on capital, is a net
profit, while the return on labor contains no net profit worth
mentioning, although it is true that by long, hard hours of
labor, great deprivation, rigid economy, and careful saving, the
labor classes, through the savings banks exhibit a considerable
accumulation out o f the proceeds of their labor.
Statistics of the savings hanks of the United States for 1906.
[Comptroller Currency Report, 1907.]
Total
depositors.

Amount of
deposits. .

Aver­
age.

2,987,201
3,562,804
31,598
1,087,746
357,783
Total United States___________________

82032— 8445




$1,168,148,705
1,656,905,727
6,143,167
385,503,885
285,435,714

$391.04
405.06
194.41
354.41
741.89

8,027,192

3,482,137,198

433.79

13

The savings under forty years o f high-protective tariff aver­
age $433.79 to those who have been able to save, and these fig­
ures include hundreds o f millions of the savings of the well-todo and many of the capital class, but only one person in ten,
after all, has a savings account, and the savings between the
laboring people and actual want will not average $43 per capita
for our entire productive population, counting all savings as the
savings of labor, while many millions are utterly defenseless
against the exactions of capital.
When it is remembered what the enormous product of the
labor of the average American workman is—$2,500 per annum—
it will be observed that these savings of many years comprise
but a small part of the proceeds of labor.
In the table exhibited—the industries engaged in “ food prod­
ucts ”— labor's share o f the gross product is very small, because
of the very large amount of raw material used, out of which
labor had previously been paid in the process of production.
The same thing is relatively true of the industries dealing
with liquors and beverages.
It is also true that labor’s share in lumber and iron and
steel, and clay, glass, and stone products, and in vehicles and
shipbuilding reaches a high percentage relative to the product,
for the simple reason that nearly all of the value in lumber,
outside o f the stumpage, is pure labor. Labor goes into the
woods, cuts the tree down, hauls it to the mill, puts it on the
runway, saws the log, planes it, stacks the lumber, and puts
the lumber on the car. Capital, having acquired the land, fur­
nishes the sawmill, and permits labor to have a part of its own
profits in wages, but no more than labor can command in a
free, competitive market for labor.
The same thing is true with regard to clay products. The
workman digs the clay out o f the ground, puts it through every
process with the work of his hands, and converts it into a
finished product. Capital, having acquired the title to the clay,
permits the workmen to dig upon the earth, owned by the capi­
talist, and furnishes the workmen with tools, and pays the
workmen precisely as much, and no more, as his labor com­
mands in a free, competitive, labor market.
The laborer has a very narrow margin, and unless he be ex­
ceptional in self-denial, in providence, and is free from accident
or sickness or other incidental loss, he may, perhaps, save
enough to lift himself from the severe conditions which so en­
viron him to a more fortunate place where he can join the
capital class and get the benefits of a system which is well de­
vised to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
T H E H IG H T A R IF F H A S LOW ERED T H E W AG ES OF A M E R IC A N W O R K M E N .

Mr. President, the advocates of a high tariff have always pro­
fessed, and I suppose usually felt, the greatest solicitude for
the welfare of the laboring man, and have believed, or appeared
to believe, that a high tariff would protect the American labor­
ing man against the injurious competition of the “ pauper
labor ” of Europe. I shall show by our own statistics that the
icagcs of the American tvorkman have been lowered under the
operation of this tariff.
Wages are not valued alone by dollars and cents; dollars
change in purchasing power, depending on the number of dollars
put in circulation in any given country and the intimacy of its
commercial relations with other countries, and the whole world
is confused in the question of prices by the grossly unequal dis­
tribution of currency in the different nations of the world; a
great problem, which is now undergoing and will undergo a more
rapid readjustment under the fast increasing improvement of
rapid modern intercourse.
Attention is expressly called to the fact that labor’s share of
the proceeds of labor has not increased in the highly protected
industries—it has decreased.
In the textile industries labor received 22 per cent of the gross
product in 1890, 20.8 in 1900, and 19.5 in 1905.
In iron and steel labor received 24.9 per cent in 1890 and 22.1
per cent in 1905.
In leather goods labor received 21.1 per cent of the proceeds
of labor in 1890, 16.9 per cent in 1900, and 16.5 per cent in 1905.
In paper and printing labor received 26.5 per cent of the pro­
ceeds of labor in 1890, 23.1 per cent in 1900, 21.6 per cent in
1905.
In chemical and allied products labor received 8.9 per cent in
1890, 8 per cent in 1905.
In clay, glass, and stone products labor received 39.3 per cent
in 1890, 37.1 per cent in 1900.
In metal and metal products, other than iron and steel, labor
received 20.4 per cent in 1890 and 12.7 per cent in 1905.
In tobacco labor received 21 per cent in 1890 and 18.9 per cent
in 1905.
In shipbuilding labor received 36.7 per cent in 1890 and 35.2
per cent in 1905.

14

CONGEESSIONAL RECORD

In miscellaneous industries labor received 21.1 per cent in
1890 and 19.9 per cent in 1905.
It is perfectly obvious that under the high tariff the reward
of labor has diminished relatively to the gross product of labor.
When we compare the increase o f the value o f products,
the increase o f the cost of materials, and the number o f wage-

earners, and the total wages between 1890 and 1900, we find that
the growth o f capital value corresponding with that of the value
o f products is decidedly more than the increase of total wages;
that the average wage for all classes of wage-earners, in dol­
lars and cents, is less in 1900 than in 1890. The increase of earn­
ings is 25 per cent; that of wages only a little over 22 per cent.

Number of
wageTotal wages.
earners.
*

Capital
value.

Value of
products.

Cost of ma­
terials.

$9,813,834,390
6,525,050,759

$13,000,149,359
9,372,378,843

$7,343,627,875
5,162,013,878

5,306,143
4,251,535

$2,320,988,168
1,891,903,795

3,288,783,631

3,627,770,316

2,181,613,997

1,054,608

428,984,373

Nineteen hundred average wage, $437; annual weekly wage,
$S.60, to support 3 people, a labor loss of 10 per cent in wages
relative to value o f product.
The percentage o f wages to value o f products was 17.8 per
cent in 1900, 20.2 per cent in 1890, a loss for labor of 10 per cent.
Here is an increase o f $3,627,740,316 in the value of the prod­
ucts of labor under the “ value of products,” and $42S,984,373
goes to 1,054,60S additional laborers, while $3,19S,755,943 is the
net value o f the products of such labor. One million fifty-four
thousand six hundred and eight new workmen get $428,984,373
with which to sustain approximately 3,000,000 people; to feed,
clothe, and shelter them; leaving no surplus for enforced idle­
ness, sickness, accident, or death; and a vast profit goes to
capital that does not have the same exacting demands for food
and clothing. The annual weekly wage is only $8.60 to sup­
port three people. How does this compare with Europe where
the dollar buys 50 per cent more, and $8.60 here is only equal
to $5.73 there? Look at their wages, their earning power, and
ask what is the difference in the cost o f production here and
there. Do these census records teach us nothing?
The above figures demonstrate beyond the possibility o f dis­
pute that wages are being lowered under the operation of a
monopoly-protecting tariff. It shows more, that a tariff aver­
aging nearly 50 per cent is thoroughly unjustifiable on the Re­
publican theory of protecting labor, since the gross amount of
labor’s wages only comprises an average of 19.7 per cent of
gross product value (Exhibit 1, pp. — ), much less on the theory
o f providing only the “ difference in the cost of labor,” since
the difference in the cost of labor will not approximate 20 per
cent, nor equal the half of it.
The plain truth is the b ill'w ill not protect labor, but will
gratify the clamorous demand of organized greed and avarice
urged by the lobby o f numerous monopolies. This tariff, in the
pretended interest of the American workman, does not properly
include over 1,000,000 out of 29,000,000 workmen, while it taxes
all.
It has been convincingly shown by Edward Atkinson, in his
learned report of December, 1902 (Exhibit 2 ), that not over
1,000,000 persons out of 29,000,000 persons would be affected in
an adverse way if the tariff were absolutely abolished. This cal­
culation, made in great detail, goes far to show the utterly false
pretense of a great public demand for a high protective or
prohibitive tari. Attention is earnestly called to it in Senate
Document No. 46, Sixty-first Congress, first session, from which
I submit the essential part as Exhibit 2.

Average
value,
product of Per cent.
the wageearner.
$2,450
2,204

17.8

20.2

______

Mr. President, here will be seen that the cheapest workmen
(Exhibit 3) in the railroad service, the brakemen, received an
average throughout the United States for 1907, $1.46 a day;
section foremen, $1.90; other shopmen, $2.06; carpenters, $2.40;
machinists, $2.87; firemen and other trainmen, $2.54; con­
ductors, $3.69; engineer men, $4.30; station agents, $2.05; gen­
eral office clerks, $2.30; other officers, $5.99; general officers,
$11.93. These wages in unprotected industries are decent, are
reasonable, are just according to service, in the transportation
work of the United States. These people have their wages in­
fluenced to an important degree by labor organization.
Now, Mr. President, I wish to call the attention of the Senate
to the fact—and a vital fact in this matter—that in the pro­
tected industries of the United States the wage-earner does not
receive one-half as much as in the unprotected industries, and
these tables abundantly exhibit it.
Exhibit No. 4 shows that masons and bricklayers get from
45 to 87 cents an hour; structural iron setters, 30 to 62 cents
an hour; ornamental iron setters, 30 to 70 cents an hour; plas­
terers, 50 to 87£ cents an h our; lathers, 45 to 62* cents an hour;
hoisting engineers, 50 to 75 cents an hour; tile setters, 35 to 75
cents an hour; plumbers, 50 to 75 cents an hour; steam fitters,
35 to 75 cents an hour; steam fitters’ helpers, 15 to 37* cents
an hour; gas fitters, 35 to 81 cents an hour; carpenters, 35 to
62§ cents an hour; stonecutters, 45 to 70 cents an hour; marble
cutters and marble setters, 30 to 62* cents an hour; painters,
25 to 56 cents an hour; sheet metal wT
orkers, 30 to 62 § cents an
hour; electricians, 25 to 65 cents an hour; roofers, 25 to 75
cents an hour; cement finishers, 35 to 75 cents an hour; laborers
and hod carriers, 15 to 50 cents an hour.
Mr. President, these people are outside of the protected in­
dustries; they have some degree o f organization and can de­
mand the value from capital for their labor.
The laws of human nature operate upon the laboring man
precisely as they do upon the capitalist, and he tries to get the
greatest return "for his wares. Labor organizations have some­
times gone to extremes and put the price of labor above a
reasonable market value and lowered the demand to the point
of putting themselves out of business. The urgency of labors’
need for supplying food and clothing is an extenuating circum­
stance even when the demand itself is unreasonable and foolish,
but when the demand of monopoly puts an exorbitant price
upon the necessaries o f life its motive is not hunger for food or
need for clothing or shelter for children, but merely ambition
for power or mere greed for gain.
Now, Mr. President, I wish to call the attention of the Sen­
T H E H I G H T A R IF F H A S LOW ERED T H E W AG ES OF AM E R IC A N W O R K M E N IN
ate to the astonishing difference between tne wages of men in
PRO TECTED IN D U S T R IE S MORE T H A N T H E W AG ES OF W O R K M E N IN U N ­
PRO TECTED IN D U S T R IE S .
unprotected industries with the wages in the “ p r o te c t" indus­
I submit as Exhibit 3 a carefully compiled table of the labor tries,” so-called, and you will observe that the wages in the pro­
wages of our American railwavs ("Statistics of Railroads in tected industries, except where modified by a powerful organi­
United States, 1907, Interstate Commerce Commission, p. 59), zation o f the laborers, as in the glass industry, are far below the
showing the wages of railroad employees in the unprotected in­ wages in unprotected industries. Organized capital has beaten
dustries of the railroad service, and also a table o f the wages of down the wages of labor to a point at which the proper support
employees in building trades, which are not protected, but which of a family required by a decent American standard is often
are duly organized, prepared by William J. Spencer, secretary of impossible. This meanness on the part of such offending manu­
the building-trade department of the American Federation o f facturers is painfully apparent.
Labor, for 1908 (Exhibit 4 ), showing the average wages o f ma­ T H E PROTECTED IN D U S T R IE S H A V E D RIVEN OUT T H E A M E R IC A N AND SU B­
S T IT U T E D T H E FOREIGN ER.
sons and bricklayers, structural iron setters, ornamental iron
setters, plasterers, lathers, hoisting engineers, tile setters, plumb­
It has resulted in driving out the native American who was
ers, steam fitters, steam fitters’ helpers, gas fitters, carpenters,
stonecutters, marble cutters and setters, painters, sheet metal able to escape and has substituted in his place the oppressed
workers, electricians, roofers, cement finishers, laborers, and people o f other races, who, having been under the grinding
hod carriers. Their wages per hour will be seen to be, on an monopoly of the landed nobility and powers which have seized
average, at least twice as high as the wages of labor in protected every opportunity in European countries, do not feel so keenly
industries (Exhibit 5 ), as shown by Census Bulletin 77 o f the the crushing conditions imposed upon them in these offending
factories.
Bureau of Labor of 1907.




89032— 8445

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

15

I call attention to this matter because too much has been
said in behalf of protecting the American laborer and keeping
out the pauper labor of Europe. The pauper labor of Europe
to-day fills the very factories of these protected monopolies, and
those same pauper laborers of Europe are coming into this coun­
try at the rate of 100,000 a month. It is time that this hypoc­
risy should cease.
Mr. GALLINGER. Mr. President-----The VICE-PRESIDENT. Does the Senator from Oklahoma
yield to the Senator from New Hampshire?
Mr. OWEN. Certainly.
Mr. GALLINGER. Has the Senator the statistics for the
State of Wisconsin?
Mr. OWEN. The statistics will be found in the same tables
to which I have referred.
Mr. GALL NGER. The Senator has them not at hand?
He made an impassioned plea for the mill operatives of New Eng­
land, who “ must not be deprived of their right to work and wages,”
Mr. OWEN. Not at hand. I have them available, but not
and for the manufacturers, who must be protected against “ cheap
labor abroad.”
The mill operatives, for whom the Naliaht Senator’s so as to easily read them.
I will say that, o f course, on the eastern coast, with our
eloquence was unloosed, are practically all Greeks, Syrians. Poles,
Armenians, and Italians, who have driven out every other kind of country inviting foreigners into this land we should expect a
labor, because, under present wages in the cotton mill's, to bring up a
large percentage; and I do not speak that in any sense of re­
fam ily under American conditions is absolutely impossible.
* *
*
Mr. L o d g e ’ s defense of the cotton, manufacturers, whose mills are proach to those States. I, for one, am not at all in favor of
filled with aliens on starvation wages, is paralleled in history only closing our ports by any tax upon these poor souls who seek
by the arguments made in parliament at the time England was at­
tempting to abolish the slave trade, that if the bringing of black a refuge in our land from a monopoly which is worse by far
I invite them, and bid them God
people from Africa to America and elsewhere was prohibited ship­ than that which we endure.
owners would not find any use for their vessels, and that these slave
speed and welcome. This Republic is under the deepest obliga­
ships furnished the only market for decayed fish and other putrid
food, on which there would be a dead loss if the slave trade was tions to those who have come from abroad and to their children.
outlawed.
I honor them, and I am glad, as one American, to give them a
The Pittsburg Survey gives a tabulated map showing that the cordial welcome. I wish they were better paid ; and when they
Carnegie mills at Homestead, from which organized labor w
ras go West and enter the fields of the West, perhaps they will find
driven by private armed military power in the Homestead conditions more congenial to human life and more profitable
riots, is filled with Slovaks, G,477 o f them; with Poles, 611 in and beneficial to them.
Mr. President, I am glad to see America, the land of liberty,
number; with Bohemians and Germans, in another group; with
Croatians, 1,249 in number; with Hungarians, 1,323 in number; made an asylum for the oppressed of other lands, and recognize
with Roumanians, 410 in number; with Poles, 1,644 in number; the fact that the United States is under enormous obligations
with Lithuanians, 476 in number. Austria-Hungary furnished to people who have come from foreign lands, and I only call
attention to these figures to show that the plea of the monopo­
10,421; Russia, 2,577; etc.
Representatives on behalf of these monopolies make “ impas­ lies that they are deeply concerned about high wages for the
sioned appeals ” to protect the American workman against the American workman is so offensively hypocritical and absurd
foreign pauper labor which the monopolies have imported and that no words known to the English language are capable of
are using wholesale with the effect of driving the native Amer­ describing it.
I have submitted Table 5, showing the wages of workmen in
ican to despair.
Mr. President, examine the census of 1900, volume 1, pages American industries; and I call your attention to the fact that,
except where they are organized, they are on almost starvation
cxxxi and 698, on population and see what it exhibits.
wages. The papers were full a few days ago of the slavery
Table o f foreign born, etc.
of white women brought into these protected factories from
Italy, sold by their kinspeople, and all their wages practically
Percent­
taken for their keep and to pay to the foreign home—a substan­
age of
White
Total for­
tial exhibition of white slavery under the color of freedom and
popula­
popula­ eign born
Foreign
Total
tion for­
under the protection of the American flag, which ought not to
tion for­
and of
Census 1900, Volume I.
bom
popula­ eign born
endure slavery either of the white man or the black man.
(cxxxi). eign par­ foreigntion.
and of
Z call attention to the low wages which are paid in the pro­
tected industries, so low as not to be sufficient to sustain an
American family upon the wages of the head of the family,
who may be devoting all his time to that purpose. The average
wage in the cotton and wool industry will not exceed a dollar
a day, and that is shown by our census tables, which I submit.
Now, Mr. President, the protected industries have driven out
the American and substituted the foreigner. We have been
listening for years to talk about the protection of American
labor against the pauper labor o f Europe; and yet our census
shows how shallow and how hollow that pretension is. I call
your attention to what is shown by our census.
The Boston Traveler in the article of June 2, 1909, ridicules
the argument o f the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. L odge ] ,
and says:

entage
(p. 698).

Massachusetts......................
Rhode Island........................
Connecticut..........................
New York.............................
New Jersey..........................
Pennsylvania......................

846,324
131,519
238,210
1,900,425
431,831
985,250

897,386
140,292
282,246
2,415,845
556,294
1,430,028

bom par­
entage.

1,743,710
274,811
520,455
4,316,270
988,125
2,415,278

foreignborn par­
entage.
2,805,346
428,556
908,420
7,268,894
1,883,669
6,302,115

64.x
52.4

It will be seen by the table which I submit that Massachusetts
has 1.743,710 persons foreign born or of foreign-born parentage
out o f 2,805,346 total population, having therefore 62.1 per cent
of people who are foreign born or of foreign-born parentage;
Rhode Island, in like manner, has 64.1 per cent of its popu­
lation foreign born or o f foreign-born parentage; Connecticut
has 57.3 per cent o f foreign born or of foreign-born parent­
a l 0 : No-,v York has 59.3 per cent o f its people foreign bom or
o f foreign-bom parentage; New Jersey has 52.4 per cent o f its
population foreign born or o f foreign-born parentage; thus dis­
closing in the completest manner the extent to which this use
o f foreign labor has driven out the American.
Mr. KEAN. What is the date o f that?
Mr. OWEN. The last census of 1900, to which I invite the
Senator’s prayerful attention.
Mr. DILLINGHAM. Mr. President-----The VICE-PRESIDENT. Does the Senator from Oklahoma
yield to the Senator from Vermont?
Mr. OWEN. With pleasure.
Mr. DILLINGHAM. I will be glad to have the Senator give,
if he has them, the figures of the percentage of foreign-born as
distinguished from their children.
Mr. OWEN. I have it, Mr. President, in the table which I
submit, giving the exact details.
89032—8445




W AGES

IX

PROTECTED IN D U S T R IE S L O W ER T H A N
IN D U S T R IE S .

IN

UNPROTECTED

I respectfully submit a table (Exhibit 5) showing the wages
of workmen in the protected industries of every class: In the
industry of making carpets; of clothing; cotton goods; foundry
and machine shops; furniture; glass; fur hats; hosiery and
knit goods; iron and steel, bar, and iron and steel, Bessemer;
iron and steel, blast furnace; lumber, paper, and wood pulp;
pottery; printing and binding; shipbuilding; silk goods; woolen
and worsted goods. I have indicated in every case in these
tables the condition of labor organization.
It will be seen by the tables o f Exhibit No. 5, in the grouped
industries, for example, that in 1907 burlers got 14 cents
an hour; dyers, 16 cents an hour; loom fixers (who must be
men of a high class), 28 cents an hour; spoolers, 13 cents an
hour; twisters, 12 cents an hour; weavers, Wilton (high-class
experts), 30 cents an hour; weavers, ingrain, 15 cents an hour;
winders, 13 cents an hour; and, except where the workmen must
be trained experts, their wages are very low.
Buttonhole makers (fem ale), 12 to 14 cents an hour; ex­
aminers (female), 11 to 14 cents an hour; finishers, 10 to 13
cents an hour; pressers (m ale), 19 to 26 cents an hour; sew­
ing-machine operators, 22 to 31 cents an hour; carding-machine
tenders, 10 to 13 cents an hour; dyers, 11 to 15 cents an h our;
loom fixers, 16 to 24 cents an h our; spinners, 9 to 13 cents an
hour; spinners (fem ale), 7 to 12 cents an hour; weavers
(m ale), 11 to 19 cents an hour; weavers (fem ale), 9 to 16
cents an hour; bleachers, 13 cents an hour; calenderers, 14
cents an hour; color mixers, 14 cents an hour.
In the hat business, colorers get 19 cents an h our; fitters, 12
cents an hour; flower blowers, 17 cents an h our; trimmers, 15
cents an hour; weighers, 13 cents an hour.
Silk goods.—Beamers get 19 cents an hour; doublers, 11 cents
an hour; dyers, 19 cents an hour; loom fixers, 27 cents an hour;

16

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.

Prof. John R. Commons, of the University of Wisconsin (vol.
pickers. 12 cents an hour; quillers, 9 cents an hour; spinners,
10 cents an hour; weavers, female, 10 cents an hour; weavers, 2, Publications of the American Sociological Society, p. 141),
says:
female, 17 cents an hour.
The unions have practically disappeared from the trusts, and are dis­
Woolen goods.— Burlers get 11 cents an hour; carders, 12
appearing from the large corporation as they grow large
to
cents an hour; card strippers, 13 cents an hour; combers, 12 specialize minutely their labor. The organized workmen areenough in
found
cents an hour; combers, female, 9 cents an hour; dyers, 15 cents the small establishments like the building trades or the fringe of inde­
an hour; loom fixers (experts), 26 cents an hour; male spinners, pendents on the skirts of the tr u s ts ; on the railways where skill and
responsibility are not
by division of la b
the
11 cents an hour; male weavers (expert), 21 cents an hour; where strike breakers yet displaceds'hipped i n ; on the o r; in and mines
can not be
docks
other
female weavers (expert), 18 cents an hour.
places where they hold a strategic position.
It must be remembered that these figures, low as they are,
Aaron Jones, esq., master of the National Grange, November
are not uniformly paid; that the laborer who misses an hour 11, 1903, at Rochester, N. Y.. said:
from sickness or weakness, or who is thrown out. of employ­
Combinations and trust methods in the sale of supplies and in the
ment by the closing of the shop for repairs or for any other purchase of the products of the farm have in previous addresses been
reason must then rely upon his accumulation in sayings out of set out. A striking and forceful illustration of these methods and their
the producer and the consumer is furnished by the
the wages paid. The matter which I wish to call attention to is effect on both of meats. October 10, 1902, market reports show that
market reports
that under the pretense o f protecting the American workman in in one of the leading live-stock markets of the country the price of
protected industries, the most of whom are foreigners, they are hogs has been lowered during the year 30 per cent and the price of
cent. These manipulations add 40 per cent
paid only about half of the wages that workmen- received in pork raised 10 pertaking 30 per cent from the farmer and 10 perprofit
to the meat trust,
cent
unprotected industries, and with these pretenses o fp a s s io n a t e from the consumer. Beef steers in the hands of farmers were reduced
interest ” in the American workman is an unspeakable fraud 20 per cent and dressed beef raised 10 per cent, thus adding 30 per
profit to
cent from the farmer
which ought not to be endured by men who regard this matter cent cent from the trust and taking 20 per $150,000,000 has been and 10
per
the consumer. More than
lost to
soberly and seriously from a standpoint of patriotism and the the live-stock industry in the past year by the manipulations of the
meat trust. This may in a measure explain how the meat trust may
better interests o f the American Republic.
single city
A great advantage which men have who are organized and contribute $50,000 to place the official management of a wheat, corn,
under obligations to it.
If the entire product of the farm—
not in the “ protected industries,” so called, is that they no hay, cotton, live stock, dairy, and fruit— is taken into account, farmers
longer submit to the long, grinding, sweat-shop hours, but have have lost more than $700,000,000 in the past year through manipula­
tions of combines and trusts, and because farmers have not developed
an eight-hour day.
and maintained a wise, safe, and well-guarded business system of sell­
Mr. GALLINGER. Mr. President-----ing the products of the farm. Farmers have also suffered another great
The VICE-PRESIDENT. Does the Senator from Oklahoma loss in the purchase of supplies needed in this business.
yield to the Senator from New Hampshire?
Monopolies prefer unorganized labor; they prefer that labor
Mr. OWEN. With pleasure.
should be helpless and incapable of making effective any demand
Mr. GALLINGER. W ill the Senator kindly inform me in for its comfort or convenience, or for its rights.
what part of the country the wages are paid that he has just
The law should firmly and unhesitatingly demand and re­
read?
quire of labor, organized or unorganized, strict obedience to
Mr. OWEN. Table No. 5, which I submit with this matter, the la w ; but it should also demand and require of monopoly
shows the wages paid in different parts of the country.
considerate and decent treatment o f labor and of its rights both
as producer and consumer.
T H E O R G A N IZA TIO N OF A M E R IC A N W O R K M E N .
The tables indicating the wages of working people in highMr. President, I have been gratified to observe the growing
organization of workingmen, which is steadily advancing in the tariff industries are taken from Bulletin No. 77 of the United
United States. Only by such organization and by the solidarity States Bureau of Labor for 1907.
I call upon the chairman of the Committee on Finance to ex­
of their interests can labor make effective its righteous hope for
a decent market for its w ares; only in this way can men, under plain the astonishing parallel between the low rate of wages
present conditions o f organized capital, obtain a fair return paid to people in protected industries and the high wages paid
those in industries not protected.
for their labor.
What satisfactory explanation can the Senator from Rhode
It is true that sometimes the unwise members in certain labor
organizations compel their leaders to stand for wages “ higher Island offer for the difference in the pay of masons and brick­
than the traffic will bear,” and in this case they throw them­ layers, who receive 60 cents an hour in Boston, and the burler
selves out of employment and are thus compelled to be more in the carpet factory receiving 14 cents; the dyer, 16 cents; the
moderate in their demands. It is true that sometimes thought­ loom fixer, 28 cents; the spooler, 13 cents; the twister, 12 cents;
less men force their leaders into gross error and compel them the weaver of Brussels and Wilton, 30 cents; the weavers of in­
to make demands that are unreasonable, but all men make grain, 16 cents; and the winders, 13 cents an hour?
How does the Senator from Rhode Island explain why the
errors, and all men are unreasonable at times, and these things
plasterer receives 60 cents an hour in Boston and the workers
are self-correcting.
Examine these tables which I submit, and you will observe in cotton goods can not possibly receive half as much, and do
that just in degree as they are organized just in that degree not average one-third as much?
In good old Boston the plasterer gets 60 cents an hour; the
do they receive proper compensation and obtain decent hours.
They deserve the greatest credit for what they have done in tile setter gets 60 cents an h our; the plumber, 55 cents an h our;
obtaining the eight-hour rule among the organized trades and the steam fitter, 53 cents; the stonecutter, 50 cents; the carpen­
in promoting legislation to protect labor and to promote its ter, 40 cents; the marble cutter, 56 cents; and side by side
interest. If Congress had heretofore seen more clearly its with these unprotected industries the carding-machine tender
duty, their organization would have been in large measure un­ in the cotton goods protected industry receives 13 cents; the
dyers, 15 cents; the loom fixers, 24 cents; the spiuners, 13 and
necessary.
Shall the organization of labor be condemned because of the 14 cents; the mule spinners, 24 cents; the weavers, 20 cents;
thoughtless or even criminal act of some occasional individuals the female weavers, 17 cents; the bleachers, 14 cents; the
out of this vast army? It would be as reasonable to condemn color mixers, 14 cents; the male dyers, 15 cents; the male en­
the church because of the sins of its occasional members. The gravers, 45 cents; the male printers, 44 cents; and this remark­
organization of labor stands in the main for good order, for able comparison is most striking all the way through these
respect to law, for patriotism, for the upbuilding of our coun­ tables, except in cases where labor itself, by its own organiza­
employer.^
try, for the presetvtttkrii o f Loiu&h life aud a deet.it reward to tion, has prevented itself from being plundered oj
PR O TE C T IO N A S IT IS P R ACT ICED IS AN O PE N , O BVIO U S FRAUD.
those who perform the hardest labors of life and bear the sweat
It is time that the New England Senators were dropping the
and dust, exposure and danger, of life’s hard places.
These great organizations are a bulwark to society and stand mask of superior knowledge and of mysterious learning with
for the future stability and preservation of our institutions, regard to the protective tariff.
The worst enemy of protection, as it is practiced, is detection.
while their chief antagonists, the captains o f monopoly, who, I
The infinite pains taken by the committee in charge of this bill
trust, will soon be led by public opinion to better n ethods, have
been often misled by avarice and greed, have been thus blinded to furnish Members o f this body with all sorts of data except
to their duty toward the working people, and are blindly pur­ the vital facts with regard to “ the difference in cost of produc­
suing a policy whose results constitute a menace to the stability tion at home and abroad,” does not argue well for their judg­
ment or for their sincerity in dealing with this question.
o f our present peaceful progress.
I am more than willing to believe that they have merely fol­
I think the less of the management o f the United States
Steel, and of the American Tobacco Company, and of the sugar lowed a beaten track and trodden the pathway of greatest con­
trust, and the Cramp shipbuilding yards, and others, that they venience, of easy good nature, but I can not but feel that a
have so opposed organized labor that no member of organized generous complaisance to those who have contributed to their
successful campaigns is also responsible for the lack of this
labor can be employed by these monopolies.
89032—8445




CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.

IT

essential information. I wish to make record here that the In­
Mr. OWEN. I have heard of dispatches from London which
formation which I have obtained with regard to this matter is were not reliable.
due to no effort of theirs. I have been compelled as a Member
The matter submitted by Mr. G a l l in g e b is as follow s:
of this body to dig out laboriously the information which I lay
WOMEN’ ON’ STARVA TIO N P A T ---- R E V ELATIO N S OP T H E “ SW E A T IN G ” SY ST E M
before the Senate.
IN LONDON
P A C T S BROU GH T OUT BY A POOR S E A M S T R E S S ’ S A T T E M P T
How does the Senator from Rhode Island explain the fact
AT SU IC ID E
H O M E W O R K E R S, 62 CEN T S TO $1.10 A W E E K
AVERAGE
W E E K L Y PAY OF E N G L IS H W O M EN $ 1 . 7 5 .
that in the unprotected industries o f New England, of trans­
portation for example, the station agents get an average daily
[From New York Sun, June 13, 1909.]
i
pay of $2.03, while a carding machine tender in the protected
L ondon , June 2.
cotton-goods industry receives 13 cents an hour, and the dyers 15
A poor little
London
cents an hour, and the spinners 13 cents an hour, and the weav­ jumped into the seamstress attempted suicide infished out,recently. She
Thames and was ignominiously
not drowned,
ers 19 cents an hour.
and not in the least repentant. When questioned as to reasons for her
How does he explain that enginemen in the unprotected in­ act she had only one to give. She simply could not keep body and soul
dustry on the railway service receive $3.78 a day and conduc­ together by working her hardest at her trade, and in utter fatigue she
end her struggles.
.
tors $3.26 a day, and in the protected industry o f printing tex­ had decided tonothing very new in her story, .but .when she explained
There was
tiles the bleachers receive IS cents an hour, the calenderers 14 that she always had plenty of work to do, the only difficulty being to
cents an hour, the color mixers 14 cents an hour, and dyers 15 live on the prices paid for her labors, London was roused from its
apathy long enough to protest against the “ sweating
of women thus
cents an hour?
revealed.
„
....
The House of Lords once defined “ sweating
as a condition under
How does the Senator from Rhode Island explain why it is
which work is carried on in insanitary surroundings and fob low wages.
that in the unprotected industry of railways in New England There are those who would add that it is a condition of labor which
firemen receive $2.20 a day, trainmen $2.32 a day, carpenters does not give the laborer, in return for a fair day s work, enough to
$2.25 a day, section foremen $2.24 a day, laborers $1.85 a day, maintain himself and his fam ily in decency and comfort.
In
are the greatest sufferers from
when in the protected industry o f hosiery and knit goods the Their England it is women who all the year round and allowing sweating.
average wage, taking it
for sick­
knitters receive only 20 cents an hour for men and 13 cents an ness and slackness, is not much more than $1.75 a week, lh e Lanca­
hour for women, loopers 14 cents an hour, the menders 13 cents shire textile trade average is $3.75, and in some districts as much as
$ 6 ; but this
pulled d w
by
East
an hour, the men pressers 17 cents, and the women pressers home worker, comparatively high rate is 62 cents oto n$1.10the week. End
who earns anything from
a
10 cents an hour?
In the unskilled women’s trades there is no standard by which wages
And how do these higher wages in unprotected industries con­ are computed. For instance, one famous firm of cocoa manufacturers
trast with the blast-furnace men and cinder snappers receiving pays women for filling bags with cocoa 28 cents a thousand bags, and
for
firm, in
15 cents an hour, the hot-blast men 19 cents an hour, the keep­ exactly the same awork is done girls 16 cents for aanotherby packing East
London there is
firm whose
earn $3.50
week
tea.
In the same locality there is another firm, the head of which is a wellers’ helpers 17 cents an hour, and the top fillers 17 cents an
known sportsman and yachtsman, where the earnings of the girls
hour?
only $1.87
week.
.
,
, . . rn
The plain truth is that in the unprotected industries of trans­ averagemanager of a atin-plate factory recently ■fixed time rates at $Eoo
The
portation, as shown by the compilation of wages by the Inter­ a week for his women workers, and he openly gave the reason that
state Commerce Commission and the labor in the unprotected they had taken advantage of piecework rates to make too much, borne
. .
.
,
.„
industries of the building trades, compiled by the American had earned $ 4 ! wage paid to waitresses in tea shops or restaurants
The average
Federation o f Labor, by William J. Spencer, secretary, is far throughout the country does not exceed $2.50 a week. On this the
must keep up a neat and well-dressed appearance. Then wages
better paid than in the protected industries o f the cotton mills, girlslikely to be interfered with and even, if “ necessary,” reduced.
are
the hosiery mills, the woolen mills, and iron mills, and other
Many firms don't pretend to pay their girls a living wage. The head
factories.
of a large company was asked recently how he expected the girls in
employment to live
The tables submitted o f the wages o f the building trades, his“ I don’ t expect it,” heon $1.50 a week.
answered.
Immediately we hear that a girl
which are unprotected, show that they receive a wage over 200 has lost her father or that she has no outside means of support, she
per cent higher than the wages in the protected industries, and
S This^sanaf firm employs
“
waitresses.”
the reason for this is not difficult to see. Labor in the build­ 'work from 11.30 a. m. tillwhat itp. calls forhalf-day week. All tipsThey
6.30
m.
$1 a
are
ing trades and in the railroad business is comparatively easy JLUI 1 C 1 1 C U .
of organization, because the men in the railroad and building
The lot of the home worker is the worst of all.
Miss Mary Mactrades are out o f doors and can be reached and talked to and Arthur secretarv of the Women’s Trade Union League, gave a picture
interview.
organized. They are not locked up inside of the jail-like in­ of “the home worker in the East End in an that they take the trouble
So terrible is their life that I wonder
closures of private factories, where it is almost impossible to to exist at all,” she said. “ Here is a single room in a Stepney slum.
The furniture consists of a table, a chair, and a bed. The unfinished
reach the employees or to organize them.
trousers at which the woman stitches serves as a blanket at night.
Labor has rarely succeeded in thoroughly organizing itself in
“ She slaves from daybreak until her eyes fail, and she never earns
any of the great manufacturing industries, which are usually more than 5 shillings a‘ week. She sustains herself mainly, almost en­
tirely upon weak tea.
Some days she drinks 14 cups, making the same
controlled by monopolies and mechanical corporate power.
tea leaves do service again
That is one of the
Organized labor was practically driven out of the shops of of England, and there are and again. in similar plight. women slaves
thousands
Andrew Carnegie and of the United States Steel Corporation,
“ I know many women who make men’s shirts at 1 shilling or 9 pence
American Tobacco Company, Cramps’ shipyards, and various a dozen. I have even found the actual worker making at 8 pence a
dozen shirts which had originally been given out at 1 shilling a dozen.
others of the existing monopolies.
“ There is a girl in W oolw ich; she lias one child, aged 2 years, en­
Mr. GALLINGER. Mr. President-----tirely dependent upon her. She is a shirt finisher and does buttoning
The VICE-PRESIDENT. Does the Senator from Oklahoma and buttonholing by hand. She is paid 5 shillings a dozen for collars.
Remember, this is high-class work. Cotton costs her from 3 pence to
yield to the Senator from New Hampshire?
4 pence a week. Her average earnings are 4 shillings 6 pence a week,
Mr. OWEN. Certainly.
or from one-half pence to three-fourths pence an hour.
Mr. GALLINGER. The Senator has put in tables—I have
“ Every day she has to spend an hour and a half in fetching her
not seen them—showing the -wages in protected and unprotected work, as it is only given out in small quantities. Sometimes she has
worked with hardly any break for twenty hours, from 6 a. m. until
industries. In the New York Sun of the 13th instant there is a 2 a. m. the following morning. The rent of the room is 1 shilling and
dispatch from London giving the wages paid in unprotected 6 pence a week.
“ All this she told the parliamentary committee. The members of
industries in Great Britain. Is the Senator willing that I should
Parliament were aghast. Some were incredulous. ‘ But how do you
have this inserted in the R ec o r d ?
live, you and the c h ild ? ’ asked one member of Parliament.
‘ W e don’t
Mr. OWEN. I am perfectly willing that it should be inserted live’, ’ the woman replied, with a passion in her tone I had never heard
before. * Often we have no food at a ll.’ ”
in my remarks.
Miss MacArthur contends that goods are not sold any cheaper when
Mr. GALLINGER. Thank you.
made by sweated labor. She tells of a fur-lined motor coat, marked at
The VICE-PRESIDENT. Without objection, it will be in­ SIOS, which was made for $1.88 by sweated labor; and of a $5.25 night­
dress’ for which the home worker who made it got 5 cents— 63 cents for
serted.
employer
made
Mr. OWEN. I will state to the Senator from New Hampshire a dozen of these nightdresses. The pay more, of the girls who profit
these nightdresses said he could not
as there was no
that in my examination of this matter I have tried not to make in his trade.
a partial statement giving the facts favorable to my view and
There are many persons who are struggling to organize and help the
those unfavorable to the other side, but have tried to give, in a women workers of England. There is a scheme for a trades board
fix
legal minimum
and there are other propositions
just measure, both sides, because the only purpose which I have which shall help a to do away withwage, present sweating system, if they
which will
the
in view is to arrive at the truth and to make it manifest. I do are ever put into practice.
not know what the quotation from the Sun is nor its sources
Mr. OWEN. Mr. President, the Senator from New Hampshire
nor its accuracy.
Mr. GALLINGER. It is a dispatch bearing a London date, I might have struck out the London heading and inserted New
York, Pittsburg, or Jersey City, and the cruel oppression of
will say to the Senator.
8 9 0 3 2 — 8 4 4 5 ---------3







18

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

labor by organized capital, uncontrolled by law, would not be
overdrawn, as I shall abundantly show before I conclude.
The Senator and the party o f which he is a conspicuous
leader have a duty to perform in which, they seem strangely
oblivious.
Mr. SMOOT. Mr. President-----The VICE-PRESIDENT. Does the Senator from Oklahoma
yield to the Senator from Utah?
Mr. OWEN. With pleasure.
Mr. SMOOT. The Senator has made a comparison about a
man, a bricklayer-----Mr. GALLINGER. Or a plumber.
Mr. SMOOT. In an unprotected industry, receiving 60 cents
an hour, while a little girl who does spooling in a woolen mill
gets 14 cents. Is that a fair comparison?
Mr. OWEN. I should say it is not a fair comparison. That
comparison has not been made.
Mr. SMOOT. The Senator just made a comparison that was
even worse than that, because he spoke o f burlers in a woolen
null, and they were receiving only 11 cents.
Mr. OWEN. I gave, in extenso, the wages paid to burlers
and to all other employees in woolen mills and in silk mills and
in cotton mills, stating what it was, whether they were male or
whether they were female. I have given them all, and the com­
parison is just which I have made, substantially, and no com­
parison the Senator might suggest of a little girl and a big,
burly brick mason, who weighs 247 pounds, will affect the gen­
eral comparison in the slightest degree.
Mr. SMOOT. That is exactly the comparison which the Sen­
ator makes. And in relation to the wages paid here for weavers,
I may say I do not know a weaver in any part o f this country
who earns so small an amount as that stated by the Senator.
I have many times seen weavers earn as high as $3 a day, and
the higher the wage they earn the better it is for the manufac­
turer, because they are all on piecework.
Mr. OWEN. Does the Senator challenge the accuracy o f the
census in this matter?
Mr. SMOOT. I challenge the figures the Senator gave here
as to the wages paid to woolen weavers in this country.
Mr. OWEN. Then I commend the Senator to the United
States census, from which the table was taken, and he may dis­
pute the authoritative tables o f the Federal Government; but he
can not correct the accuracy of my quotation from the census
reports.
Mr. SMOOT. I am not saying that the figure quoted by the
Senator was not quoted from some table, but I do positively say
that weavers in this country are not paid the price the Senator
quoted.
Mr. OWEN. I appeal from the evidence of the Senator from
Utah, as a special pleader, to the evidence o f the federal census
and of the London Board of Trade, and prefer to take the
census of the United States and the official figures to his off­
hand comments.
Mr. DOLLIVER. Mr. President------Mr. OWEN. I cordially yield to the Senator from Iowa.
Mr. DOLLIYER. I have been very much interested in the
Senator’s statistics and figures, but it has often occurred to me
that the industries to which he refers as unprotected industries
are really the only perfectly protected industries we have in the
Inited States, for the reason that if a man is to build a brick
house here at all he has no competition from any quarter on
earthy A man making a horseshoe has to be protected by a
law, but a man shoeing a horse has an absolute, perfectly
natural protection, because the horse has to be shod where he is
and not in some other country, and no competition, direct or in­
direct. beats upon those occupations which are naturally and
perfectly protected.
Mr. GIVEN. I think there is force in the ohser ’atiou o f the
Senator from Iowa, and I shall not quarrel with it, but content
myself with saying that like industries abroad are also much
better i>aid than factory labor. But I do call attention to the
fact that these men who are in the railway service and in the
unprotected building trades and not in the business of manu­
facturing woolen or cotton or flax textiles are receiving a very
much higher reward than those who are in those industries
and I have shown by these tables that they cou.d be paid a
much larger price without depriving the factories of a just re­
ward. If there were some competition, it would be far better
for labor; and if there were some measure o f competition in this
country, I believe it would be better for the manufacturers
themselves.
89032— 8445

labor

h as

IN

not

THE

been

able

VALU ES

to

THAT

sh are

e q u it a b l y

LABOR H A S

w it h

IN C R E A SIN G L Y

th e

em ployers

CREATED.

In volume 8, page 982, o f the Twelfth Census, 1900, is the
following table. It shows that labor received in 1850, 23.21 per
cent of the total value of products, while in 1900 it received
only 17.8 per cent o f the product, although the per capita in­
crease in production was greater by 130 per cent in 1900 than
in 1850.

Average num­ Total annual Total annual Average per
capita pro­
ber of wagevalue of
wages.
duction.
earners.
products.

Year.
1850........................
1900.............

Average an­
nual wage.

Year.
1850
1900.

957,059
5,321,389

Per capita in­ Per capita in­
Per cent of crease
crease in
product paid ductionininpro­
the wages in
in wages.
50 years.
50 years.
23.21
17.80

$247
437

.

$1,064
2,451

$236,755,464 $1,019,106,616
2,330,578,010 13,039,279,566

P er cen t.

P er cen t.

77

130

From Exhibit 1 labor shows a diminishing wage as com­
pared to value o f its product.
In textiles labor received 22 per cent of the product in 1890,
20.8 per cent in 1900, 19.5 per cent in 1905.
In the iron and steel industries labor received 24.9 per cent
of the product in 1900, 22.1 per cent in 1905.
In the leather industries labor received 20.1 per cent o f the
product in 1890, 16.9 per cent in 1900, 16.5 per cent in 1905.
In paper and printing industries labor received 26.5 per cent
; in 1890, 23.1 per cent in 1900, 21.6 per cent in 1905.
In metal and metal products labor received 20.4 per cent of
the gross product in 1890, 12.9 per cent in 1900, 12.7 per cent
in 1905.
In tobacco industries labor received 21 per cent in 1890, 18.9
per cent in 1905.
Labor has constantly grown in efficiency, but has not been
able to share equitably in the value it has created.
Taking a special industry, such as iron aud steel, including
rolling mills and blast furnaces, as shown by the special report
o f the United States Census Office, Part IV, selected Industries,
1905, on pages 5 and 16, will be found the tables for the years
1890 and 1905. I submit an analysis which shows that the per
capita increase of the product o f labor by weight was 50 per
cent; by value, 33.5 per cent; while the increase in wages is
only 11 per cent.

Year.

Averago
Total
number of Total
Total value
wage-earn- wagesapai(ju of products. weight of
products
ers em6 v
in tons.
ployed.
171,181
242,740

Year.

$S9,273,956 $478,687,519
141,439,900 905.S54.152

Per capita
increase in
;production
1in 15 years
in values.
Per cent.

! 1890.
1905.

3 3 .5

Per capita
increase in
production
by weight.

16,264,478
34,844,933

—
Per capita
increase in Average
wages in 15 weekly
Mage.
years.

p . - r ___
5 0 .5

1 1 .5

$10.02
1 1.20

These figures might be multiplied indefinitely in all of the
monopoly-controlled industries.
I submit a table of the wages in the woolen and cotton goods
factories of New England. It shows that they do not receive to­
day an average wage o f exceeding a dollar a day, a fact of
special interest in connection with this controversy where the
schedules are supposed to be written for the protection of
labor.

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
Wages

and

1860

Year.

woolen and cotton goods factories of
New England.

1900 compared in

Humber
of em­
ployees .

Wages.

Wages
per
capita.

Actual
in­
Value
Pounds
Value of of out­ of cotton crease
in out­
product. put per
used.
capita.
put by
weight.

Cotton:
I 8 6 0 ............
1 9 9 0 ..........

P er ct.
8 1 ,4 0 3 $ 1 6 ,7 2 0 ,9 2 0
1 0 4 ,9 4 4 5 6 ,2 5 8 ,2 0 2

1 8 6 0 ...
1 9 0 0 . ..

2 5 ,5 8 3
8 2 ,4 7 2

6 ,1 4 4 ,8 4 7
3 1 ,2 3 0 ,7 7 2

$205 $ 7 9 ,3 5 9 ,0 0 0
341 1 9 1 ,6 9 0 ,9 1 3
240 4 7 ,7 2 2 ,8 1 4
3 7 8 1 6 1 ,5 6 6 ,2 7 7

$79 4 2 8 3 ,7 0 1 ,3 0 6
1 ,1 6 2 9 4 0 ,9 0 8 ,1 1 4

331

1 ,4 7 4
1 ,9 3 1

This schedule shows that, counting the best paid labor, the
annual average wage of the employees in the cotton and woolen
mills do not exceed $1 a day, and that, therefore, the pretense
of better paid labor in the United States in the cotton and
woolen mills, at least, is not true, because such wages do not
greatly exceed the wages in Europe; and measured by purchas­
ing power, probably do not exceed them at all; and measured
by the output o f American labor, which is twice as efficient as
European labor, the American labor is not as well paid as Euro­
pean labor. The American manufacturer gets all the net profit.
It has been shown in this debate what the enormous profits of
the cotton and woolen mills have been, and our statistics clearly
demonstrate the inequitable manner in which these profits have
been proportioned between the American monopolists and his
foreign-born workmen.
A M E R IC A N AND EU RO PEAN W AG ES IN PR O TE C T E D IN D U S T R IE S COM PARED.

I submit thus comparison of wages in the United States, Ger­
many, France, and the United Kingdom, with the proper au­
thorities, showing that the wages paid in the United States in
the textile industry do not very greatly exceed those paid
in Germany, France, and England, while it is conceded that

19

the output of the American laborer is twice as much as in
Europe.
The spinners, for example, in Germany in 1905, at Mulhausen,
received from $6.57 to $7.30 per week. In France they received
$5.91 and in the United States $4.12. The weavers, on the con­
trary, received in Germany $4.02 to $4.75; in France, $4.48 to
$5.19; in the Untied Kingdom, $5.11 to $7.08; and in the United
States, $8.29. So that the weavers in our country received
double as much as they did in Germany, and the spinners in
our country received a smaller money wage than in either
Germany or France.
Mr. SMOOT. Does the table show that the weavers receive
less than the spinners in Germany?
Mr. OWEN. Yes, sir.
Mr. SMOOT. Whoever prepared the table does not know a
thing about manufacturing, and it can not possibly be true.
Mr. OWEN. The Senator from Utah having corrected the
United States census with regard to employees in cotton facto­
ries, may now correct the tables used by the Board of Trade of
the United Kingdom in their report to Parliament, from which
this is taken.
Mr. SMOOT. I know just as well as I know I am alive that
there is no country that can employ weavers at a less price
than they can spinners. Spinners are boys and girls. Weavers
are men and women. It can not be possible. It is a mistake.
Mr. OWEN. I again appeal from the personal assurances of
the Senator from Utah [Mr. S m o o t ] to the records of the Board
of Trade of London and of the United States census, from which
these figures are accurately taken; and I call attention to the
fact that the Senator from Rhode Island, the chairman of the
Committee on Finance, when he was giving these tables, con­
fined himself to those parts o f the tables favorable to his conten­
tion and failed to insert those parts of the tables which were un­
favorable to his contention, and such a leadership I neither
approve nor follow.
These tables show the differences which I have pointed out,
and they speak for themselves and are easily capable of their
verification.

W a g e s in t e x t i l e i n d u s t r y in G e r m a n y , F r a n c e , U n i t e d K i n g d o m , a n d

Germany, 1905, Mul­
hausen.

U n ited S ta te s.

France, 1905, Lille.

In the protected industries.
Weekly
pay.

Hours
work.

Weekly
pay.

United
United
Kingdom.
Weekly pay, States.
1906 (W . K. Average,
Hours
Preston).
work.

1904.

Hours.

COTTON IN D U S T R Y .

Spinners:
Male..........
Female___
Weavers:
Male..........
__Female_____
Piecers.............
Laborers.........
Dyers...............
Mule spinners.

$6.57-47.30

66

$5.91

60

02- 4.75
4. 42- 4.87
3.81
3.65- 4.'62

66

4.48- 5.19

60

66

3 .5 1 - 5 .1 9
4 .1 0
4 . 6 6 - 5 .2 5
1 1 .7 8 - 1 2 .4 5

60
60
6 0 -6 6
60

4.

66
58J-63

$ 4 .1 2
5 .1 6

6 4 .5 5
6 1 .0 1

8.29
7 .5 8

60. 42
60.13

8 .5 2 - 1 0 .9 5

6 .8 9
1 1 .2 4

62.48
59.32

Bradford.
1.95- 2.68

6 .5 2

5 8 .3 4

9 .8 7
8 .7 9

5 8 .4 7
5 7 .5 7

7 .1 1
5 .4 9
7 .8 6

5 8 .3 3
5 7 .4 0
5 9 .1 1

9.74
8.19

57.82

10.93
9.84
10.98

52. 98
50. 71
5 5 .0 5

$5. ll-$ 7 .06

WOOLEN INDUSTRY.

Mulhausen.

7.20- 7.79
5.11- 5.84
4.38
4.38
5.60

Spinners...................
W eavers ( Asehen):
Male...................
F'einale___
Comlers (Leipzig):

Male..............

Female___
Dyers (Leipzig)___
W eavers:
S ilk -

Male..........
Female.......
Velvet...............
I
I
Hi bbon—

Male__

Female.
Dyers.................

61
60
60
65
65

lioubaix.

6.22- 6.81
5.45- 5. 84

3.16- 4.14

4.20- 4.26
3. 79- 3.91

4 . 8 7 - 5 .6 0
2 . 6 8 - 3 .4 1
5 .8 4

SILK INDUSTRY.
Crefeld, 1905.

5.11-5.84 j
5.84- 6 57 i
7.30
6.57 |

58-58}
58-581
58-5SJ
60

Lyon, 1905.
3.20-' 3.51
4.10- 4.97
a 3.51- 4.66
5.84-6.81

60
60
60
60

5 6 .5 2

a St. Etienne.

N on. —

In 1905 the wages received at St. Etienne, France, by ribbon weavers varied from $3.51 to $4.66 per week. In 1906 it was over
10 0 per cent more than this.
In August, 1907, it was from 30 per cent to 50 per cent higher than in 1905. These weavers received as pay,
tn piecework, from one-half to two-thirds the value of their product.
U i t h o r i t y f o r United States figures: Bulletin of the Bureau o f Labor, No. 59, July, 1905.
\uthority for foreign figures: Cost of Living in German Towns ( 1 9 0 8 ) ; Cost of Living in French Towns (1909); Cost of Living o f
W orking Classes, United Kingdom, 1 9 0 8 ; Report of Board of Trade to Parliament.

I exhibit a comparison o f wages in the United States, Germany, I which present a very much more favorable wage to the unproFrance, and the United Kingdom in the nonprotected industries, | tected American workingman and much more favorable hours.
8 9 0 3 2 — 8445







20

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
Comparison of wages in United States, Germany, France, and United Kingdom.

Berlin (1905).
Class of labor.
(In the unprotected industries.

Weekly
wages.

Number
of hours.

$9.51
9.51
7.77
7.81
7.16
6.25
8.86
8.27-9.41
9.02-9.41
7.30-7.58
8.77-9.01
7.79
8.73
5.11-5.84

Bricklayers and masons...........
Carpenters...................................
Joiners and cabinetmakers___
Plumbers.....................................
Painters.......................................
Laborers (building trades).......
Hod carriers (building trades)
Molders.........................................
Turners........................................
Smiths..........................................
Pattern makers......................... .
Brewers.......................................
Compositors (printing).............
Street sweepers...........................

London (Oct., 1905).

53} 1
53} \
52
53}
53}
53}
53}
58}-G0
58}-60
58}-60
58}-60
57
54
63

Weekly
wages.

Number
of hours.

$10.65
11.16
8.77
7.10
7.10
9.49
9.49
9.49
10.56
7.30
9.49

50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
50
54
50

United States—North
Atlantic (1904).

Paris (Oct., 1905).
Weekly
wages.
f

f

f
i
/
\

/

i

/
\

/
\

Weekly
wages.

Number
of hours.

$9.35
10.50
9.35
9.35
9.35
5.84
5.84
a 11.97
6 8.17
0 11.23
68.17
0 12.73
69
.05
o 12.60
6 8.88
6.43
<11.09
d 12.86
6.59

60
60
60
54
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
60
48
42
60

l
}

i
i
|

Number
of hours.

$25.52
18.03
20.60
16.95
9.50
13.88
17.17
15.34
16.73
17.87
17.54
18.24
9.50

46.92
47.89
48.00
48.40
54.70
46.72
56.38
56.07
57.03
56.25
58.20
52.16
58.28

a Piecework.
6 Time work.
e Day.
d Night.
Iteport of board of tra d e : Cost of living in German towns, 1 9 0 8 ; cost of living in French towns, 1 9 0 9 ; cost of living of working classes,
United Kingdom, 1908.

compare the dates as nearly as they could be compared, and
have not attempted to compare the tables of Great Britain,
made by the board of trade there, with the tables made at a
very different period. I have compared them as nearly as they
were available of adjacent years. But, I will say to the Sen­
ator from New Hampshire, that the question of “ the difference
in the cost of production at home and abroad ” is easily dis­
covered, and he illustrates that he knows how to do it.
I now take a table—Exhibit No. 6, the wages and cost of
living in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, showing
the average family income, the cost of living, the articles of
food, and so forth. I ask that it may be printed in my remarks
without reading.
As Exhibit No. 6, I submit the wages and cost of living in the
United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

Mr. GALLINGER. Mr. President-----The VICE-PRESIDENT. Does the Senator from Oklahoma
yield to the Senator from New Hampshire?
Mr. OWEN. With pleasure.
Mr. GALLINGER. I will ask the Senator if he has con­
sulted Bulletin No. 80, published in January, 1909? It is four
years later than the one he quoted from. If the Senator will
turn to page 63, he will find that in Dundee male shifters are
working for $2.29 a week in the textile mills, and male pre­
parers are working for $2.51 a week. It seems to be an ex­
traordinarily low wage. There is nothing like it in this
country, I take it, and yet that is in the unprotected textile
mills of Great Britain and from a recent publication by our
Commissioner of Labor.
Mr. OWEN. I have these tables of 1904 and 1905, which

B IT 6 .
W ages

and

cost

of

liv in g in

Under $6.08.
Limit weekly income.

U n ite d

K in g d o m ,

$6.08 and under $7.40.

G erm a n y, and F ran ce.

$7.40 and under $8.52.

$8.52 and under $9.73.

$9.73 and over.

United
United ror
United Ger­
United
United
Ger­
Ger­
Ger­
G"
King­ many. France. King­ many. France. King­ many. France. King­ many. France. King- m r; France.
dom.
dom.
dom. man> •
dom.
dom.

Number of returns...
Average family weekly income
Average number of children

261
$5.20
3.1

1,065
$5.30
2.3

614
$5.58
1.77

289
$6.56
a3

1,329
$6.59
2.5

931
$6.73
1.80

416
$7. 77
32

1,223
$7.75
2.5

1,065
$7.87
1.92

382
$8.89
34

692
$3 92
2.8

821
$9.08
2.13

596
$12.65
44

737
$11.85
38

1,951
$12.88
Z 91

$0.74
28.44

$0.64
2 i 04

$0.73
24 10

$0.81
29.97

$0.70
25.05

$0.76
24 58

$0.80
29. 44

$0.74
23 06

$0.82
23 19

$3 82
29.99

$0.83
29.83

$0.89
27.62

$1.05
37.76

$1.09
33 21

$1.15
33 89

$0.79
6.42
$0.15

$0.99
5.83
$0.06

$0.92

$1. 01
7.57
$0.18

$1.18
6.60
$0.06

$1.12
& 49

$1.25

$1. 41
7.82
$0.06

$1.38
7.81

$1.32
9.25
$0.24

$1. 57
3 77
$0.07

$1.55
3 57

$1. 75
11.87
$0.32

$3 10
11.35
$0.09

$311
11.55

$0.20

$0.12
6.2

$0. 11
6.9

$0.13
6.9

$0.17
8.7

$0.15
9.2

$0.15
3 1

$0.22
11.3

$0. 17
10.2

$0.18
9.3

$0. 24
12.0

$0.19
11.06

$0.19
13 2

$0. 34
13 3

$0. 24
14 4

$3 26
13 4

$0.16
5. 54

$0.25
10.57

$0.15
5.81

$0.23
7.72

$0.31
12.30

$0.18
6 .8 8

$0.31
9.85

$0.34
12.83

$0.20
7.6

$0.33
10.34

$0.40
14 45

$0.22
31

$0.41
12 63

$0.44
13 10

$0.27
9.73

$0.10
0.67

$0.06
0.40

$0.08
0.46

$0.11
a 70

$0.08
a 46

$0.10
0.55

$0.12
0. 79

$0.09
0.62

$0.12
0.68

$0.12
3 77

$0. 10
0.00

$0. 14
0.75

$0.16
1. 32

$0.13
0. 77

$0.19
1.00

$0.41
2.05

$0.49
2.56

$0.42
2.25

$0.51
2.47

$0.60
2.79

$0.47
2.41

$0.58
2.67

$0.35
307

$0.50
2.59

$0.62
2.87

$3 72
345

$3 55
2.80

$0. 90
3 96

$0. 90
4 23

$3 72

$0.18
14.05
$0.10
$0.09

$0.20
26.04
$0.11
$0.07

$0.15
12. 30
$0.24
$0. P
8

$0.20
15.84
$0. 14
$0.10

$0.21
23 96
$0. 16
$0.09

$0. 16
13 93
$0.28
$0. 10

$0.21
13 11
$0.20
$0.12

$0. 21
23 81
$0. 19
$0.09

$0.16
1464
$0.33
$0. 10

$3 20
15.87
$0. 23
$0. 11

$3 23
24 63
$0.21
$0. 10

$0. 18
13 85
$3 35
$0.11

$0. 28
13 93
$0. 32
$3 14

$0. 29
33 55
$0. 27
$0.12

$0.24
23 50
$0. 48
$0.13

$0.23

$0.15

$0.15
0.44

$0.29

$0.19

$0. 16
0. 46

$0.33

$0.21

$0.20
0.55

$0.35

$0.24

$3 21
0.55

$0. 46

$3 30

|Lft
0

$0.16
3. 87
$0.26
$0.03

$0.09
1.83
$0.13
$0.09

$0.11
1. 48
$0.01
$0. 72

$0.20
4 62
$0.33
$0.05

$a 10
1.96
$0.17
$0.13

$0.11
1.50
$0.01
$0.32

$0.22
497
$0.41
$0.08

$0.10
1.98
$3 17
$0.16

$3 12
1.72
$3 02
$3 42

$0.23
3 21
$0.46
$3 14

$0. 11
2.14
$0.20
$318

$0.13
1.83
$3 03
$3 53

$0. 30
3 70
$a 62
$a 18

$3 13
2.67
$0. 24
$3 31

$0.16
Z 22
$3 04
$3 75

$a 44 $ a .i 8 $4 34 $4 10 $3 94 $5.05 $4 58 $4 56 $5.43 $3 14
■
117a 88 $175.76 1225.68 $213 20 S204. 88 1262. 60 $23a 16 $ ’.97. 12 I5SKL .36 $267.28

$3 09

$7. 22
$6. 66
$373 44 $343 32

$3 81

COST OF LIVING.

Bread and flour:
Cost......................................
Amount............................
.pounds..
Meat:
Cost...........................................
Amount................................. .pounds..
Fish, cost........................................
Eggs:
Cost............................................
Amount.................................... number..
Milk:
Cost............................................
Amount....................................
Cheese:
Cost............................................
Amount..................................... .pounds..
Butter, lard, etc.:
Cost............................................
Amount..................................... .pounds..
Potatoes:
C o st............................................
Amount..................................... .pounds..
Fruit, cost........................................
Macaroni, oat meal, etc., cost.......
Coffee, cocoa, and tea:
Cost..............................................
Amount..................................... .pounds..
Sugar:
Cost.............................................
Amount..................................... .pounds..
Sirups, condiments, etc., cost___
Meals away from home...................
Total expenditure for food:
Per w e e k ............................................
Per year.....................................

$3.50

1

5. 55

a 66

l T
«

382

N o t e — T otals are found by converting the totals in foreign money into United States money, and may differ from true totals.
Authority for above ta b le : Report of an inquiry by the Board of Trade for both Houses of the English Parliament, 1908, as to cost of living
In German to w n s; 1909, as to cost of living in French towns.

89032—8445

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
As Exhibit No. 7, I submit the income and cost of living in the United States of workingmen’s families.
E xhibit 7.

Workingmen’s families, income and cost of living in the United States, 1891.
Number
of fami-

Geographical division.

noted.

Average
size of
family.

Average income of
family.
Annual.

Weekly.

Average expenditure
of family.
Annual.

Weekly.

Average expenditure
for food.
Annual.

Weekly.

North Atlantic States................................................................................................
South Atlantic States................................................................................................
North Central States..................................................................................................
South Central States..................................................................................................
Western States............................................................................................................

1,415
219
721
122
90

5.25
5.30
5.46
5.65
4.69

$834.83
762.68
842.60
715.46
891.52

$16.05
14.67
16.20
13.76
17.15

$778.04
700.62
785.95
690.11
751.46

$14.%
13.47
15.11
13.27
14.45

$338.10
298.64
321.60
292.68
308.53

$6.50
5.74
6.18
5.36
5.32

United States....................................................................................................

2,567

5.31

827.19

15.91

768.54

14.78

326.90

6.99

Authority for above tab le: Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, United States, No. 59, July, 1905.

As Exhibit No. 8 I submit the quantity and value of the food
consumed by workingmen’s families in the United States per
week, 1901:
E

x h ib it

8.

Quantity and value of certain articles of food consumed by workingmen’s
families in the United States per week, 1901.
(Average income, $14.78 per week. Number of families, 2 ,567.)
Article.

Amount.

$0.56
1.97
.15
.32
.41
.05
.73
.25
.68
.04
.31
.30
.11
.39

17.95
14.78
1.54
19.7
13.7
.31
3.87
17.0
.48
1.10
5.16

Bread and flour.................................................................... pounds..
.............................................................. do___
Meats.........

Cheese.................................................................................... pounds..
Butter and lard......................................................................... do----Potatoes...................................................................................... do___
Coffee and tea..............................................................................do___
Sugar............................................................................................ d o ....
Condiments, molasses, etc........................................ ..........................
Other food...............................................................................................
Total expended for food per week...........................................

Cost.

6.27

_

326.90

received .
F uture t a r if f s should be based upon s u c h in for ­
m a tio n COMPILED BY EXPERTS EMPLOYED FOR THE FURPOSE. THIS

WOULD GIVE A PROPER BASIS FOR DETERMINING THE DIFFERENCE IN
COST OF PRODUCTION AT HOME AND ABROAD, AND FOR DETERMINING
THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE AMERICAN MANUFACTURER WOULD BE
PROTECTED IN PERCENTAGES OVER AND ABOVE THE DIFFERENCE IN
THE COST OF PRODUCTION, AND WOULD ESTABLISH A SOUND FOUNDA­
TION UPON WHICirTO WRITE A TARIFF FOR REVENUE WHICH WOULD
AFFORD A LEGITIMATE AND REASONABLE INCIDENTAL PROTECTION,
WITHOUT GIVING SHELTER TO MONOPOLY'.

It will be observed from these tables the vital fact that the
American laborer in the protected industries, and especially in
the cotton and woolen industries, does not receive the enormous
wages in comparison with the European workman in like indus­
tries which the advocates o f high tariff would have us believe.
On the contrary, their wages are very little, if any, better than
those o f the European workman, and that the workman in the
United States, especially in the textiles, has been compelled to
supplement his own wages by compelling his wife and his
daughter and his children of tender years to help earn sufficient
to enable them to keep body and soul together.
THE

E X TR E M E

USE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE RACE FOR MONEY­
MAKING.

An untutored, full-blood Sioux Indian was taken East and
shown the glories o f its civilization and, when he had been sur­
feited with sight-seeing, the question was asked him, what had
As Exhibit No. 9 I submit the weekly rents workingmen pay struck him as the most important thing he saw, and he replied:
in England, Germany, France, and United States.
“ The way in which the white man makes his little children
work.”
E x h ib it 9.
So evil has been this result o f a monopoly-breaking tariff in
W e e k l y r e n t s in E n g l a n d , G e r m a n y , F r a n c e , a n d U n i t e d S t a t e s .
this Nation that a general alarm has been widely excited, and
various States and committees throughout the Nation are en­
United
London. Berlin.
Tenements.
Paris.
gaged in attempting its correction. (Proceedings o f the fifth
States.
annual conference, Chicago, 111., National Child Labor Commit­
tee, 105 East Twenty-second street, New York.
Two-room..........................................................
$1.46
$1.34
$1.12
Bulletin No. 69, on Child Labor, Department o f Commerce
1.82
1.98
1.46 | «$1.91
and Labor, shows that 26 per cent of the male children of the
Four-room. .
............................................
2.19
1.67
United States between 10 and 15 years of age are breadwinners;
-----° Average of 2,567 families, 1901, irrespective of size of tenement, in 1.264,000 male children between 10 and 15 years are breadwin­
total United States.
ners; 485,000 female children between 10 and 15 years are
Keport of board of trade to P arliam ent: (1 9 0 8 ) cost of living in breadwinners.
german to w n s; (1 9 0 9 ) cost of living in French tow n s; (1 9 08 ) cost of
2. If the number o f children over 15, wage-earners, and not
nving of working classes, United Kingdom.
yet adults were classified, it would be found very large. Table
164, Census Bulletin, page 69, for example, gives the number
Exhibit No. 10 is the per cent of income o f workingmen’s of children at home, at school, and employed as breadwinners
families spent for food.
in families in which there are female textile workers 10 to 14
Exhibit 10.
years o f age, for Chicago, and New York, and out of 3,595 chil­
P e r c e n t o f in c o m e o f w o r k in g m e n ’s fa m ilie s s p e n t fo r fo o d .
dren over 15 years o f age, 190 were at home, 52 at school, and
3,353 employed in gainful occupations. No record is made by
the Census of children not employed in gainful occupations un
United
Ger­
tier 10 y e a rs o f age, n or ov e r 15 y e a rs o f a g e ; so th a t it, is
King­
France,
United
Limit of income.
many,
dom,
1905.
probably no exaggeration to state that four or five million of
States.
1905.
1905.
children are engaged in labor when they ought to be in school
or at play.
By Census Volume 2, page cxxxi, it is shown that the number
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent . Per cent.
o f females engaged in gainful occupations, outside o f domestic
66
$6.G8-$7.30 per week.........................................
62
59
65
$7.30-$8.52 per week.........................................
service was 5,329,292, and the probable number of women and
59
58
61
$8.52-$9.73 per week.........................................
58
56
girls now engaged in gainful occupations will probably exceed
seven millions; 28 per cent being so employed in Massachusetts,
° 2,567 workingmen’s families.
29.6 per cent in Rhode Island, 24.3 per cent in Connecticut, 20.8
A u th o rity : Bulletin o f United States Bureau of Labor No. 59.
Re­ per cent in New Jersey, 23 per cent in New York and 7.9 per
port of board of trade to Parliament on cost of living ( 1 9 0 8 - 9 ) .
cent in Oklahoma. The reason for women being compelled to
l I t would not be d iff ic u l t to determ in e w it h co m parative go into competition with men in the gainful occupations is
^PRECISION THE DIFFERENCE IN TIIE COST OF PRODUCTION MEASURED largely because the men o f the family do not receive enough to
,JY THE COST OF MATERIALS AND OF WAGES, THE RELATIVE EFFI­ maintain the family and enable the women to have the means
CIENCY OF LAROR, AND TIIE PURCHASING POWER OF THE WAGE they require and to remain at home where they properly belong
A u th o rity : Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 59, July, 1905.

J °2
4J

890 3 2 — 8445







CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
in a civilization of a high order. The driving of the American
woman from the home where her activities would best be em­
ployed in promoting her own happiness and the happiness of
mankind, and where her services to the race would be best em­
ployed in raising children and teaching them the lessons of re­
ligion, morality, and the sturdy virtues taught by our fore­
fathers, is not the least of the crushing effects of modern monop­
oly engendered by a monopoly-protecting tariff, and by the un­
restrained avarice and ambition with their false standards of
life which are thus set up in a mad race for power.
It will be seen by the wages in the textile industries that the
cotton spinners of Germany and France are paid more in money
than in the United States, the weavers less, and the mule spinners
o f France more, than those o f the United States; that the
woolen spinners of Germany and France are paid more money
than they are in the United States, while the weavers are
paid less, but in considering the fact that the money of the
cotton spinners and woolen spinners of France and Germany
will buy 50 per cent more than in the United States, the
wages they receive are decidedly better. When it is remem­
bered the American workman turns out twice as much as
the German or Frenchman, then the ungenerous treatment of
the American cotton and woolen spinners is obvious. It is also

obvious that the plea o f the Massachusetts and Rhode Island
manufacturer that the h ig h e r w ages he is compelled to pay his
cotton and wool spinners in order to meet the pauper labor com­
petition of France and Germany is a monumental falsehood
used to hoodwink the patriotism o f the American people and
lead them to tax themselves for the poor spinner’s sake who
toil in the cotton and woolen mills.
It is interesting to observe that labor in the protected indus­
tries of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are paid
much smaller wages than in the unprotected industries, and
labor might well question the value of a protective system
which operates throughout the world to give them less remu­
neration for their labor than in the unprotected industries.
A COMPETITION-PROHIBITING TARIFF HAS SERVED
TO INCREASE PRICES AND LOWER THE PURCHASING
POWER OF ALL WAGES AND OF ALL INCOMES.
In the Journal o f the Royal Statistical Society for March,
1909, page 68, A. Sauerbeck, an acknowledged authority, gives
a comparison of world prices, based on 45 commodities, and
using as an index the standards fixed by the period of eleven
years, 1867-1877, which in the aggregate was the equivalent of
the average o f the twenty-five years preceding; that is, from
1853-1877. The index number is 100.

Prices of commodities in 1908.
[B y A. Sauerbeck.]
The following table shows the course of prices of 45 commodities during the last twenty years as compared with the standard period of
yeaISv,1 8 6 7 -1 877> which in the aggregate is equivalent to the average of the twenty-live years, 1S 5 3 -1 8 77 .
(See the Society's Journal,
1886, pp. t>92 and 6 4 8 ; and 1893, pp. 220 and 2 4 7 .)
■
(Summary of index numbers.

Year.

Vege­
table
food
(com,
etc.).

Animal
food
(meat,
etc.).

Groups of articles, 1867— 8 7 7 = 1 0 0 .)
1

Sugar,
coffee,
and tea.

Total
food.

Min­
erals.

1889.
1890.
1891.
1892.
1893.
1894.
1895.
1896.
1897.
1898.
1899.
1900.
1901.
1902.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906.
1907.
1908.

65
65
75
65
59
55
54
53
60
67
C
O
62
62
63
62
63
63
62
69
70

86
82
81
84
85
80
78
73
79
77
79
So
85
87
84
83
87
89
88
89

75
70
71
69
75
65
62
59
52
51
53
54
46
41
44
50
52
46
48
48

..
73
77
72
66
61
62
05
68
65
69
67
67
66
68
69
G
9
72
72

75
S
O
76
' 71
68
64
62
63
66
70
92
108
89
82
82
81
87
101
107
89

Average:
1899-1908.
1S88-1S97.
187S-18S7.

64
62
79

86
81
95

48
66
76

68
70
84

92
70
73

It will thus be observed that as compared with 100 for 18531877, the grand total index number of world prices for 1889
was 72, and for 1899 to 1908 it was 72, a fall in prices due to
the demonetization of silver throughout the world.
It will also be observed that the index number for 1889 and
1905 was 72; for 1908 it was 73, thus indicating a singular
stability in the grand total of the world prices (London), since
1889, notwithstanding important intermediate variations.
Conceding that the volume of metallic money in the world,
together with the law of supply and demand o f other materials,
are the determining factors fixing the average o f world prices,
it Should irethat the wonderful inei-OiU*, in. tho output
o f modem machinery as applied to all classes o f products seems
to have been about equaled by the output of metallic money,
whose annual rate o f gold output has approximately doubled
since 1896.
This table also shows the effect upon world prices by the dis­
turbance o f commercial credits o f the world by financial panic;
the panic o f 1893 being followed by the lowest world prices in
a generation.
It would seem to follow that the lowering o f prices stimulated
purchases and exchanges and led to a corresixmding reaction.
The panic of 1907 was followed by an immediate reaction in
world prices.
It is important to point out that, notwithstanding the in­
creased output o f merchantable articles, the increase o f gold
89032— 8445

Tex­
tiles.

Sun­
dry
mate­
rials.

Total
mate­
rials.

Grand
total.

Sil­
ver.

Wheat
harvest.

Average
price of
consols.

70
66
59
57
59
53
52
51
51
51
58
66
C
O
71
66
71
72
80
77
62

68
69
69
67
68
64
65
63
62
63
65
71
71
71
69
67
68
74
78
73

70
71
68
65
65
60
60
60
59
61
70
S
O
72
71
72
72
75
83
86
74

72
72
72
68
68
63
62
61
62
64
68
75
70
69
69
70
72
77
80
73

70.2
78.4
74.1
65.4
58.6
47. 6
49.1
50.5
45.3
44 .3
45.1
46.4
44.7
39.6
40.7
43.4
45.7
50.7
49.6
40.1

103
106
108
91
90
106
91
116
100
120
113
99
106
113
104
93
113
116
117
111

98
961
95*
96}
981
101
106J
111
112}
111
107
991
94
94}
90}
S8}
831}
88}
84
86

67
59
71

71
66
81

75
65
70

72
67
79

44.6
61.0
82.1

109
101
97

92}
101}
99}

Average
Bank of
England
rate.

Per cent.
3,*,
4f t
3ft
2ft
3*
2ft
2
2ft
3}
3}
4
3}

It

3ft
3
4}
4ft
3

3ft

circulation available for the use o f the world markets has
been very large, and that this probably accounts for the sub­
stantial stability of world prices since 1889. These figures are
of intense interest when compared with the chauges in prices
which have taken place in the United States. Taking the
tables o f the Statistical Abstract o f 1907,- it will be seen that
middling cotton which was 11.07 cents in 1890 was 11.5 cents in
in 1906, having reached a very low price of 6.94 cents in
1894, just after the panic, and a still lower point o f 5.94 cents
in 1898, just after the Dingley bill passed: while standard
sheetings for 1890 was 7 cents, and 1906, 7.25 cents, reaching
a low point o f 5.11 coats in 1S94, just after the panic, and itslowest point, 4.2 cents, in 1898, just after the passage o f the
Dingley bill.
In like manner standard drillings and other cotton cloths
fluctuated similarly following the panic and following the
Dingley bill.
Mr. President, I now submit a table (No. 202) from the
Abstract of Our National Statistics (1907), giving the rela­
tive wholesale prices of raw and o f manufactured commodi­
ties of 1890 to 1906 and per cent o f Increase in prices for
1906 over prices for each preceding year; and also Table
203, giving the relative wholesale prices of commodities from
1890 to 1906 and the per cent o f increase in prices from
1906 over prices for each preceding year by group o f com­
modities.

23

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
Great increase in prices under Dingley A ct.
Relative wholesale prices
of raw and of manufactured commodities, 1890 to 1906, and per cent of
increase in prices for 1906 over prices for each preceding year.
Manufactured com­
modities.

Raw commodities.
Calendar year.

1890.
1891..
1892.
1893..
1894.
1895__
1896.
1897..
1898.
1899.
1900..
1901..
1902.
1903.
1904..
1905..
1906.

Rela­
tive
price.

Per cent of
increase in
1906 over
each preced­
ing.
9.5
8.3
16.7
20.6
35.1
37.3
49.9
43.7
33.9
18.9
12.5
13.0
2.9
2.6
5.2
3.9

Rela­
tive
price.

8.3
9.9
15.2
14.8
25.6
29.4
32.3
35.0
30.3
20.8
10.3
12.8
9.9
9.1
9.3
6.1

Per cent of
increase in
1906 over
each preced­
ing.

112.9
111.7
106.1
105.6
96.1
93.6
90.4
89.7
93.4
101.7
110.5
108.5
112.9
113.6
113.0
115.9
122.4

112.3
110.6
105.6
105.9
96.8
94.0
91.9
90.1
93.3
100.7
110.2
107.8
110.6
111.5
111.3
114.6
121.6

115.0
116.3
107.9
104.4
93.2
91.7
84.0
87.6
94.0
105.9
111.9
111.4
122.4
122.7
119.7
121.2
125.9

8.4
9.6
15.4
15.9
27.4
30.8
35.4
36.5
31.0
20.4
10.8
12.8
8.4
7.7
8.3
5.6

« ote.— From reports of the Bureau of Labor, Department of Com­
merce and Labor. This table summarizes wholesale prices of 258 staple
commodities. The commodities designated as “ Raw ” are such as are
marketed in their natural state and also such as have been subjected
t0 or>ly a preliminary manufacturing process; this group includes 50
articles. The commodities designated as “ Manufactured ” are such as
nave been subjected to more than a preliminary factory manipulation
and in which the manufacturing labor cost constitutes an important
element in the p rice; this group includes 208 articles. A relative price,
or index number, as it is technically called, of any article is the per cent
wnich the price of that article at any date is of the price of the same
article at a date or period which has been selected as the base or stand­
ard. The base selected by the Bureau of Labor for this compilation is
the average price for the ten-year period 1890 to 1899.
The relative prices
shown under each group are simple averages of the relatives of all ar­
ticles included within the group. Average price for 1 8 9 0 -1 8 9 9 = 1 0 0 .
E x h i b i t 0.
Relative wholesale prices o f commodities, 1S90 to 1906, and per cent of
increase in prices for 1906 over prices for each preceding year, by
groups of commodities.
Farm products.

Food, etc.

Per cent
Per cent
of in­
of in­
crease in
Relative
Relative crease in
1906 over
1906 over
price.
price.
each pre­
each pre­
ceding
ceding
year.
year.

Calendar year.

1890
1891
1892.
1893.
1894.
1895.
1896.
1897
1898
1899
1900.
1901.
1902.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906.
1907.

110.0
121.5
111.7
107.9
95.9
93.3
78.3
85.2
96.1
100.0
109.5
116.9
130.5
118.8
126.2
124.2
123.6

12.4
1.7
10.7
14.6
28.9
32.5
57.9
45.1
28.6
23.6
12.9
5.7
05.3
4.0
02.1
0.5

112.4
115.7
103.6

110.2
99.8
94.6
83.8
87.7
94.4
98.3
104.2
105.9
111.3
107.1
107.2
108.7
112. C

0.2
02.7
8.7

113.5
111.3
109.0
107.2
96.1
92.7
91.3
91.1
93.4
96.7
106.8
101.0
102.0
106.0
109. 8
112.0
120.0

Decrease.

89052— 8445




5.7
7.8
10.1
11.9
24.9
29.4
31.4
31.7
28.5
24.1
12.4
18.8
17.6
12.6
9.3
7.1

104.7
102.7
101.1
100.0
92.4
9a 1
104.3
96.4
95.4
105.0
120.9
119.5
134.3
149.3
132.6
128.8
129.5

13.4
21.0
27.5
34.3
49.1
47.0
44.3
56.1
56.5
17.9
12.2
20.8
15.4
15.0
23.4
10.4

111.8

108.4
102.8
101.9
96.3
94.1
93.4
90.4
95.8
105.8
115.7
116. 7
lia s
121.4
122. 7
127.7
140.1

25.3
29.2
36.3
37.5
45.5
48.9
50.0
55.0
46.2
32.4
21.1
20.1
17.9
15.4
14.2
9.G

House furnishing
goods.

Per cent
Per cent
of in­
of in­
crease in
crease in
Relative
Relative
1906 over
1906 over
price.
price.
each pre­
each pre­
ceding
ceding
year.
year.

Calendar year.

110.2

1890.
1891.
1892.
1893.
1894.
1895.
1896.
1S97.
1898.
1899.
1X0.
1901.
1902.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1906

103.6
102.9
100.5
89.8

8-7.9

92.6
94.4
106.6
111.3
115.7
115.2
114.2

112.6

110.0

109.1
101.2

0 8 .2
02.3
o l.7
12! 7
15.1
9.3
7.2
05.1
09.1
012.5

0 12.2

a ll.4
a 10.1

o8.0

“ 7.2

Miscellaneous.

111.1

110.2
106.5
104.9

100.1
96.5
94.0
89.8
92.0
95.1
106.1
110.9
112. 2
113.0
111.7
109.1

111.0

00.
.7
4.2
5.8
10.9
15.0
18.1
23.6
20.7
10.7
4.6

.1

01. 1
0 1. 8

o. 6
1.7

All commodities.

Per cent
Per cent
of in­
of in­
crease in Relative crease in
Relative
1906 over
1906 over
price.
price.
each pre­
each pre­
ceding
ceding
year.
year.

Calendar year.

8.1

1.2

5.1
5.0
3.6

23.7
26.1
28.1
29.5
40.2
32.0
24.2
34.3
35.7
23.3
7.1
8.4
“ 3.6
“ 13.3
“ 2.3
.5

119.2
111.7
106.0
100.7
90.7
92.0
93.7
86.6
86.4
114.7
120.5
111.9
117.2
117.6
109.6
122.5
135.2

Drugs and chem­
icals.

6.3

Per cent
Percent
of in­
of in­
crease in
Relative
Relative crease in
1906 over
1906 over
price.
price.
each proeach precoding
year.
year.

1890..........................
1891................................................................
1892......................................................................
1893......................................................................
1894......................................................................
1895......................................................................
1896......................................................................
1897......................................................................
1898.....................................................................
1899.....................................................................
1900......................................................................
1901......................................................................
1902......................................................................
1903......................................................................
1904.....................................................................
1905......................................................................
1906......................................................................

1890.....................................................................
1891
.................................
1892.....................................................................
1893.....................................................................
1894.....................................................................
1895.....................................................................
1896.....................................................................
1897.....................................................................
1898.....................................................................
1899.....................................................................
1900.....................................................................
1901.....................................................................
1902.....................................................................
1903.....................................................................
1904.....................................................................
1905.....................................................................
1900
............................................

2.2

Cloths and clothing. Fuel and lighting.

Lumber and build­
ing materials.

Per cent
Per cent
of in­
of in­
crease in Relative crease in
Relative 1906 over
1906 over
price.
price.
each pre­
each pre­
ceding
ceding
year.
year.

Calendar year.

12.8

19.0
34.4
28.4
19.3
14.5

117.8

Calendar year.

Metals and imple­
ments.

All commodities.

Per cent of
increase in
1906 over
each preced­
ing.

Rela­
tive
price.

Relative wholesale prices o f commodities, 1890 to 1906, etc.— Continued.

1890.....................................................................
.............................................................................
.............................................................................
.............................................................................
1894.....................................................................
1
..........................................................
1890.....................................................................
1897.....................................................................
1898
..............................................................
1899.....................................................................
1900.....................................................................

110.3
109.4
106.2
105.9
99.8
94.5
91.4
92.1
92.4
97.7
109. 8

9.8
10.7
14.0
14.4
21.3
28.1
22. 5
31.5
31.1
24.0
10.3

112.9
111.7

1902......................................................................
1903.....................................................................
1904.....................................................................
1905.....................................................................
1906.....................................................................

114.1
113.6
111.7
112.8
121.1

6 .1

112.9

6.6
a4
7.4

113.6
113.0
115.9
122.4

m i
105.6
96.1
93.0
90.4
S9.7
93.4
101.7
110.5

8.4
9.6
15.4
15.9
27.4
30.8
35.4
36.5
31.0
20.4
10.8
8 .4
7 .7
8 .3
5 .6

• Decrease.

N ote .— From reports of the Bureau of Labor. Department of Com­
merce and Labor. The group farm products includes 16 com m odities;
food, etc., 53 : cloths and clothing, 75 ; fuel and lighting, 1 3 ; metals and
implements, 3 8 ; lumber and building material, 27 ; drugs and chemicals,
9 ; house furnishing goods, 1 4 ; and the miscellaneous group, 1 3 . Aver­
age price for 1 8 9 0 - 1 8 9 9 = 1 0 0 .

I also submit Dun’s tables showing the varations in prices in
the United States.
It should be kept clearly in mind that the federal census is, to
a very appreciable degree, influenced by the manufacturing
industries of the country favorably to themselves, and this dif-

1




CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

m

ference is demonstrated by Dun’s tables, which show the increase
o f prices to be much larger in the United States than as shown
by Census Abstract Tables 202 and 203:
Leading classes of necessary articles of daily consumption— Prices, at
primary markets, from July 1, 1860, to M a y 1, 1907.
[Index number, from Dun’s Review.]

Breadstuffs. Meats.

Date.

July 1—
1860............................
1861............................
1862...........................
1863...........................
1864...........................
1865............................
1866...........................
1867...........................
1868...........................
1 8 69.........................
1870............................
1871............................
1872...........................
1873...........................
1874...........................
1875...........................
1876...........................
1877...........................
1878...........................
1879...........................
1880...........................
1 8 8 1 ................
1882...........................
1883...........................
1884...........................
1 8 8 5 ................
1886...........................
1 8 8 7 ................
1888...........................
1889.........................
1890.........................
1891........................
1892...........................
1893......................
1894................
189o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1897—January 1 . . ” ] " ’
July (low ).. ”
1898—JiuiUiify 1 . . . . . . . .
July 1.............
July 1....................
1900—January 1.........
July 1..................
1901—January 1.............
July 1 . . . . . . . . . . . .
1902—January 1.............
July 1....................
1903—January 1.............
July 1....................
1904—January 1.............
July 1....................
1905—January 1.............
July 1....................
1906—January 1.............
July 1....................
1907 January 1.............
May 1....................

Dairy
and Other Cloth­
food.
ing.
gar­
den.

Dolls.
20.530
15.749
18.057
26.154
45.616
25.461
31.471
36.537
38.416
29.116
25.322
24.809
22.171
20.460
25.657
24.848
18.777
21.812
15.672
17.054
17.461
20.369
25.494
19.018
17.871
16.370
15.311
15.156
16.984
14.351
14.867
19.782
17.426
14.963
15.115
14.765
10.564
11.729
10.587
13.511
12.783
13.816
13. 483
13.254
14.898
14.486
14.904
20.002
20.534
17.104
17. 473
17.102
18.244
18.278
18.831
16. 554
17.923
16.079
18.165

Dolls.
12.662
10.813
13.406
13.530
26.053
18.049
23.472
18.418
23.614
18.121
16.112
20.799
16.019
15.629
19.142
14.918
15.912
11.790
10.608
10.253
12.594
11.311
14.685
12.250
11.369
10.872
10.241
11.188
11,849
9.695
10.711
12.455
10.403
11.710
10.394
9.874
7.872
10.456
8.714
12.371
9.437
11. 458
10.974
13.702
10.901
15.556
11.030
15.248
12.557
14. 613
13.083
15.287
10.648'
13.948
9.982
14.399
12.590
14.965
14. 461

Dolls.
8.973
7.485
7.150
10.115
15.685
16.112
17.153
14.278
13.210
13.181
14.161
12.177
11.055
10.114
11.560
13.287
10.726
10.036
8.181
8.239
9.230
11.381
13.740
11.210
11.172
9.205
8.906
8.667
9.416
8.244
8.036
9.217
8.700
10.135
9.389
8.622
7.058
7.327
7.529
7.336
7.694
7.520
7.988
7.258
8.906
8.407
9.430
9.670
11.628
9.522
9.269
8.138
9.033
7.950
8.614
8.426
9.677
9.350
9.641

Dolls.
8.894
7.653
10.987
16.359
27.303
21.057
20.821
20.167
19.720
16.347
13.308
13.823
14.845
13.625
13.678
14.418
12.914
13.321
11.346
9.884
11.539
11.663
11.627
10.726
9.323
8.712
8.570
9.252
9.917
10.912
9.749
9.339
8.733
9.188
8.478
8.689
8.529
8.170
7.887
8.312
8.826
9.096
9.157
9.200
9.482
9. 504
9.086
8.952
8.748
9.418
9.186
9.653
10.406
10.699
9.922
9.822
9.645
9.760
9.824

Dolls.
22.439
21.147
28.413
45.679
73.485
49.307
45.377
38.169
35.694
35.309
31.480
30.624
32.427
29.411
27.260
25.318
21.747
21.850
19.836
20.420
21.984
20.982
21.202
20.209
19.014
17.740
18.063
18.174
17.447
17.107
17.264
16.501
15.648
15.871
13.860
15.315
13.602
12. 407
13. 808
14.654
14.663
14.150
15.021
17. 484
16.324
16.024
15.098
15. 547
15.533
15.938
17.136
17.316
16. 514
16.319
17.986
19.313
19.177
19.637
20.098

Met­
als.

Dolls.
25.851
22.500
23.207
37.079
59. L
92
38.956
41.762
35.426
27.385
28.355
26.612
27. 371
32.643
32.298
25.254
23.515
20.152
15.578
15.789
15.149
18.?08
19.295
19.832
18.171
16.272
14.132
14.166
16.035
15.366
14.782
15.506
15.107
14.827
14.030
12.015
11.021
13.232
13.014
11.642
11.572
11.343
11.843
15.635
18.085
14. .834
15.810
15.344
15.375
16.084
17.185
16.544
15.887
15.428
16.188
15.916
17.141
16.649
18 087
17.524

Mis­
cella­ Total.
neous.

Dolls.
15.842
16.573
17.290
24.264
31.653
25.551
27.922
25.529
24.786
24.201
21.786
21.907
21.319
21.355
19.582
18.398
15.951
15.160
14.836
16.286
17.139
16.900
16.650
15.764
14.685
13.666
13.669
15.153
14.155
14.600
15.416
13.691
14.252
14.716
14.041
13.233
13.520
12.399
12.288
12.184
12.522
12. 540
12.969
16.312
16.070
15.881
16.617
16.793
16. 826
16. 578
16.765
16.759
16.919
16.936
17.061
18.809
19. 555
19.386
19.242

Dolls.
115.101
101.920
118.510
173.180
278.987
194.436
207.978
188.524
182.825
164.630
148.781
151.510
150.479
143.089
143.133
134.702
116.479
109.547
96.268
97.285
108.655
111.901
123.230
107.248
99.706
90.697
89.226
93.624
95.134
89.691
91.549
96.092
90.105
90.613
83.292
81.519
74.317
75.502
72. 455
79.940
77.768
80.423
85.227
95.295
91. 415
95.668
91.509
101. 587
101.910
100.356
99. 4.56
100.142
97.192
100.318
98.312
104. 464
105.216
107.264
108.955

—

N ote .— In the above table the course of prices of commodities is
shown, and in each case the price is multiplied by the annual per capita
consumption, which precludes any one commodity having more than its
proper weight in the aggregate. Breadstuff's include many quotations
of wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, beans, and p e ase ; meats include live
hogs, beef, sheep, and many provisions, lard, tallow, e t c .; dairy and
garden products embrace eggs, vegetables, fruits, milk, butter, cheese,
e t c .; other food includes fish, liquors, condiments, sugar, rice, tobacco,
e t c .; clothing covers the raw material of each industry, and many quo­
tations of woolen, cotton, silk, and rubber goods, an well as hides,
leather, boots, and sh o es; metals include various quotations of pig iron
and partially manufactured and finished products, as well as the minor
metals, tin, lead, copper, etc., and coal and petroleum ; miscellaneous
includes many grades of hard and soft lumber, laths, l rick, lime, glass,
tu r p e n tin e ,

n e tn p ,

tin se e d o t i,

paints^- I t r t l l l w i oy n

n * etwugs. — l w i t i n t

decimal is given for accuracy of comparison.

There thus appears by Dun’s more accurate tables an in­
crease from 1896 to May 1, 1907, o f 46.7 per cent on total aver­
age o f prices of 1896, and on clothing the increase from January
1, 1897, to May 1, 1907, was 69 per cent, and on miscellaneous
articles was 55 per cent.
The two tables from our own census contain overwhelming
evidence o f the injurious results of the Dingley bill upon labor;
it shows, for example, Mr. President, that prices have been in­
creased on raw commodities 25.9 per cent over the average
prices from 1890 to 1900, and 49.9 per cent over the prices o f raw
commodities under the Wilson bill.
89032— 8445

Our prices were already in 1906 much higher than in Europe,
so that these increases are the more striking.
Mr. President, do not the manufacturing classes themselves
see that such an enormous raise in prices of raw commodities
is injurious both to their domestic and foreign trade? Do they,
not see it necessarily limits the consumption of the people,
whose little salaries are fixed, whose little pension can not be
increased in dollars and cents, whose purchasing power is lim­
ited to a fixed wage, a wage not exceeding, among the manu­
facturing laboring classes, $160 per annum per capita ?
The obvious result is to restrict consumption o f goods, limit
the output of goods, lower the factory output, and limit the
demand for labor.
Mr. President, in like manner the increase of manufactured
commodities in price, including a group o f 208 articles, has
been 35 per cent since the lower prices under the Wilson bill
and an increase of 36.5 per cent upon all commodities above the
more reasonable prices under the Wilson bill.
What corresponding increase of wages has labor received?
Their wages are relatively less than they were ten years ago,
both in relation to the output of labor and in relation to the
purchasing power of the wage received; and the demand for
labor has been necessarily diminished by preventing the con­
sumption of manufactured and other commodities, because o f
prices which could not be paid out of the limited number o f
dollars the ordinary American has received. Such a policy is
injurious to the manufacturer, to the wage-earner, to the com­
mon citizen consumer, to the business men o f the entire Nation,
and to our national growth and development.
And differentiating these increases of prices, it will be seen by
Table 203 that the prices of 1906 for food are 34 per cent higher
than they were in 1896 under the Wilson bill; the cloths and.
clothing have increased 31.4 per cent above the prices of 1S96
under the Wilson b ill; that fuel and lighting have increased
40 per cent since 1894 under the Wilson bill; that metals and
metal implements have increased 56 per cent above the prices
under the Wilson b ill; that lumber and building material have
increased 55 per cent over the prices under the Wilson b ill;
that house furnishings have increased 23.6 per cent above the
lower prices o f the Wilson bill; and miscellaneous articles o f
various kinds have increased 32.5 per cent above the more
reasonable prices of the Wilson bill. Are the American people
utterly oblivious to these striking and conclusive facts?
It is perfectly obvious from Sauerbeck tables of the prices
o f the world and from Dunn’s table of American (United
States) prices that American (United States) prices have in­
creased far beyond European prices since the low price of 1S96,
notwithstanding American (United States) prices were then
much higher than they were in Europe. It therefore follows,
beyond question, that the purchasing power of American wages,
even of the starvation wages paid in the cotton and woolen mills,
has been lowered in such a way as to greatly harm the Amer­
ican workmen, even in protected industries, and has harmed
equally the entire American people, workmen, consumers gener­
ally, and even the manufacturers, who are severely taxing each
other by high prices—the finished product o f the one being
the raw material of the other. The only people who have a net
profit are those who own and control the successful monopolies.
Is the Finance Committee so committed to the demands of
the representatives o f organized greed in this country that
they will refuse to deal justly by the American people?
Or do they believe that by making the rich richer and the
poor poorer they will receive adequate political benefit at the
hands of those whom they enrich?
I know, Mr. President, that it has been easy to finance Re­
publican campaigns, and I know many good men have not
stopped to think that this money was extorted from the misery
and sweat o f helpless men, women, and children.
Members o f the Senate do not often visit the sweat shops;
n«r <K Ttoey
»

hw.ow *uu diRmnw of iko individuals'

who compose the weaker elements of our great Nation. I
remind them that 500,000 die annually by our neglect, as shown
by the comparison between the death rate o f New Zealand
and Australia, where better laws prevail, where the maxim of
the law is “ Better reduce want than increase wealth.”
Mr. President, I feel charged with a solemn duty to make a
record before the Senate o f these conditions, and I deem it a
great opportunity to have the privilege o f submitting a prayer
to the leaders of the Senate that they do not be unmindful or
inconsiderate o f the need and the rights of the inarticulate
mass, and that they do not lend too complacent attention to the
trained advocates of unsatisfied greed.

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

25

Senator Orville H. Platt, the late distinguished Senator from T able I.— Showing differences in discounts between export and home
prices.
Connecticut, once said, in substance, in commenting on the faults
of the American legislator, that “ The American legislator should [By James G. Parsons, Senate Document No. 54, Sixty-first Congress,
first session.]
not be charged with incompetency. As a rule, he is fairly well
qualified; neither can he be justly charged with dishonesty.
Per
There are a few who may be dishonest, perhaps, but they do
Export discount Home discount cent
Articles and description.
differ­
from list.
from list.
not exercise any control of legislation. The fault of the Ameri­
ence.
can legislator is *good-fellowship ’ and doing for a friend
what under no other circumstances would the legislator for a
Per cent.
Per cent.
moment consider. For that reason,” said he, “ I deem it the Auger bits:
Irwin’s solid center...................
39
50 and 10
60,10, and 10
highest legislative virtue to be cross and crabbed to all the
334
60
Snell’s...................................................
70
world, especially in the last ten days of the session.”
39
Snell’s “ King” ...................................
50
60 and 10
handles, Gunn’s No. 5, adjustIt will be thus seen that, from Sauerbeck’s tables, the increase Auger and ratchet..........................
able
18
15 and 10
35
of the world prices has been much lower than the increases of Bells, Texas cow.......................................
11
50
50 and 10
prices in the United States, and that this difference must be Bird cages, Hendryx’s brass.................
40
30
50
Bolt clippers, “ New Easy” ....................
18
50,10, and 10
60,10, and 5
accounted for in some reasonable manner.
The most natural way in which to account for it is to show Bolts:
Carriage, | by 6 inches and smaller.
25
75 and 10
80 and 10
that the prices in the United States are artificially controlled
Machine, | by 4 inches and smaller.
19
75,10, and 5
80 and 10
17
Tire......................................................
80
80,10, and 5
by monopoly.
Borers, bunghole, Enterprise.................
27
25
40 and 2
And this average high increase must he interpreted in the light Braces:
Fray’s genuine “ SpofTords” ...........
33]
60
70
of a great offset of the lowering of prices of all products pro­
Fray’s ratchet, Nos. 81-161..............
50
39
C and 10
O
duced by the American people of which monopoly controls the
Fray’s ratchet, Nos. 83-143..............
39
50
60 and 10
Fray’s ratchet, Nos. 62-142..............
price. For example, crude oil is produced by Oklahoma in vast
50
66]
70
Fray’s ratchet, Nos. 66-166..............
50
39
G and 10
O
quantities—approximately 50,000,000 barrels per annum—which
Fray’s sleeve, Nos. 207-214...............
54
50
60,10, and 10
sells for less than 1 cent a gallon, while the refined product
Fray’s sleeve, Nos. 407-414..............
39
50
60 and 10
Fray’s sleeve, Nos. 606-614..............
50
39
retails for over 11 cents a gallon. It costs half a cent a gallon
60 and 10
306-314................
664
50
70
to refine it. The low price is fixed by the Standard on the Can Fray’s plain, Nos................................
openers, “ King”
0
33]
25
crude and the high price is fixed by the Standard on the refined. Cartridges, rim fire....................................
64
50
60,10,10, and 6
11
And the increase o f all prices is in the face o f the vital fact Chains, kennel...........................................
C
O
60 and 10
Enterprise...........................
11
20 and 25
40 and 10
that monopoly fixes an extremely low price on the articles Coffee mills, and hangers, Lane’s...........
Door rollers
17
60 and 10
60,10,10, and 5
produced by the people o f which the monopoly controls the Gauges, Disston’s steel and center........
12
25,7], and 10
45
price. The average high price would he far higher except for Harness snaps:
Covert’s “ Trojan” .............................
33]
50 and 10
40
the very low price fixed by monopoly on its purchases, as on
Covert’s “ Y ankee” ...........................
37
50
30 and 2
crude oil. This is not only true with regard to oil, but also is
Covert’s “ Derby” .............................
39
25
true with regard to cattle, hogs, sheep, hides, wool, various Lawn sprinklers, Enterprise..................
40 and 2
30
19
11
40 and 5
33] and 5
minerals, tobacco, and so forth. This low price o f articles Levels, Starrett’s bench and pocket___
Oilstones, “ Lily White” and “ Wabought by monopoly prevented the general average from reach­
shita” No. 1 - .- ......................................
50
33]
33]
72
60 and 10
ing the high point which they would otherwise reach in the Plumbs, levels, etc., Disston’s............... 70,10,10,10, and 5
Sausage stuflers, Enterprise...................
18
40 and 2
25 and 74
statistical tables is a factor of great importance.
Saws:
__ ___
Without regard to statistics, everybody knows that the prices
Disston’s Nos. 7,107, 107], 3, and 1.
45 and 7]
30 and 74
27
Disston’s combination......................
45 and 7]
30 and 7]
27
are now very much higher than they have ever been.
Disston’s Nos. 12,16, D 8 ,120,76,8..
40 and 10
25 and 7]
28
The schedules o f this bill are approximately 50 per cent on
Disston’s compass and keyhole___
40 and 10
28
25 and 74
the value of proposed imports and this is proof that the prices
Disston’s butcher...............................
40
50
30
Disston’s framed wood.....................
50
25
50
in the United States are 50 per cent higher than they are in
Disston’s band....................................
70,10, and 10
60
65
Europe and abroad on the articles of these schedules by the Scroll saws, Barnes’s velocipede............
20
14
30
70,10,10, and 10
70
37
open confession of the managers o f this bill, and I therefore do Screw-driver s.Disston’s electric............
40 and 10
25 and 74
Smoked beef shavers, Enterprise.........
28
not need to furnish further proof of this matter as the schedules
confess that the prices in this country are approximately 50 Squares:
60 and 10
72
70,10,10,10, and 5
Disston’s try, rosewood handle___
45
25,7$, and 10
13
Disston’s steel.....................................
per cent higher than they are abroad on articles affected by the
33]
Traps, Lovell’s rat and mouse...............
50
331
present tariff law.
Trowels, Disston’s brick..........................
25
45 and 7]
47
Mr. President, it is of great importance to observe these dif­ Vises:
60
Armstrong’s plain and hinged........
80 and 10
122
ferences between our present prices and the increase o f our
Armstrong’s pipe...............................
50
60
25
present prices as compared with the increase of the prices of
30 and 10
26
50
Bonney’s..............................................
the world, because it thus enables us to determiue to what ex­
tent local conditions have raised our prices above the level of
T able I I .— Showing difference between export and home prices of certain
the prices o f the world.
specified articles.
world prices and prices in th e united sta te s — r is e in prices in
t iie united states not due to increase in per capita circula ­
t io n .

At first thought it might occur to some one that the higher
prices in the United States were due to the larger per capita
circulation, but this conclusion is impossible because, while our
Per capita circulation December 31, 1900 (Statistical Abstract,
1907, Table 269), was $33.99 per capita, France had a per capita
of $40.88 and Germany $25.03 and the British Empire $28.12,
with no substantial differences in competitive prices at London,
thus exhibiting the interesting fact that this enormous increase
o f prices in the United States, and the fact that United States
prices are much higher than the level of world prices, is not
due to our increased circulating medium, but is due to the
monopolies in this country which have for commercial purpose
raised these prices in America far above the prices in the mar­
kets of the world.
That these high prices are not necessary for the maintenance
o f a reasonable profit is shown by the table o f lower prices at
which these same American goods are sold abroad by the pro­
tected monopolies in this country.
A few o f these prices are submitted to prove that the prices
in the United States under monopoly will average 50 per cent
higher than in the markets o f the w orld :
As evidence o f this I submit a table from James G. Parsons
showing the differences in discounts between export and home
prices.
89032— 8445------ 4




Articles and description.

Export Home
price.
price.

Auger bits:
Irwin’s solid center, 4-1G......................................... per doz.. $1.30
Irwin’s solid center, 1G-1G............................................. do___
2.92
Auger handles, Gunn’s No. 5..............................................do—
9.75
Bird cages, Hendryx's No. 316........................................... do___ 13.00
Bolt clippers, “ Easy” and “ New Easy,” No. 1........... each..
1.71
Bolts:
Carriage, | by 6 inches.............................................. per 100..
.60
Machine, | by 4 inches.................................................. do___
.57
Tire, 1 by Gimflicr.. . . . .................................................do___
. 65
Braces:
Fray’s genuine “ Spoflord,” No. 107.....................per doz..
6.30
Fray’s ratchet, No. 81................................................... do___ 10. 44
Fray’s ratchet, No. 62...................................................do____ a 90
Fray’s sleeve, No. 207....................................................do___
7.13
Fray’s sleeve, No. 606................................................... do___
7.56
Fray's plain, No. 306..................................................... do—
3.60
.74
Bunghole borers, Enterprise, No. 1...................................do___
Can openers, “ King” ................................................... per gross..
4.50
Coflee mills, Enterprise, No. 1........................................... each..
1.22
Files. Nicholson’s:
Mill and round bastard, 3 to 4 inch...................... per doz..
.40
Mill and round bastard 5-inch.................................... do___
.48
Mill and round bastard, 6-inch................................... do___
.59
Flat bastard, 3 to 4 Inch............................................... do___
.40
Flat bastard, 5-inch....................................................... do___
.48
Flat bastard, 6-inch....................................................... do___
.59
Flat bastard, 7-inch....................................................... do___
.75
Flat bastard, 8-inch....................................................... do___
.88
Flat bastard, 9-inch....................................................... do___
1.01

Dif­
fer­
ence.

$1.80
4.05
11.48
18.20
2.03

P.ct.
39
39
18
40
18

.75
.68
.76

25
19
17

8. 40
14.50
11.50
11.00
10.50
6.00
.94
6.00
1.35

33]
39
66]
54
39
66]
27
33]
11

.64
.68
.75
.79
.83
.92
1.03
1.13
1.35

60
45
27
98
73
56
37
28
34




CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

26
T

able

II .— Shoicing difference between export and home prices o f certain
specified articles— Continued.

Articles and description.

Files. Nicholson’s—Continued.
Flat bastard, 11-inch......................................... ___ per doz..
Flat bastard, 13-inch........................................ ........... do----Square bastard, 3 to 4 inch............................. ........... do___
Square bastard, 5-inch.....................................
Square bastard, 6-inch.....................................
Square bastard, 7-inch..................................... ........... do___
Sauare bastard, 8-inch.....................................
Square bastard, 9-inch......................................
Square bastard, 10-inch....................................
Square bastard, 11-inch....................................
Square bastard, 12-inch....................................
Square bastard, 13-inch...................................
Gauges:
Disston’s combined steel................................. ........... each..
Disston’s center.................................................
Harness snaps:
“ Trojan,” 1* loop............................................
“ Yankee,” IJIoop............................................
“ Derby,” No. 733..............................................
Lamp chimneys:
Macbeth’s No. 502..............................................
Macbeth’s No. 504..............................................
Lawn sprinklers, Enterprise, No. 2 .....................
Levels. Starrett’s 24-inch bench............................
Plumbs and levels, Disston, No. 12.....................
Pocketknife and tool kit, Ulery’s ........................
Kifles:
Stevens’s “ Little Scout,” No. 14...................
Stevens’s “ Maynard Jr.,” No. 14................. ........... do----Stevens’s No. 16................................................
Stevens’s “ Little Krag,” No. 65.................... ........... do___
Stevens’s “ Favorite” ......................................
Sausage stuffers, Enterprise, No. 5 ..................
........... d o ....
Saws:
Disston’s hand, 30-inch, No. 7.............
Disston’s hand, 30-inch, No. 16.........
___ t. .do___
Disston’s combination. No. 43........
........... do___
Disston’s butcher. 24-inch, No. 7 . . .
........... do___
Disston’s framed wood, No. 60. .
........... do___
Disston’s band, 2-inch, 18-gauge.................... -----per foot..
Barnes’s combined scroll and circular
Screws, flat-head iron wood:
Size, 4 inch, Nos. 1 to 4............................
Size, 3 inch, Nos. 1 to 4............
Size, * inch, Nos. 1 to 3 ..............
Size, f inch, No. 4......................
Size, | inch, No. 4........................
Screws, flat-head brass wood:
Size j inch, No. 1 ......................
Size, |inch, No. 0 .................
........... do___
Size, * inch, No. 6....................
........... do___
Size, 1 inch, No. 6......................
Size, t inch, No. 0...............
Screws, round-head iron wood:
Size, * inch, No. 1........................
........... do___
Size, I inch, No. 6........................
Size, 1* inches, No. 10...........
........... do___
Size, 2 inches, No. 16.................
Size, 3 inches, No. 18...........
Screws, round-head brass wood:
Size, 1 inch, No. 1......................
Size, i inch, No. 6..........................
Size, 1* inches, No. 10...............
........... do___
Size, 2 inches, No. 16..................
Size 3 inches, No. 18.....................
........... do___
Screw-drivers, Disston’s electric, 12-inch
Shoe dressing:
Whittemore’s “ Gilt Edge” ..............
Whittemore’s “ Baby Elite” ..........
Shotguns:
Stevens’ No. 105........................................
Stevens’ No. 107.........................................
Stevens’ No. 225.............................................
Sinoked-beef shavers, Enterprise’s No. 23___
........... do___
Squares:
Disston’s trv, rosewood, 10-inch, No. 1.......
Disston’s steel, 4-inch.......................................
Traps, Lovell’s mouse and rat, metallic.............
Trowels, Disston’s brick, S-inch, No. 1................
Vises:
Armstrong’s hinged, No. 1.............................. ........... each..
>er
Bonney’s No. 112................................................ ___ T doz..
Watches:
Elgin movement, 20-vear gold-filled case. . . ........... each..
Elgin movement, silveroid case.....................
Wrenches, Hawkeye “ 5 in 1” ................................ ..per doz___

Dif­
Export Home fer­
price.
price.
ence.

$1.51
2.11
.40
.48
.59
.75
.88
1.01
1.20
1.51
1.82
2.11

$1.84
2.52
.81
.88
.98
1.09
1.18
1.41
1.58
1.94
2.18
2.67

P.ct.
22
19
102
83
66
45
34
40
25
29
20
27

.55
.17

.62
.19

12
12

2.70
2.90
2.70

3.60
3.98
3.75

33*
37
39

.40
.50
1.76
1.28
5.82
1.15

.68
.82
2.10
1.42
10.08
1.50

70
64
19
11
72
30

1.35
1.80
2.00
2.50
3.47
2.20

1.75
2.20
2.60
3.00
4.50
2.61

30
22
30
20
30
18

13.74
15.39
15.26
8.50
6.00

17.48
19.98
19.42
11.90
9.00
.26
32.00

27
28
27
40
50
€5
14

28.00
.084
.034
.034
.038
.04

.073
.073
.073
.076
.079

SO 072
.
.084
. 064
.096
.108

$0,136
.195
.211
.227
.251

89
132
151
136
132

.034
.06
. 10
.228
.412

.087
.112
.17
.378
.07

87
70
66
63

.072
.16
.336
.768
1.24
1.36

.168
.329

133
106
131

3.646
1.86

194
37

1.20
.60

.67

46
12

2.80
3.00
8.67
4.32

4.25
4.50
9.75
5.55

52
50
12
28

1.66
1.16
5.50
4.07

2.88
1.46
7.33
6.00

72
13
33*
47

1.8*

4.00
JLM
2.84

2.25,

115
115
115
100
97*

122
26

deny to Americans, of whose patriotic self-sacrifice they take
wrongful advantage.
Protection’s favors to foreigners is strongly set forth in Senate
Document No. 54, Sixty-first Congress, first session, prepared
by James G. Parsons, and submitted by me to the Senate, and to
which I refer for the most abounding evidence for the truth of
my contention—that this bill and its immediate predecessors,
the Dingley bill and the McKinley bill, were written under the
color of serving the American laborer, when, in point of fact, it
has done nothing of the kind, but, on the contrary, favors the
foreigner at the expense of the American.
The defense of this indecent practice has been abundantly
answered in Document 54, and I shall not take the time to fur­
ther comment upon it.
A similar table, showing that our prices are 50 per cent higher
than world prices, is submitted (Exhibit 12), prepared by Byron
W. Holt, o f New York.
Our great agricultural products have their prices fixed by the
markets o f the world, except where freight prevents.
The price of corn per bushel was 55 cents in 1892 and 53 cents
in 1906, and wheat was 93 cents in 1891 and 82 cents in 1906,
and exported cattle in 1891, $81.25, and $93.17 in 1906 under
improved methods of feeding and transportation, while cotton
was 10 cents in 1890 and 11 cents in 1906.
We have a right to expect cheapening of manufactured prod­
ucts because of the constant increasing improvements in ma­
chinery— and in this we are disappointed— and a rise in the
price o f agricultural products produced from an area necessarily
limited, and in this we are not gratified.
The prohibitive tariff has increased the cost of living of the work­
man and of every other person in the United States, and, therefore,
has diminished the purchasing poiccr o f the xcagcs received.

I have submitted Table No. 202, Abstract of Census, 1907, page
577, which shows that raw commodities have increased since
the Dingley bill went into effect 49.9 per cent, manufacturers’
commodities have increased 32.3 per cent up to 1906, and all
commodities have increased 35.4 per cent up to 1906, and still
higher in 1909.
Mr. President, I now submit Tables 197 and 206, which show
in detail the increase of price o f food products, showing lard
to have increased, since 1896, 3S per cent, corn meal 29 per cent,
fresh pork 41 per cent, salt pork 55 per cent (Statistical Ab­
stract of Census, 1907), and similar increases in other things
required by the consumer.
LABOR I S

H ARM ED BY T H E SE H IG H

T R IC E S .

Mr. President, it is obvious that the laboring man who re­
ceives a fixed wage, or the laboring woman who receives a
given number o f dollars, whether in the factory, on the farm,
in the mine, in the forest, or in domestic service, by an increase
o f 34 per cent in the price of all articles to be bought with
wages received will be required to pay $134 to buy the same
amount o f goods which cost $100 in 1896 under the Wilson bill.
This means the equivalent of a flat loss o f 25 per cent o f the
narrow wages received by the working people, and shows that
the results o f this tariff have been seriously injurious to the
working people, because o f these artificial prices.
n iG H

P R IC E S IN J U R IO U S TO SA L A R IE D P EO PL E.

Under these high prices it would take, in 1906, $1,354 to buy
as much as $1,000 bought in 1896; in other words, a salaried
man who received a salary of $1,354 in 1896 could save out of
it $354, but to buy the same things in 1906 would take his en­
tire salary of $1,354, and leave him nothing saved.
The effect o f these high prices on the salaried man is to
diminish the purchasing power of his salary 25 per cent.
This is the probable reason why Congress raised the salaries
o f Members of Congress and of Senators 50 per cen t; it was to
keep the Senators and Members of Congress from suffering the
injury which the Dingley bill inflicted on the balance o f the
country.
H I G H P R IC E S A R E IN J U R IO U S TO T H E M A N U FA CTU RER S.

High prices on raw material (and one manufacturer’s raw
material is the finished product of another manufacturer) has
the effect o f making it more difficult for American manufac­
turers to compete in the markets of the world, because their
first cost on this very account is heavier than would be the
(Senate Document No. 54, Sixty-first Congress, first session.)
case with their foreign competitors.
Our manufacturers do compete, however, on a considerable
It is thus seen that our own manufacturers, to obtain the
protection from foreign competition, not only do nert give Ameri­ scale, because of the greater efficiency of the American work­
can consumers the low prices they are entitled to, but they man and of American invention and improved processes, and
give all the benefit to foreigners. These tables demonstrate because of rebates in foreign material bought and reshipped in
that the pretense o f high tariff to protect themselves against manufactures.
In this way a market is afforded foreign material and denied
the cheap labor o f Europe is false; that our manufacturers can
compete and do compete in the open markets of the world, our own materials unless they compete with foreign material
and that they actually do give to foreigners the benefits they at world prices.
890 3 2 — 8445 '

7.98
3.04
3.60

10.23
4. 47
4.50

28
47
25

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

27

But if the manufacturers could obtain a uniform cost of pronounced the so-called “ trust ” an unlawful combination.
material 35 per cent less than it is now our commerce would be The reason why it was unlawful was because it violated the
greatly multiplied, the activity o f our factories wonderfully common law of the English-speaking people. It violated the
stimulated, all o f America’s laboring elements would be em­ common law, which holds as void any contract in restraint of
ployed, and the productive energies of the Nation brought to trade. The common law of our States holds a man is entitled
to buy at a price fixed in a free competitive market, and that
the highest degree o f activity and efficiency.
I f lower prices should prevail, tee tcould avoid the evil of any restraint of trade denying the citizen this common-law
right is a fraud upon him. The present tariff laic and the
underconsumption and need have no fear of overproduction.
The percentage of weekly earnings, retail prices, and the proposed lata is conspicuously guilty of this sin, although its
weekly earnings as measured by retail prices is shown by the error has not yet been declared by the courts. A test case should
be brought.
Bureau of Labor bulletin, July, 1905:
Indeed it is a form o f robbery under the color of law and
carried on under the safeguards of organized society; it is a
Weekly
earnings
fraud to impose a prohibitive tax under the pretense of raising
W eekly
as meas­
Retail
earnings
revenue, but in reality to protect monopoly. It is a species
per em­
prices.
ured by
of immoral conspiracy which ought not to be endured by any
retail
ployee.
prices.
nation of intelligent and liberty-loving men.
The contracts putting the control of the stock of competing
companies in the hands of a “ trustee,” being the first form in
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.
1890.
101.0
102.4
98.6 which organized monopoly became conspicuously bad, has led
1891.
100.8
103.8
97.1 to the term “ trust ” being loosely and incorrectly used to de­
1892..
99.4
101.3
101.9
scribe any monopoly.
1893
101.2
104.4
96.9
1894
Second. Another expedient by which monopoly was estab­
97.7
99.7
98.0
1895.
98.4
100. C lished was “ a gentleman’s agreement,” by which prices were
97.8
1896.
99.5
95.5
104.2
fixed by verbal agreement and not by contract. This was noth­
1897
99.2
96.3
103.0
1898
99.9
98.7
101.2 ing more nor less than a verbal conspiracy, and was no less a
1899
101.2
101.7 fraud and unlawful than if the verbal agreement had been a
99 5
1900..
104.1
103.0
101.1
1901..............
105.9
105.2
100.7 legal contract in writing. The only difference between the two
1902.
109.2
110. 9
98.5 was the greater difficulty of detection of the combination.
1903
112. 3
110.3
101.8
The gentleman’s agreement usually proved inefficient, because
1904..
112.2
111.7
100.4
men engaged in this character of fraud could not trust each
other.
100 equals the standard prices averaged between 1 8 9 0 -1 9 0 0 .
Third. Another form by which the American people have been
It will be observed that even by these tables, coming from defrauded by monopoly is where a giant corporation, like the
sources interested in putting the best face on the matter, the Standard Oil Company, sets a fixed price on crude oil and a
weekly earnings bought no more in 1904 than they did between price on the refined products, and because of its power intimi­
1890 and 1900, while they rose in 1896 to 104.2 from 96.9 in dates the independent refiner and compels the refiner through
1S94. showing an increased purchasing power of over 7 per cent fear of destruction, in the crafty ways so fully described by
Ida Tarbell in the history of Standard oil, to recognize and
following the passage of the Wilson— lower tariff—act.
r Mr. President, the tables prepared by Edward Atkinson, of maintain the prices so fixed. In this way the Standard Oil
Boston (Exhibit 2 ), showing the relative number o f persons who Company, through its subsidiary companies, sets the price of
could be affected by a tariff as far as their wages are concerned crude oil in Oklahoma of the best quality at 41 cents a barrel.
in the so-called “ protected or partially protected industries,” No refiner wishes to violate this rule for fear of the Standard,
should not be forgotten. It will be shown by these tables that and no refiner dares to offer to sell refined oil at less than the
10,381,765 persons are farmers, planters, overseers, agricul­ Standard price for fear of the Standard. It only costs one-half
tural laborers, gardeners, florists, nurserymen, dairy men and cent a gallon to refine petroleum, and crude oil costs 41 cents
women, and other agricultural pursuits; lumbermen and rafts­ a barrel in Oklahoma. The people ought to get very cheap oil,
men, stock raisers, herders and drovers, turpentine farmers and but they do not get it, because the Standard Oil Company over­
laborers, and wood choppers, to which must be added all persons shadows the land and controls the market, both of crude oil and
in professional service, 1,258,739: all persons in domestic and of the refined products.
It is a common practice for the independent refiners to stand
Personal service, 5,580,657; and all persons in trade and trans­
portation, 4,766,964 ; making a total o f 21,788,125; and estimating on the prices fixed by the Standard, both on crude and refined,
those who are engaged in other services which could not be for fear that they will be destroyed. The history of the past
regarded as in any degree open to competition, it is found that is strewn with the wreckage of companies who have ventured to
out o f a total o f 29,074,117 there could not be exceeding 600,000 cut the prices o f the Standard Oil Company.
I think the Congress of the United States ought to impose a
Persons occupied in arts which would require a protective duty.
This? table is very carefully drawn and is convincing to a sin­ rule on interstate corporations using the mails and enjoying public
cere and disinterested student. It therefore appears that very protection that they shall not vary their price to the consumers
little over 2 per cent of the American people are employed in o f the United States, except in so far as the difference in freight
such a way as to really require any measure o f so-called* “ pro­ justifies. In this way the Standard Oil Company could not put
tection,” while 100 per cent o f our people are taxed about 50 the price of refined below cost locally for the purpose of running
per cent on an average on all dutiable goods, to their very great out an independent competitor in a local field while the Standard
injury, and without even benefiting the 2 per cent who are em­ at the same time raises the price in another field, with which
ployees, mostly of foreign birth or parentage, in the so-called to make the consumer pay the cost o f this illegitimate warfare
“ protected industries,” while nearly all o f such industries are on a competitor. If the Standard were compelled to give the
owned by monopolies who give their foreign employees the low­ same price plus freight in all parts of the United States to the
est wages in America and keep millions for themselves.
consumer, the Standard could not in that event afford to lower
its local price for the purpose of killing off a petty competitor.
And I appeal to the leaders of the Republican party in the
This hill ought not to pass, because similar hills heretofore Senate of the United States to bring in an amendment to this
have established, and this bill will continue to maintain, bill providing this remedy.
monopoly, labor's chief oppressor, and will be followed by high
I am sure the chairman of the Committee on Finance will
prices, low wages, greater mortality to labor, increased crime, appreciate the force of this observation, and if he does not
and extravagant and corrupt standards.
afford the country the relief which I invite him to do he at
Mr. President, no man familiar with history of his countrv least shall have no complaint o f me that he did not receive a
will seriously question that when the tariff has its schedules wise and virtuous suggestion from Oklahoma. I assure him
so high as to prevent competition from abroad it must engender that if he will submit the proper amendment he can rely upon
monopoly at home.
the Senators from Oklahoma giving him enthusiastic support
The first step o f triumphant monopoly is to cut off foreign in such a policy.
comj>etition; the next step is easily effected by any o f a variety
I pause to ask the chairman of the Committee on Finance
o f successful expedienta
whether he will bring in or support such an amendment.
First. By the j>olicy o f placing a control of the stock o f com­
I appeal to the leaders o f the Republican party in the Senate
peting companies in the hands o f a trustee for the purjiose o f the United States to bring in an amendment to the hill pro­
of preventing competition. This was nothing more nor less viding this simple, effective remedy against monopoly. I f we
than a conspiracy in restraint o f trade. The courts in due time I want to establish competition in the United States, if we hope

MONOPOLY.

89032— 8445







28

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

to maintain competition in the United States, we must protect able competition, but merely a just action in restoring the com­
the little competitor and not permit him to be killed off by in­ petition which never should have been interfered with.
genious processes. Otherwise we might as well recognize now
The United States Steel Corporation, I am informed, permits
that monopoly is fixed and is to be dealt with as monopoly. If no organized labor in its service. The thoughtlessness of this
we deal with it as monopoly, then a different process would be monopoly o f its labor, and its forgetfulness o f its moral obliga­
available, which I suggest to the Senate of the United States, tion toward poor human beings engaged in its service has been
and that is, conceding monopoly to be established, conceding shown with great force in a recent philanthropic investigation
that we can not control or that we will not control monopoly, conducted under the Russell Sage Foundation in the “ Pittsburg
I suggest that monopoly, having the power o f taxation of the Survey.” What these giant monopolies are capable of doing
American people without limitations, shall be controlled by when not restrained by any other consideration than what is
being limited in the dividends it may pay upon its invested called “ business ” and the pressure for “ dividends,” “ divi­
dends,” “ dividends,” is set forth in great detail in the “ Journal
capital, determined by physical valuation.
Fourth. But another and far more dangerous form of monop­ of Constructive Philanthropy,” published by the “ Charity
oly, skillfully drawn to avoid the decisions of the Supreme Organization Society of the city of New York,” 105 East 22d
Court of the United States with regard to contracts in re­ street, New York; Robert W. deForest, president; J. P. Morgan,
straint of trade, is the more recent successful plan o f merging treasurer; Edwin T. Devine, general secretary, 105 East 22d
one corporation with another, such as illustrated in the United street, New York City, in “ Charities and the Commons ” in the
States Steel Corporation, by which all competitors' of any im­ issues o f January, February, and March, 1909.
What a monopoly tariff does for its protected workmen is
portance were absorbed. It was organized in 1901, and at that
time absorbed a number of gigantic concerns, to w it : Federal abundantly set forth in this wonderful report of the unspeak­
Steel, National Tube, American Steel and Wire Company, able conditions which have grown up under our system of
National Steel, American Tin Plate, American Steel Hook, government, where the beneficiaries of the tariff have forgotten
American Sheet Steel, American Bridge, Shelby Steel Tube, The manhood, and have forgotten womanhood, and even childhood
Carnegie Company, The Lake Superior Consolidated Iron in their insane pursuit of wealth and power.
Ida M. Tarbell, a critical and learned student o f sociology,
Mines, and acquired interests in numerous other companies,
such as the Pittsburg Steamship Company, The Oliver Iron has described it in a few words in the American Magazine of
Mining Company, The National Steel Company, including The May, 1909:
Sharon Steel Company, The Union Steel Company, The Donora
A T A R IF F -M A D E C IT Y ---- W H A T IT DOES FOR IT S W O R K M E N .
Mining Company, The Republic Coke Company, The River Coal
. TIie °h y of Pittsburg is the greatest monument in this country to
Company, The Sharon Coke Company, The Sharon Ore Com­
*ice of
protection. For fifty years it has been the strongpany, The Sharon Sheet Steel Company, and a controlling in­ noia or the doctrine. For fifty years it has reaped, as no other center
i n rrv!e
States, the benefits of prohibitive duties.
terest in the companies of the Sharon Coal and Limestone Com­
in e town lies at the heart of a district in which is produced from
pany and the Sharon Tin Plate Company, and directly and indi­ one-quarter to one-half of all the various kinds of American iron and
as a goodly
of all
rectly controlling the American Coke Company, The Continen­ steel, as well products. A llproportion articles our tin, plate glass, and
machine-shop
of these
have for years had the
tal Coke Company, The H. C. Frick Coke Company, The Mc­ American market practically to themselves. All of these articles have
for years been exported and sold at less prices than the American con­
Clure Coke Company, The Southwest Connellsville Coke Com­
buy them. All these
have produced enormous
pany and the United Coal and Coke Company, consolidated sumer can bo many, so conspicuous industries that a recognized American
fortunes,
are they,
under the title of H. C. Frick Coke Company, acquiring also type in Europe and the United States is the “ Pittsburg millionaire.”
the Clairton Steel Company in May, 1904, The St. Clair Fur­ Now, it is certain the tariff produced the Pittsburg millionaire, but
not
was fixed
Congress of
nace Company. This contract carried with it the stock of the that was The what the tariff to protect for by thethe Pittsburg the United
States.
tariff was laid
and help
workman.
Champion Iron Company, The Clairton Land Company, the St. According to the protectionist argument, Pittsburg, as the bulwark and
Clair Terminal Railroad Company, and 51 per cent o f the stock center of protected industries, should produce the happiest, most pros­
the United
How
o f the St. Clair Limestone Company; in April, 1905, the Heck­ perous, and best conditioned workmenC in r i t i e s a n d TStates. m m o n s is it?
There has just been published in
ha
he Co
(now
ler Coke Company was acquired. On April 15, 1907, by lease | T h e S u r v e y ) one o f the most significant pieces o f investigation the
United States Steel obtained the control of the Great Northern country has seen. It is the result of a year or more of work on the
Charities
Railroad Company ore properties through the Great Western ' part of a band of trained investigators commissioned by the the place
Publication committee.
It gives a blueprint of Pittsburg—
Mining Company, a subsidiary company of the United States itself, the people, and their work. W hat does this blueprint show of
I the workingman under protection .
Steel Corporation, and so forth.
It shows
a day
These gigantic mergers o f the various companies, by which I and once in him working t w e l vae hours turn,” for as e v e x days in the week,
two weeks filling
‘ long
or
twenty-four-hour shift.
their competition with each other was effectually destroyed, It is not simply the exceptional man who overworks in this cruel fashi ion. The twelve-hour day is the extreme of an “ altogether incredible
formed the new company, which issued a total of stocks and
Can you
bonds o f about fourteen hundred millions, a large part of i1 amount of overwork by everybody,” so the Survey declares. who lived
make a man by these hours? Is it any wonder that those
which was “ watered,” having no physical value corresponding I and walked among these men preparing this Survey report their s a y in g :
j “ Too tired to read— too tired to think. I work and eat and sleep.”
with the face values o f the stocks and bonds issued.
wonder
women crying
the
In 1907 this gigantic merger company took over the Tennes­ ; Any cou n try: that ethey report the God-fearing to live so well out for but,
i old
“ W might not have been able
th ere:
see Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, which was itself com­ | oh, man, we could have brought up the children in the fear o’ God and
posed of various companies merged together in the same fashion ! in a land where men reverence the Sabbath.” Any wonder that those
men who have not
as the United States Steel Corporation, and was its only great I at night in saloons the restraining influence o f a fam ily drown fatigue
|
and brothels?
competitor; under the control of this great merger company are
And what do they earn for their toil? In the tariff-protected indus­
various water-supply plants, natural-gas properties, pipe lines, tries, steel and iron, the greatest number receive a wage, says the
i report, “
to be inadequate to the
ore docks, a multitude of iron mines, and some 25 railroad j American so low as of living— wages adjusted maintenance of a normal
standard
to the single man in the
companies.
i lodging house, not to the responsible head of a fam ily.
And this in
! industries where “ to protect the workingman ” this country has for
By these gigantic mergers competition is effectually con­ j years taxed itself millions upon millions of dollars. The estimated
trolled under the forms of law, and the resulting giant corpora­ tariff profit in the steel trust alone in 1907 was $ 8 0 ,0 00,000. Who got
tion has such a dominating and masterful position that smaller ! the money? Go look at the steel palaces and chateaux in New York
fill
corporations dare not compete or cut the price or attempt to j and Paris. Go ask the Pittsburg millionaires who this the glittering
places of pleasure in the great cities o f Europe and
country, who
do so. Competition is thus utterly destroyed.
figure in divorce and murder trials, who are writing their names on
Moody's manual for 1907, page 2320, gives over 1,000 com­ foundations and bequests and” institutions. live? W hat kind of house­
IIow does this “ protected
workingman
panies absorbed or merged, by or into other companies for 1907. holds are these “ builded on steel ?” The reporter o f the situation
summarizes th e m : “ E v i l c o n d i t i o n s t c e r e f o u n d t o e x i s t in e v e r y s e c ­
The smaller corporations engaged in the same business are
on
t
y.
O
t
ni
e en t va l
r
e
s
y
indeed o f some use to the giant monopoly, because the smaller ftlio u t e o f o nh es csietn s e o f v e r c e h e y .o m E y p r e s r o o k e r iu s t sp e g c a c dl eosn tphrei vh i l lsshi e d s
d
e’
de
nc
ri
e
r he
d es
corporation being in existence and doing business at the same w e r e s w a r m i n g w i t h m e n , w o m e n , a n d c h i l d r e n — e n t i r e f a m i l i e s l i v i n g
prices fixed by the larger corporation, the greater concern can i n o n e r o o m a n d a c c o m m o d a t i n g h o a r d e r s in a c o m e r t h e r e o f . C e ll a r
o
ere
a id
p
of o
er f
i s
a
ou e
er
point to the smaller concern as evidence to the common people r oa sm s wu x u rtyh e t o b b e i n g t a l a c e s o n l y t hh r o uagm i lmeu .c h Ienf f om t noyf h o i ls nsg w taetp s
w
a l
,
ob
in e d
t
h
r
t
i
s
that there is active competition in the field. The common people a n d s t r a i n i n g m u s c l e s . C o u r t s a n d a l l e y s f o u l e d b y b a d d r a i n a g e a n d
may accept the testimony, but it will be a Barmecide Feast p i l e s o f r u b b i s h w e r e p l a y i n g g r o u n d s f o r r i c k e t y , p a l e -f a c e d , g r i m y
ch ild r en .
A n e n v e lo p in g c lo u d o f s m o k e a n d d u s t, th r o u g h w h ic h lig h t
when they test the prices.
a n d a i r m u s t f i l t e r , m a d e h o u s e k e e p i n g a t r a v e s t y in m a n y n e i g h b o r ­
When the people threaten to remove the monopoly tariff, h o o d s ; a n d e v e r y p h a s e o f t h e s i t u a t i o n w a s i n t e n s i f i e d b y t h e e v i l o f
which shelters monopoly, all of the agents o f monopoly join in | o v e r c r o w d i n g — o f h o u s e s u p o n l o t s , o f f a m i l i e s i n t o h o u s e s , o f p e o p l e
o r o o m ."
one mighty chorus in defense o f the poor little independent man i n tAmong sthe worst illustrations o f these t y p i c a l conditions are certain
who will be utterly ruined if the tariff is lowered a particle. properties owned by the very corporations who are reaping wealth from
But the smaller concern is used as a highwayman might hold the tariff-protected products. These beneficiaries of the generosity of
American people, these gentlemen
when they
up a child to ward off a merited chastisement. It is, however, the their interest threatened, hold up who, laborer andsee the taxation
in
the
his good as a
no chastisement and no injustice whatever to the monopoly to reason for continuing it. what do t h e y say when these conditions are
pointed out to th e m ; “ W e d o n ’ t w a n t t o g o i n t o t h e h o u s i n g b u s i n e s s .
take down the tariff wall that shelters monopoly from reason89032—8445

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

29

W e are manufacturers, not real estate dealers. W e m ay be forced to
build houses in certain new districts in order to attract and hold labor,
but in an old, settled community let the laboring man take care of
himself.
W e don’ t believe in paternalism.”
They have had no more interest in preserving the lives of the men
who do the terrible toil necessary to their wealth than in giving them
decent housing. For years the death rate from typhoid fever in Pitts­
burg has been the highest of any city in the civilized world. Everybody
knew it.
Everybody knew why. There was no supply of pure drinking
water. A filtration plant was needed. Did any Pittsburg millionaire
offer to build it— insist that the industries which called the vast army
of labor to Pittsburg should build it? N o ; they left a corrupted city
government to fight over the appropriations for the work and scattered
in endowments and in institutions in other cities and other States many
times the five millions needed in Pittsburg to save the lives of- the
workmen. They hold up to the world for admiration their love of
great material problems— they argue with the American people that
their skill in solving these problems is a good and sufficient reason for
continuing general taxation in their favor. But a problem which,
worked out, would benefit nobody but the humble two-dollar-a-day man
who sweats out his life in the heat of their profitable furnaces does not
interest them. It might savor of paternalism !
Not even the child has touched them. The conditions under which
the children of the poor are brought up in Pittsburg are such that
babies die like flies. Of those along the river, a settlement worker told
Samuel Hopkins Adams, when he was working on health conditions for
the Survey : “ N ot one child in ten comes to us from the river-bottom
section without a blood or skin disease, usually of long standing. Not
one out of ten comes to us physically up to the normal for his' or her
age.
W orse than that, feio of them arc up to the mental standard, and
an increasing percentage are imbecile.”
As to the schools, here is what an authority s a y s : “ The school
buildings are in many cases crowded, dark, dirty, often of three stories,
and bad fire risks.
The condition of the children in these schools, good
and bad, rich and poor, may be known by the large proportion having
defective teeth, reduced hearing, imperfect vision. A n excessively large
number of them are mouth breathers, partially so because they are
unable to breathe through their noses in the sm oky air of Pittsburg,
and a v ery considerable number are below the stature and the weight
determined for the average child. In a large percentage the defects of
teeth, nose, and throat bring them, below the physical normal.
These
are the children that ivear out in childhood.”
Is it a wonder that this gentleman suggested:
“ Ought not the Pittsburg schools to be closed and the children
repairedt”
This Pittsburg Survey is the most awful arraignment of an American
institution and its resulting class pronounced since the days of slavery.
It puts upon the Pittsburg millionaire the awful stamp of greed, of
stupidity, and of heartless pride. But what should we expect of him?
He is the creature of a special privilege which for years he has not
needed. He has fought for it because he fattened on it. He must
have it for labor. But look at him and look at his laborer and believe
him if you can.
Justice takes a terrible revenge on those who thrive by privilege.
She blinds their eyes until they no longer see human misery.
She dulls
their hearts until they no longer beat with humanity.
She benumbs
their senses until they respond only to the narrow 'horizon of what
they can individually possess, touch, feel.
She makes, as she has in
Pittsburg, a generation of men and women who day by day can pass
hundreds of tumbled-down and filthy homes, in which the men and
women who make their wealth live, and feel no sh ock ; who can know
that deadly fevers and diseases which are preventable are wiping out
hundreds of those who do their tasks, and raise no hand. Little chil­
dren may die or grow up stunted and evil within their sight and no
penny of their wealth, no hour of their leisure, is given them.
Women
may pass hours of incessant toil and die, broken and unhonored, within
their sight, and they raise no hand.
W ealth which comes by privilege
kills. The curse of Justice on those who will not recognize injustice
is the sodden mind, the dulled vision, the unfeeling heart.
I. M. T.

Some one might say that Ida Tarbell’s picture is too graphic.
I do not think it possible to convey in two pages the terrific
arraignment o f our civilization which is exhibited in the Pitts­
burg Survey.
But I submit another authority, whose calm and disinterested
judgment and statement of the facts ought to command the
attention of the entire nation.

I was interested after reading this distressing record of the
misery and degradation o f the employees in protected industries
at Pittsburg, and their great poverty, to observe, in striking con­
trast, that Mr. H. C. Frick, one o f the masters o f the iron, steel,
and coke monopoly, was reported by the public press as trying
to buy an oil painting by Holbein from the Duke of Norfolk for
$ 350, 000.
I could not help thinking how scandalous it was to
take the labor o f these poor people and dissipate it in such folly.
The papers announce also that Mr. Schwab, another steel mag­
nate, was successfully “ bucking the tiger ” at Monte Carlo, and
Rambling on a gigantic scale. No doubt he has millions which
he may hazard at the gambling table and not feel the loss, but
where does he get it? He gets it out of the grimy sweat of a
labor so poorly paid that the women and children must, of
necessity, suffer degradation and physical, social, and spiritual
degeneration.
, The morning papers state that a New York lady now suing
ner husband for divorce has spent in the last ten years $ 770,000
in various interesting and fanciful extravagances, paying from
•>".00 to $800 for dresses, having scores of servants to dance at­
tendance and promote the wildest vagaries o f fashion. One can
not pick up a paper without reading the unseemly and indecent
waste of the national resources by those beneficiaries who profit
by monopolies sheltered under a noncompetitive tariff, one
which prevents all competition, and gives them the power to
combine at home for the purpose o f fleecing the American jieople and picking their pockets wholesale by prices which are 50
per cent higher than the prices in the markets o f the world.
Side by side are babies dying like flies for want of proper food
and air and decent environment. The omnipotent God will
surely punish a nation or a party that sees these evils with
callous heart and offers no remedy.

The details o f this tragic condition is found in the January,
February, and March numbers of Charities and Commons, 1909,
published in New York.
Mr. President, I have not the slightest doubt that the great
and powerful city o f Pittsburg, supplied as it is with some of the
best brains and best men in the world, will correct, or at least
abate, in some degree these conditions. I have no doubt that
public sentiment throughout the United States will so influence
our great commercial monopolies that they themselves will be
led to a more considerate treatment o f their laborers and cease
to regard them as machines of iron or wood, to be worn-out in
production and renewed by others. I have the confidence in the
patriotism and good sense of the leaders of both of the great
parties of our country to believe that they will not endure the
prolonged continuance o f these conditions.

89032— 8445




R E SU L T S OP P IT T SB U R G SURVEY.

Prof. Edward T. Devine, of New York City, general secretary
of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York
(see Vol. Ill, Amer. Sociological Soc., May 1, 1909), gives a
sketch of the results o f the Pittsburg Survey, describing what
was found to be the actual fact at this great center of the pro­
tective industries. He says they found the following results:
I. An altogether incredible amount of overwork by everybody, reach­
ing its extreme in the twelve-hour shift for seven days in the week
in the steel mills and the railway switch yards.
II. Low wages for the great m ajority of the laborers employed by
the m ills ; not lower than in other large cities, but low compared with
the prices— so low as to be inadequate to the maintenance o f a normal
American standard of livin g; wages adjusted to the single man, not to
the responsible head of a family.
III. Still lower icages for women, who receive, for example, in one
of the metal trades in which the proportion of women is great enough
to be menacing, one-half as much as unorganized men in the same shops
and one-third as much as the men in the union.
IV . A n absentee capitalism, with bad effects strikingly analogous to
those of absentee landlordism, of which also Pittsburg furnishes note­
worthy examples.
V. A continuous inflow of immigrants w ith low standards attracted
by a wage which is high by the standards of southeastern Europe, and
which yields a net pecuniary advantage because of abnormally low
expenditures for food and shelter, an inadequate provision for sickness,
accident, and death.
VI. The destruction o f family life, not in any imaginary or mystical
sense, but by the demands of the day’s work, and by the very demon­
strable and material method of typhoid fever and industrial accidents,
both preventable, but costing last year in Pittsburg considerably more
than a thousand lives, and irretrievably shattering many homes.
V II. Archaic social institutions such as the aldermanic court, the"
ward school district, the fam ily garbage disposal, and the unregenerate
charitable institution, still surviving after the conditions to which they
were adapted have disappeared.
V III. The contrast— which does not become blurred by fam iliarity
with details, but on the contrary becomes more vivid as the outlines
are filled in— the contrast between the prosperity on the one hand of
the most prosperous of all the communities of our western civilization,
with its vast natural resources, the generous fostering of government,
the human energy, the technical development, the gigantic tonnage of
the mines and mills, the enormous capital of which the bank balances
afford an indication, and, on the other hand, the neglect of life, of
health, of physical vigor, even of the industrial efficiency of the indi­
vidual. Certainly no community before in America or Europe has ever
had such a surplus, and never before has a great com munity applied
what it had so mcagcrly to the rational purposes of human life. Not
by gifts of libraries," galleries, technical schools, and parks, but by the
cessation of toil one day in seven, and sixteen hours in the tw enty-four,
by the increase of wages, by the sparing of lives, by the prevention of
accidents, and by raising the standards of domestic life, should the
surplus come back to the people of the com munity in which it is
created.

T II E P R O F IT S OF M O N OPO LY.

The Senator from Towa gave us a graphic description of the
unreasonable profits o f the United States Steel upon its watered
stock. Its net earnings after paying interest on bonds of sub­
sidiary companies and the accounts o f miscellaneous expendi­
tures and charges amounted to one hundred and fifty-six mil­
lions. Its products for 1906 amounted to 13.511.149 tons of in­
gots. out of which was produced 10,578,433 tons of finished
products.
Its assets for 1906 are stated (Moody’s Manual, p. 2282) at
$1.681,309,769; its net profits for dividends 190G were $98,219,088, exceeding $9 a ton on 10,578,433 tons of product, not count­
ing profits to subordinate corporations.
Its profit on the finished product has exceeded $9 a ton,
collected from the consumers of the United States under a
tariff which prohibits the consumer buying elsewhere, and thus




30

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

enables this gigantic corporation and its independent allies to
exercise a complete monopoly of all onr people.
The proposed schedule in this bill of 31.65 per cent average
tariff upon all metal and all manufactures of metal operates not
for the benefit of labor, but to establish monopolies which con­
trol labor, eompel it to disorganize, imposes cruelty and extraor­
dinary conditions upon labor, and, together with other monopo­
lies, established in like manner, pick the pockets of the labor­
ing men and o f all other men from the Atlantic to the Pacific by
artificial prices, which the retailer and jobber is compelled by
penalties to observe, so that the wages received by labor is
craftily and fraudulently taken out of his pockets by these
stealthy organizations, whose lobbyists now infest this capital
and falsely advise Senators and Members with regard to their
duty in the premises.
Side by side with these abnormal developments will be found
hundreds of thousands of honest companies, working at reason­
able profits, engaging in legitimate competition, content with the
ancient maxim o f—

k a il s .
Per ton.
United States__________________________________________________________ $ 4 7 .1 3
United States duty___________________________________________________
11. 20

United States price, less duty_______________________________
35. 93
G erm any-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------33. 60
France------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34. 60
Belgium---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------33. 00
United States production, wire nails, 1906, 5 1 2 ,8 0 0 to n s ; United
States duty. $ 1 1.20 per to n ; tax on consumer, $ 5 ,7 4 3 ,3 6 0 ; government
revenue, 1907. $91 : cost to the people for each dollar collected by the
Government, $63,114.85.
r£ su m

£.

United States
revenue.

Live and let live,

S O 135,181.00
C,

Sugar........

People pay
additional.

570.641.821.00

Cost to
the peo­
ple for
each SI
tax col­
lected by
the Gov­
ernment.
$2.17

and who are also victimized by the exactions of monopoly in- P i g iron___
7L23
1,406, S25.00 103.125.444.00
Steel billets, e tc ..
267.05
590, C63.00 157.235.474.00
greater or less degree as the case may be.
Steel rails . . .
943.91
30,670.00
28,919,129.00
The prices which are lowered in the United States by legiti­ Nails, w ire___
5,743,360.00 63,114.85
91.00
mate competition are so far offset by the unreasonable high
prices o f monopoly that the general average has gone far above
Census Bulletin 57, 1905, points out the confessed profits on
the markets of the world, as I have heretofore shown.
Mr. President, several Senators have shown on the floor the various manufacturing enterprises, a few of which I give.
CEN SU S P R O FIT S OK W OOL SIA X U F A C T U E IX G , C L O T H IN G , AND T IL E .
enormous profits made by various monopolies.
The authoritative record can be found in Moody's Manual of
Census Bulletin No. 57, 1905. gives the following statistics on
1907, a volume of twenty-five hundred pages, giving the accounts woolen and worsted goods and clothing manufactures, and so
o f the corporations doing business in the country, but not by any forth, from which the profit can be calculated:
means all of the monopolies. In these tables will be found the Number of establishments___________________________
8 , 873
enormous profits which have been advertised to the public stat­ E xp en ses:
Salaries paid 28,454 officials and clerks_______________ $3 0 , 015, 521
ing what they have made. The record does not tell the entire
" ages paid 394,893 workmen___________________________ 163, 503, 042
story by any means, but it tells enough. The manner in which
Miscellaneous expenses____________________________________ 98, 564, 867
the people of the United States are unjustly taxed by these
Cost of materials__________
_____
_________________ 5 1 4 , 002, 738
artificial high prices in the interest of monopoly is shown by
Total expenses----------------------------------------------------------------- 806, 086, 168
sugar.
Value of product------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 1 1 ,3 9 9 ,8 4 1
Our record shows that the people o f the United States con­
105, 313, 6 73
Profit------sume 2,993,979 tons o f sugar per annum. The London price is
529, 892, 740
a
2 cents a pound less than the New York price, so that the people C a ppit r ol--------------- 20 per cent.
A p
x im a te ly
pay about $40 a ton for sugar in excess o f the London price—
M E N ’ S CL O TH IN G .
approximately one hundred and thirty millions of dollars— Number of establishments------------------------------------------4, 504
while the duty collected is only sixty millions, leaving a profit Exnenses *
Salaries paid 13,210 officials and clerks-------------------------- $ 1 3 , 7 0 3 ,1 6 2
o f seventy millions to the monopolies and interests protected by
W ages paid 137.190 workmen-----------------------------------------5 7 , 225, 5 0 0
the tariff, amounting in this one item to about $5 per annum for
Men over 16------------------------------------------------58, 769
every family in the United States.
Women over 1 6 -----------------------------------------75, 468
Children under 1 6 -------------------------------------2, 963
In similar manner will be shown the profits to the trusts on
Miscellaneous expenses------------------------------------------------------57, 695, 240
pig iron, on steel billets, on steel rails, as compiled by the
M a t e r i a ls ___________________________________________________ 185, 793, 4 36
Actuary of the Treasury. ( S. Doc. 45, 61st Cong., 1st sess.)
Total expenses----------------------------------------------------------------- 314, 417, 344
Value of product--------------------------------------------------------------------------355, 796, 571

p ig ir o n .
Per ton.
United States------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ $ 1 7 , 7 5
4 ! 00
United States duty____________________________________________ 2 1 1 ___

United States price, less duty______________________________
13. 75
G e rm an y----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2_____
1 1 .2 1
F ran ce----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2~___
11 25
B elgium ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~_____
l l ' 75
E ngland---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11. 0<>
United States production of pig iron. 1007, 25,781.361 to n s ; dutv
$4 per t o n ; tax on consumer, $ 1 0 3,125,444 ; government revenue, 1 0 0 7 '
$ 1 ,4 6 6 ,8 2 5 .
'
B IL L E T S , s t e e l .
Per ton.
United States----------------------------------------------------------------_
_
__
71
United States duty---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2H_I
7^

C a p it a l_________________________________________________
About 27 per cent.
W O M E N ’ S C L O T H IN G .

3, 351
i Number establishments---------------------- -------------------------$9,
! Salaries paid 10,920 officials and clerks-----------------51,
j W ages paid 115,705 workmen------------------------------------j ?»Ien over 1 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 42, 614
i Women over 1 6 ------------------------------------------------------------- 7 2 ,2 4 2
849
I Children under 1 6--------------------------------------------------------24,
! Miscellaneous expenses------------------------------------------------130,
M a te r ia ls _______________________________________________

United States value, less duty.
G erm an y-------------------------------------------------F rance___________________________________
Belgium _________________________________
E ngland----------------------------------------------------

Value

17. 90
14. 88
15 . 00
15. 5 0
15. 14
United States production. 1906, 23,3 9 8 ,1 3 6 t o n s ; duty, $ 6 .72 per
to n : tax on consumers. $ 1 5 7 ,2 3 5 ,4 7 4 j government xrvemie, 19ot>,
IiA IL S j ST E E L .

17 57

B R IC K

I
Value

France-7 .-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1
Belguun-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17. 99 j
18. 59 1

Average of above— Europe____________________________________
United States price____________________________________________________

18. 14
25. 41

Difference_______________________________________________________

7. 27

United States production of steel rails, 1907, 3,977 ,8 7 2 to n s ; differ­
ence in price, home and abroad. $ 7 .2 7 ; tax on consumer, $ 2 8 ,9 1 9 ,1 2 9 ;
government revenue, 1907, $30,670.

89032— 8445

349, 2 82
719, 9 96

3 1 ,4 3 6 ,1 4 5
73, 947, 8 23
AN D T IL E .

Number of establishments------------------------------------------- 4 ,6 3 4
Salaries paid 3,690 officials and clerks---------------------------------Wages paid 06.021 workmen__________________________________
Miscellaneous expenses_________________________________________
Cost of m aterials------------------------------------------------------------------------

t o il

975, 944
180, 193

216, 225, 4 15
247, 661, 560

Total expenses---------product-----------------------

P r o f i t --------------------------C a p it a l------------------------------------About 42 per cent.

United States-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------$25 41
United States duty-------------------------------------------------------------------------------7 $4
United States price, less duty______________________________

41, 379, 227
153, 177, 5 0 0

$3,
28,
6,
16,

530, 474
646, 005
{>69,161
316, 4 99

T otal expense-------------------------------------------------------------------5 5 , 462, 139
product___________________________________________________ 71, 152, 0 6 2

P r o f i t ____________________________________________________
About 22 per cent.

15, 689 , 9 23

The profits o f men’s clothing amounts to 27 per cent, on
women’s clothing 42 per cent, and yet side by side with this
manufacturer’s profit the sweating system is in full force tan
interesting account o f which will l>e found in II. R. Report 2309,
52d Congress, 2d session), with ruinous conditions under which
| oppressed labor earns its miserable bread; industrious young

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

31

exhibit a very great mortality as compared with other people,
and develop tuberculosis and other diseases.
The C ongressional R ecord o f June 4, 1909, gives a table of
some of the profits of the cotton mills of the country, submitted
b y Senator S m it h o f South Carolina. I ask that it be printed
in the R ecord.

■women, twelve hours a day in the shops of unremitting industry,
and increasing speed, earning $4, $5, and $6 a week. For a $10
suit So cents is paid for the making of a coat, 25 to 35 cents
for the pants, and 20 to 25 cents for the vest; for a $15 suit
$1.50 is paid for making the coat, and so on. It is no wonder,
of course, people living in abject wretchedness o f the sweatshops

Statistics relative to cotton-mill stocks as investments.

Date of
incor­
pora­
tion.

Name of company.

Am oskeag_______________________ . ___________
Androscoggin.......................... ......................................
Bates
Border City....................................................................
Richard Borden____
_________________ ____
King Philip______________________________________
Dartmouth......................................................................
Dwight_______________________________ ________
Great Falls......................................................................
Laurel L a k e ............................... .............. ..............
Massachusetts Cotton................................. .............
Lawrence....................................................................
Pacific_______________ ____________________
Pepiiercll........................
Sagamoro____________ _________ __ ____________
Troy.....................................
Union _ _______________
Whitman........................................................................

1831
1SS0
1852
1830
1871
1871
1805
1811
1823
1881
1839
1S31
1853
1899
1879
1811
1879
1895

Capital.

Surplus.

$5,700,000.00 $3,720,691.00
1,000,000.00
1,123,861.00
1,200,000.00
1,376,361.00
1,000,000.00
333,598.00
1,000,000.00
502,171.00
1,500,000.00
S51.765.00
600,000.00
685,105.00
1,200,000.00
1,299,219.00
1,500,000.00
950,000.00
600,000.00
181,251.00
1,131,690.00
1,800,000.00
737,000.00
1,250,000.00
6.332.851.00
3.000.
000.00
2.556.000. 00 1.628.187.00
355,693.00
900,000.00
471,291.00
300,000.00
581,OH.00
1,200,000.00
1,500,000.00
945,411.00

0 In addition to which a 25 per cent dividend was paid.
For eight years average annual dividends for group, 15.65 per cent.

Debt.

$1,425,000.00
16,559.00
117,565.00
500,000.00
511.00
150,131.00
470,529.00
735,740.00
338,603.00
None.
2,160,763.00
500,000.00
None.
117,910.00
607,899.00
2,816.00
None.
474,215.00

Earn­
ings
petshare,
1907.

Capi­
Average Book
Total
Divi­ dividends dividends surplus taliza­
tion
dends,
per
for eight
per
1907. for eight years.
share.
years.
spindle.

Par
value.

$21.30
21.91
41.87
37.50
32.62
25.65
82.50
103.91
21.33
28.24
41.30
2.5.27
550.00

$16.00
10.00
35.00
23.50
20.00
6.00
66.00
12.00
12.00
14.00
5.00
8.00
320.00
12 00
30.00
67.00
35.50
8.00

Per cent. Per cent.
$64.59
126
15.75
112.38
9.37
75
114.61
130
16.25
119
14.87
33.35
12.62
50.21
<*101
1C
8J
21.25
56.78
114.13
19.75
15S
108.25
12.50
100
14.62
64.00
117
37.08
23.75
6190J
6.25
79.53
50
62.96
122
15.25
15.50 2,110.95
124
158
19.75
63.71
39.52
85
10.63
23.62
791.90
189
183
22.87
48.67
63.02
58J
7.25

$100.00
loo.oo
100.00
100.00
100. o
c
100.(X
100.00
500.00
100.00
100.0
100.00
100.00
1,000.00
100.0
100.00
500.0
100.0
100.00

48.53
335.00
46.00
29.76

$10.76
13.93
14.61
12.51
10.37
11.10
5.00
5.45
11.36
10.03
14.13
12.50
10.27
9.80
6.31
10.89
11.35

6 In addition to which a 100 per cent dividend was paid.

The merger in the capital o f earnings is not shown, nor in ! inequality still greater. The rich will be growing richer; the poor at
relatively poorer. It seems to me,
altogether from the
plant improvements out o f earnings, which would make the least of the laborers interest, that theseapart not conditions whichques­
tion
are
fur­
earnings still larger. W. Irving Bullard, of Danielson, Conn., nish a solid basis for a progressive social s ta te ; but, having regard to
a great cotton manufacturer, is quoted as saying at Boston that interest. I think the considerations adduced show that the first
and_ indispensable step toward any serious amendment of the laborer’s
April 36, 1908:
lot is that he should be, in one way or another, lifted out of the groove
in which he at present works and placed in a position compatible with
his becoming a sharer in equal proportion with others in the general
advantages arising from industrial progress.

A summary of 100 cotton mills in Oldham district, in England, shows
the following remarkable fa c ts : Capital invested, $ 3 0 ,5 0 1 ,2 3 0 ; net earn­
ings, $0,005,785 ; average earning per mill, $ 0 0 ,0 5 5 ; dividend, 155 per
cent.
The average dividend disbursements for these 100 mills was 15| per
cent, while the net earnings show an average of 354 per cent.

The indecent treatment of helpless labor by organized capital
is not confined to America, but we ought to lead the world in
the conservation of human life and unrewarded toil by laws
wisely and humahely drawn.
The recent giant monopolies, engendered and sheltered by the
prohibitive tariff, are responsible for the unrest of the country.
The American Tobacco Company, which has become suffi­
ciently powerful to fix the price o f all tobacco raised in the
United States, advertises its assets for 1906 at $278,628,564.
By merger and otherwise it controls the American Cigar Com­
pany. American Stogie Company, the Havana Tobacco Company,
with various subcompanies, the American Snuff Company, the
Lori 1
bird Company, and so forth. The impatience and violence of
the tobacco raisers in Kentucky and Tennessee, known as
the “ Night Riders,” is due directly to the tyranny of this com­
pany, which, being strong enough to control prices, is enabled
to exercise its will on the tobacco growers, who have been mak­
ing a blind effort to protect themselves by force. In like man­
ner the crushing effect o f extreme poverty, due to the processes
which I have described, is leading to actual crime in many ways
nnd is responsible for the growth of radical socialism and an­
archism throughout the world.
D IST R IB U T IO N

OF

W EALTH.

In “ The Social Unrest,” John Graham Brooks, on page 161,
Quoting Thorold Rogers (Oxford Economy), says:

Spalirs’s table for the distribution of wealth in the United
States, taken from his work, “ The Present Distribution of
Wealth in the United States,” when our national wealth was
$60,000,000, is as follow s:
Class.

Families.

Per
cent.

Average
wealth.

Aggregate
wealth.

Rich............................................
M iddle.......................................
Poor............................................
Very poor.................................

125,000
1,362,500
4,762,500
6,250,000

1.0
10.9
38.1
50.0

$263,010
14,180
1,639

$32,880,000,000
19,320,000,000
7,800,000,000

54.8
32.2
13.0

T otal...............................

13,500,000

100.0

4,800

60,000,000,000

100.0

,

!

Per
cent.

The inequalities have been steadily growing worse, and when
a single person’s fortune is estimated at a thousand millions
and is gathering in $50,000,000 per annum of the net proceeds
of the products o f the labor o f this country, while millions of
human beings can not lay aside $50 apiece per annum, wT
hat
must be the inevitable result? It is this condition, half under­
stood, that is developing rapidly a sentiment o f radical social­
ism. discontent, and social unrest.
Moody’s Manual of 1907, page 30, presents a “ General Sum­
m ary” o f corporations offering stocks and bonds for sale to
the stock exchanges and recorded by him in great detail in a
volume of nearly 3,000 pages, as follow s:

In a vague way they (the laborers) are uuder the impression that Steam railroad division
the greater part of the misery which they see is the direct product of i Public utilities division.
the laws enacted and maintained in the interest of particular classes. I Industrial division--------Mining d iv ision ________
And on the whole they are in the right.

T otal stocks and bonds.
------- $ 1 5 ,4 3 6 ,7 5 8 ,0 0 0
------8, 130, 404, 000
-------- 10, 150, 333, 000
------2, 525, 173, 000

Quoting Professor Smart, o f Glasgow:
Page 10, Report (1 9 0 7 ) Comptroller of the Currency,
But when machinery is replacing man and doing the heavy work of
resources national hanks________________________________
8, 390, 328 40 2
industry, it is time to get rid of that ancient prejudice that men must
Page 35, Report (1 9 0 7 ) Comptroller of the Currency,
work ten hours a day to keep the world up to the level of the comfort !
resources other banks and trust companies__________
1 1 ,1 6 8 , 511, 516
it has attained. Possibly, If we clear our minds o f cant, we may see i
the reason why we still wish the laborer to work ten hours a day is
In addition to this enormous volume of corporate wealth,
that we, the comfortable classes, may go on receiving the lion's share !
which comprises a registered one-third of our national wealth]
of the wealth these machines, iron and human, are turning out.

So Professor Cairnes. an economist noted for ability and cau­
tion, in his “ Lending Principles” (ibid., 362), says:
Unequal as is the distribution of wealth already in the country, the
tendency o f industrial progress— on the supposition that the present
separation between industrial classes is maintained— is toward an
8 9 0 3 2 — 8445




there is an unregistered volume of corporations which are close
corporations which do not sell stock, which are personal cor­
porations, amounting to thousands of millions o f dollars.
I respectfully call your attention to the Statistical Abstract
o f 1907, Table 244, which sets forth the wealth of the United




CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

32

States, which shows clearly where its approximate ownership
may be found, to w it:
Table 2U, Statistical Abstract, 1807.
Total wealth in United States__________________________ ' $ 1 0 7 ,1 0 4 , 211, 917
Real property_____________________________________________
62, 341, 4 9 2 ,1 3 4
Live stock_________________________________________________
4, 073, 791, 736
Farm implements and machinery______________________
844, 989, 863
Manufacturing machinery, tools, etc___________________
3, 297, 7 5 4 ,1 8 0
1 1 ,2 4 4 ,7 5 2 ,0 0 0
Railroad equipment______________________________________
Street railway, shipping, waterworks__________________
4, 840, 546, 909
Agricultural products___________________________________
1, 899, 379, 652
Manufactured products__________________________________
7, 409, 291, 668
495, 543, 68o
Imported m erchandise__________________________________
Mining p ro d u cts________________________________________
326, 851, 517
Clothing and personal ornaments______________________
2, 000, 000, 000
Furniture, carriages_____________________________________
5, 750, 000, 000
Total for United States_________________________

1 0 7 ,1 0 4 , 211, 917

Where do the city laborers under protection come in as joint
heirs of modern prosperity?
What part of this wealth created by labor is theirs?
They have no real estate, no live stock, farm macu.aery,
manufacturing machinery, railroads, or under any visible classi­
fication. The only thing that they can have under this tabula­
tion is clothing and a little personal property.
And yet the products of the labor in our specified manufactur­
ing industries of 1905 reached a total of $14,802,147,087, for
5,470,321 wage-earners, whose product was therefore worth
$2,708 per capita.
These people received $2,611,540,532 in wages (Stat. Abst.
U. S., 1907, p. 144), or $479 per capita.
This $479 each must feed and shelter and clothe and educate
and provide leisure and the joyous participation !n the common
providences of God for an average of three people, on about $160
each per annum, or about an average of $13.33 per month.
There can hardly be much margin of saving under the circum­
stances for sickness, ill health, accident, or loss of employment.
In New York City, with over four millions o f people, less than
1 in 40 has any real estate.
L E S S T H A N 100,000 O W N C IT Y .
[From the New York Tim es.]
Lawson Purdy, president of the board of taxes and assessments, in a
speech at the City Planning Municipal A rt Exhibition, said that the
value of the taxable property in New York City is nnv estimated to
be about $ 6 ,8 0 0,000,000. Two-thirds, or 67 per cent, .f this property,
he added, is land. Mr. Purdy said that it is estim ate! that less than
100,000 persons own every particle of the land.

Our wealth increases over $4,500,000,000 every year over and
above our expenses. What proportion does labor, the creator of
wealth, retain net out o f its own creation?
A beggarly part, Mr. President. Our national policy can be
improved; our national policy should be changed.
W e ought not to persist in a policy artfully designed to make
the rich richer and the poor poorer.
F A L SE STAND ARDS OF L IF E .

Piling up enormous wealth in few hands is setting false stand­
ards of life and making classes whose sympathies are very far
apart.
One can not help but be struck with the enormous cost of
hotel services, for example, in the New York hotels conducted
expressly for the patronage o f the rich ; $15 to $20 a day for a
bedroom, sitting room, and bath is nothing unusual; $15 for a
dinner for two persons is not regarded as extravagant; and
side by side with this will be found families who can not save
$30 net out of their labor of a year’s time.
This may seem unimportant; I regard it as a matter o f very
great importance, illustrating the grossly unequal distribution
o f the proceeds of human labor; a condition which pampers one
class and starves another; a condition which ouglt not to be en­
couraged by a nation which desires to preserve its liberties.
T IP P IN G .

The whole tipping system which in sections where these differ­
ences o f wealth are most pronounced is an ev dence offering
11: .T*on every hand to show chat*"the servants who render
service are not properly paid, and that the well-to-do class ought
voluntarily to pay the servants for every little act. This sys­
tem degrades the servant and puts him in an attitude o f a beg­
gar— a beggary which the giver of tips encourages in spite of
himself. The whole practice which universally prevails in
Europe emphasizes the relation of master and servant, of
master and dependent, in tvhich the servant is .o be thankful
for gifts, and it is injurious both to the one who gives and the
one who receives and illustrates the false standards o f living
which are being established in this country. Men who serve
ought to be properly paid in the first instance and not com­
pelled to be put in the attitude of beggars in order to make a
living. It lowers the moral tone o f the American Republic.
M O N OPO LIE S* E V IL

AND DANGEROUS M E TH O D S.

Mr. President, piling up stupendous wealth in a few hands is
dangerous to the welfare o f the country. The Senator from
89032—8445

Wisconsin, in his remarks on Senate bill No. 3023 a year ago,
pointed out that practically 100 directors, interlocked with each
other, controlled all of the great corporations of transportation,
telegraph, telephone, express, and industrials in the United
States. He gave their names and the corporations wT
hich they
controlled in part.
In the remarks which I had the honor to submit on February
25, 1908, upon this bill (S. 3023), I pointed out the ability of a
few men in New York to create a panic whenever they wanted
to, and I pointed out how they could profit by it.
A few men control the management of the banks in New
York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, with associate
banks throughout the country, and can make the stock market
go up or down as they please by the simplest of all processes,
to w it:
BY R E S T R IC T IN G

CRE D ITS

when they want the market to go down—
BY E X T E N D IN G C R E D IT S FREELY

when they want the market to go up.
The panic of 1893 was an artificial panic, because it was
brought about in this manner for the purpose of putting an end
to the talk of remonetizing silver, and as a political argument,
ingeniously and powerfully exerted, it did finally put an end
to it.
I was in the banking business myself at that time, and re­
ceived a circular letter from New York pointing out the mis­
chievous character of the discussion favoring remonetization of
silver; that it was driving gold abroad. Several letters fol­
lowed along the same line, and, I am informed, and believe, that
these circulars were sent out at the instance of a committee
representing banks belonging to the New York clearing house;
that it was the definite and predetermined policy then and there
to constrict credits; and that, finally, these banks struck the
crowning blow by “ calling,” in June, 1893, the large volume of
demand loans then on the street for immediate payment, when
the usual credit accommodations were already quite cut off by
these banks and their associate institutions and other associated
financiers.
When this panic was over the weaker elements of the financial
world by thousands had been compelled to give up their prop­
erties to the financial masters, who had accumulated cash for
the purpose o f taking over the property of less farsighted and
powerful operators.
I pointed out in my remarks February 25, 1908, the astonish­
ing manner in which these forces had caused the stock market
to go up and down by which the unwary have been fleeced of
their property during the preceding ten years.
The panic of 1907 was an artificial panic, brought about by
conspiracy, in my opinion, o f men discussed by President Roose­
velt as “ malefactors of great wealth.”
I think his description was precise and apt, and I think that
the Senate ought never to be content until a proper inquiry has
been made into the panic of 1907, to determine who the bene­
ficiaries were o f that artful, crafty, far-reaching, and terrible
conspiracy, which has thrown millions of men out of employ­
ment and brought tears and grief to the unnumbered women
and children in this land who have suffered the consequence of
that financial panic.
I was informed with regard to what might be expected to
happen nearly a year before it did happen.
The panic of 1907 was brought about by a prolonged bull
movement, free extension o f credits, maintaining stocks and
bonds at a high figure until in suflicient volume they were loaded
upon the unwary, to whom money was freely loaned on a proper
margin, and then began the process of restricting credits, slowly,
steadily, firmly, the masters of the market, the high priests of
monopoly, having accumulated an immense volume of cash and
cash credits, to be used when the market struck bottom. Thls
they did, with the most magnificent results, making unnunA>eY 1
millions out o f the weaker \ Auehts who had been led into the
trap of obtaining credits.
It is true that the panic resulted in paralyzing productive en­
ergies of the American people, disturbing credits throughout the
whole world, and throwing millions of men out of employment
and causing unspeakable suffering to many millions o f women
and children. But monopoly had its reward, if the accumulation
o f money beyond the needs o f a human being can be called a re­
ward ; if a callous heart and deadened sensibilities to the suffer­
ings o f human kind can be called a reward.
I wish to say to the chairman o f the Committee on Finance
that his committee is, in my judgment, honor bound to deter­
mine who the beneficiaries o f that financial panic were and to
take steps against the possibility o f its repetition. There was a
double purpose in this panic. One was that the very powerful
financially might double their holdings of property by smash­
ing values, accumulating cash and cash credits, and buying

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
in the stocks and bonds of weak financiers who could not stand
the storm.
Another purpose was to discredit Theodore Roosevelt, whose
neart had been moved by a resolute purpose to protect the
People against such sinister forces.
In his message of January 31, 1908, he said:
rp.

W H O C O M M IT H ID E O U S

W RON G,

tlono , attacks hy these great corporations on the administration’s acnew«n ave been £ iven a wide circulation through the country, in the
scion i pers and otherwise, by those writers and speakers who, conWeai«iy °*r unconsciously, act as the representatives of predatory
inimVif 0* Gie wealth accumulated on a giant scale by all forms of
unurh i ’ ranSlnK from the oppression of wage-workers to unfair and
the n, Kn0me methods of crushing out competition, and to defrauding
e
Wealth lic
stockjobbing and the manipulation of securities. Certain
m
ar> 7 me? of this stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every
of tea* i P^hinary decent conscience and who commit the hideous wrong
dinni.ii
our young men that phenomenal business success must orit an
“ e hasod on dishonesty, have during the last few months made
Their arent that they have banded together to work for a reaction,
ter « , e i eavor Is to overthrow and discredit all who honestly adminisanu p ' . *aw> to prevent any additional legislation which would check
e
whi r h . i n them, and to secure, if possible, a freedom from all restraint,
Unch
permit every unscrupulous wrongdoer to do what he wishes
a(A
0(1 Proyided he has enough money. The only way to counterto
e moveinent in which these men are engaged is to make clear
cne Public just what they are seeking to accomplish in the present.

33

I call attention to some of these figures, however: Adams
Express went from 114 to 315, about 300 per cent; the AllisChalmers Company went from 4 to 27, over 600 per cent.
Amalgamated Copper, one o f the giant concerns of this country,
from 33 to 130, 400 per cent. And so it goes on through the list.
THE MONOPOLY PROTECTING T A R IF F SHORTENS
THE LIFE OF LA B O R AND EXPOSES IT TO GREATER
M ORTALITY.

Mr. President, in the last forty years the world has wonder­
fully improved in medical knowledge. It has wonderfully im­
proved in inventive processes, which have led to increased
conveniences of life, which have developed the most important
economies o f production, manufacture, and distribution.
All of these things have tended to the prolongation of human
life where people could receive the full benefit of them; so
much so, that it is probably no excessive estimate to say that
the average o f human life in the well-to-do classes has been
increased by a period of ten years. It has been one o f the
wonderful developments of increasing modern intelligence.
It is a grievous thing, therefore, to observe that notwith­
standing these great benefits, which ought to be a common her­
The absurd fluctuations of stocks controlled by these high itage o f the human race, and notwithstanding the increasing
a^ciers, I set forth at the time, illustrate the unspeakable longevity of the well-to-do classes, the entire average of life
1 y of any citizen trusting himself upon a market capable of shown by the mortality tables has not been improved. The
J
C il unc°htrolled manipulation. Monte Carlo is perfectly inno- number of jiersons who die per thousand is substantially the same.
pC
Mr. President, I submit the comparative mortality statistics
de f
tbe side ° f this gigantic gambling house with its wonrfully improved modern machinery for misleading the judg- of our country and the other civilized nations of the world.
The mortality statistics exhibit the remarkable fact that just
ent of the ordinary citizen, with its secret pitfalls and inin degree as poverty obtains and governments permit monopoly,
qn?us traps by which to defraud our people,
n
spirit of monopoly—the idea of getting something for without protecting the weaker elements from dangerous ex­
othing—has done a great harm to the American people. Hun- posure, just in that degree the number o f deaths from all causes
, rods of thousands of people are the beneficiaries of it and rises in the annual average.
auy millions are the victims o f it. Those who are enriched
It is a very important matter, and it shows that just in de­
y it set new standards of extravagant living, of wasteful expen- gree as thoughtful men write their laws for the preservation of
iture, and of false pride and bad example, the imitation of human life to that degree is human longevity extended; to that
oeh has made the American citizen notorious throughout the degree there is the conservation of the best o f all national re­
'vhole world.
sources— the lives of the children, the lives of the workingmen
This bill, Mr. President, is a taproot from which monopoly and working women o f the country.
Lartjy draws its power, fattens, grows strong, and overshadows
The following table gives the number o f people per thousand,
»e land like an evil tree killing and impairing the life o f those who died in the following countries from 1903 to 1906 (p. 28 of
stand beneath.
the Mortality Statistics of the Census Office for 1907) :
The violent manner in which the monopolists of this country
ipKgle the stock market subjects it to tremendous changes from
Country.
1903.
1904.
1905.
1903.
*®e to time, as shown in the following quotations:
Y -these ranges are since 1900, and will be found in the New
°rk Times Weekly National Quotation Review, page 13. of Ceylon......................................................................
25.9
24.9
27.7
34.3
Hungary-------- ----------------------------------------------26.1
27.8
21.8
24.8
-l£toher 21, 1907:
High.

Spain_______________________________________
Low.
Ita ly.-------------------- ---------------------------------------

AldC ohE,xpre8fl.................................................
Am,ar f ainated Copper........................................
W
nan
Suear Co..........................
A£er.nan Grass Twine______________________
Arn^ £ an P ide and Leather................... ..........
A & an Snuff Co..............................................
AmpH^an §,teel Foundries.....................— ,------Ateh?s n - oolcn C °LalH^0D’ Topeka and Santa Fe...........................................................

Lew 1 1 and Ohio__________________ __________________
0 -0

henv^are’ J
IjRC,cawanna and Western..................................................
hubifh aSd 1410 Grftnde____________________________________ ,_____
Gen«r„i J?,outh Shore and Atlantic.......................................................
Gro ^ Electric............................................................................. .............
Iow«nL02 .hem Preferred........................................................................
Kan?wll? and Michigan___________________ _________________

& ‘v»uiS U Z * " ---------------S uucKor ice___

r

3 6 Erie and W'estem............................ ...........................................
Manhattan Beach............................................................................... .
Missouri, Kansas and Texas R. R____________________________
National Biscuit Co............... ..............................................................
New York, Chicago and 8 t. Louis.................................................
New York Central.................................................................................
Norfolk and Western___________ ______________________________
Northern Pacific..........................................................................______
Northern Central________________________________ _____________
Ontario Mining......................................... .............................................
Pennsylvania Railroad........................................................................
Peoria and Eastern...............................................................................
Pere Marquette_________________________________ _____________
Pullman Co.............................. ... ..... ......................................................
Reading............. .........-____________________________ _____________
Tennessee Coal and Iron___________________________ __________
United Rallwayg Investment_____ _______________________________
United States Cast Iron.............................................. - .....................
United States Express________________________________________
United States Leather.........................................................................
United States Steel___________________ _______________________

89032— 8445-------5




315
27
130
33
57
272
62
13
91
30
250
18
48
110
125
509
53
24
334
348
57
76
39
85
76
22
43
85
76
174
97
700
250
13
170
50
106
268
164
166
98
53
160
20
55

114
4
33
9
24
142
3
2
20
5
26
3
7
18
55
171
16
4
109
140
11
10
7
8
12
4
9
23
11
99
22
45
150
1
110
5
20
148
15
25
9
6
45
6
8

France----------------- ---------------------

----------------

Unite;! States---------------------------------------------Netherlands...........................................................
N orw ay.-------- --------------------------- ------- ---------Denmark_______ _____________ ______________
United Kingdom----------------- -----------------------Australasia.......................................... *................
New Zealand-------------------------------------------------

24.8
25
23.8
2*2.4
20
19.2
20
16.1
15.6
14.8
14.7
15.8
11.8
10.4

24.4
25.8
23.7
21.1
21.2
19.4
19.6
16.6
15.9
14.3
14.1
16.5
10.8
9.6

25.4
25.9
25
21.9
21.9
19.6
19.8
16.2
15.3
14.8
15
15.5
10.5
9.3

26.2
20.8
19.9
16.1
34.8
13.7
13.5
15.6
10.6
9.3

There is no table which has ever been read in this body that
has such vital significance as that table, which shows that if
the people of the United States took the same pains to pre­
serve the life o f the Nation that New Zealand has done, we
would save over six to the thousand; and, measured by our
80,000,000 people, it would mean a saving to this country of
over 500,000 lives annually. Pittsburg is no exception in the ex­
posure o f human life to bad conditions. It is merely illustrative.
The policy of New Zealand is expressed in their great motto,
“ Retter reduc^ want than increase w ealth; ” and when you
reduce want, even if it be at the expense of Increasing wealth,
you prolong human life. You make life worthy to be lived,
and you raise the standard of men physically, morally, and
spiritually.
Let our national standard be “ Jfen first, then wealth."
New Zealand has abolished monopoly and given a more even
distribution o f the opportunities of life to willing labor than
any other country in the world, and it offers to the United
States an example o f how to care for its people, because the
difference of these vital statistics o f an average of 9.9 deaths
per annum out o f a thousand and 16.3 per thousand, makes a
difference of 6.4 per thousand, or the vast multitude o f 512,000
people who annually die in the United States in excess of the
deaths that would occur under more favorable conditions of
life. Are they not worth preserving as fully as we agree on the
conservation o f our other national resources?




34

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

B E T T E R REDUCE W A N T THAN’ IN C R E A SE W E A L T H .
The death rates in our cities, especially the industrial cities,
seems to run still higher than the general average; for example,
In New Zealand they do not impose a tariff tax artfully
the annual average number o f deaths from all causes, per thou­ drawn to make the poor poorer and the rich richer. In New
sand population for 1901 to 1905, was as follows (id., pp. 91 Zealand they do not establish a tariff under the false pretense
and 9 2 ):
of raising revenue, where the legislator openly or secretly in­
In M assachusetts:
tends the tariff rate not to raise revenue, but to prevent importa­
Boston________
18. 8 tion, to prevent competition, and to protect monopoly in the
20. 3
Pall River____
2 0 . 2 home market.
L o w e ll________

Providence, R. I _ _ .
New York City____
Pittsburg, P a _____
Philadelphia_______
Norristown, P a____

18.
19.
20.
18.
24.

8
0
7
2
5

Notwithstanding the fact that the cities with their oppor­
tunity of cooperation in improved water supply, sewerage,
hospital service, and sanitary supervision ought to have better
health than those less favorably situated. The heavy death
rate in cities is due to the extreme high death rate among the
very poor, who are compelled to live in insanitary places and
are otherwise exposed, while the more favored population of the
cities would show a better rate than the average.
T a b l e 2 1 .— D eath, r a te s fro m a ll ca u s es p e r 1,000 population in regis­
tr a tio n S ta te s in 1900.
169. 77
Connecticut_____
174. 93
M aine___________
177. 36
M assachusetts__
138. 67
Michigan________
179. 79
New Hampshire.
1 7 3 .7 8
New Jersey_____
179. 21
New York_______
190. 78
Rhode Island __
169. 62
Verm ont_________

Table 95, Abstract of the Census, 1900, shows a heavy mor­
tality in manufacturing cities and in cities where negroes live.
For example, per thousand, from all causes:
Augusta, M e_____
Baltimore, M d____
Biddeford. Me____
Boston, M ass_____
Cincinnati. O hioHoboken. N. J ____
Jersey City. N. J
Pittsburg. P a ____
Philadelphia, P a -

26. 4

21. 0

.1

23 2

21

19. 1

21 . 1

20. 7

20. 0

21. 2

The Census Bulletin No. 77 gives an interesting account of
42 of the so-called “ dusty trades,” showing, for example, that
o f polishers who die between 25 and 34 years, 56 per cent of
such deaths are due to consumption. That the per cent of like
deaths due to consumption in each age group is very high; for
example, between the ages o f 25 and 34 years, 70 per cent of
the grinders who die, die of consumption; 59 per cent of the
tool makers, 50 per cent o f the gold-leaf makers 50 per cent of
brass workers, 56 per cent of printers, 66 per cent o f compos­
itors, 61 per cent of engravers, 52 per cent of stone workers, 50
per cent o f marble workers, 56 per cent of glass blowers, 46 per
cent of glass cutters, 44 per cent of plasterers, 49 per cent of
paper hangers, 62 per cent of lithographers, 68 per cent o f the
hosiery and knitting mill employees, 50 per cent o f spinners, 53
per cent of weavers, 50 per cent of rope makers, 55 per cent of
cabinetmakers, 62 per cent o f wood turners, 55 per cent of hat­
ters, 52 per cent o f silk-mill employees, 58 per cent o f uphol­
sterers, showing that workers in these dusty trades are very
liable to die of tuberculosis.
This table shows that the exposure of human dfe to dust and
hard conditions leads to the destruction of human life by tuber­
culosis in a serious way. I think these tables are of interest.
Mr. President, I deem it my duty to call the attention o f the
country to the fact that this death rate stands ia startling con­
trast to the death rate o f New Zealand, where the average for
1901 to 1906 was less than 10 deaths per thousand. It is equally
important, in considering the reason for the greater security of
life in New Zealand, to remember that in New Zealand the peo­
ple take great care to prevent the destruction of human life by
the extremes of poverty.
______________ -— .______ _______
Finally, Mr. President, T wish to call the attention of the
Senate to the fact that in New Zealand great pains is taken to
protect the people against monopoly, against the appropriation
o f everything in heaven and on earth, everything visible or in­
visible "by men, because they happen to have piled up available
credit at their command. In New Zealand they believe that
the land was made for the use and benefit o f the living genera­
tion, who make it desirable to live in. Therefore they control
monopoly in that great Republic. We have copied them before
in their political processes when we adopted the greatest o f all
means for the control of fraud in elections by the adoption of
the Australian ballot, and we will do well to imitate them in
other matters, where they protect the living generation against
the uncontrolled and natural ambition and gre?d o f man for
wealth and power.
89032—8445

T H E P U R P O SE S OP T A X A T IO N .

Constitutionally, a tax can have no other basis than the raising of a
revenue for public purposes, and whatever governmental exaction has
not this basis is tyrannical and unlawful. A tax on imports, therefore,
the purpose of which is not to raise a revenue, b u t to d isco u ra g e and
in d ir e c tly p r o h ib it so m e p a r tic u la r im p o r t f o r th e b en efit o f so m e hom e
m a n u fa ctu re, m a y -well be q u es tio n ed as b ein g m erely co lo ra b le, and
th e r e f o r e n o t w a r ra n ted b y c o n s titu tio n a l p rin cip les.
(Cooley, Prin.
Con. Law, 57.)
The Supreme Court of the United States, in the Topeka case, said :
“ To lay with one hand the power of the Government on the property
of the citizen and with the other to bestow it upon favored individuals
to aid private enterprises and build tip p r iv a te fo r tu n e s is n o n e th e less
a r o b b e r y b eca u se i t is d o n e u n d er th e fo rm s o f la w and is ca lled
‘ ta x a tio n .’
This is not legislation; it is a decree under legislative
form s.”
(20 W all., 664, in Loan Asso. v. Topeka.)

New Zealand pursues the policy
B ET T ER REDUCE W A N T T H A N IN C R E A SE W E A L T H

and imposes a 10 per cent inheritance tax on estates of one
hundred thousand and more, and imposes also an income tax.
New Zealand does not hesitate to protect her working units
from excessive house rent, providing concrete houses at a low
rate o f interest.
I am not unaware of the fact that this latter suggestion will
furnish occasion to the clamorous advocates o f special privileges
to burst into a chorus of denunciation against New Zealand,
that this is socialism. It is true that it is socialistic. But no
wise policy should be condemned by a mere epithet “ socialism,”
for our post-office system and common-school system, and
municipal waterworks, sewers and streets system are “ social­
istic.” New Zealand believes that the land upon which the New
Zealanders live and move and have their being ought not
to be monopolized by the very rich, nor used by them through
the acquirement of titles to dictate terms upon which the New
Zealanders shall be allowed to live.
The New Zealanders must be a very foolish people. They
actually believe that the land upon which they live should be
controlled in the interest of the living generation of men who
cultivate it and make it beautiful. I understand that this fool­
ish doctrine is contrary to the fundamental canons of monopoly.
It violates the fundamental law o f Continental Europe and
of Great Britain. It would overthrow the idea of the good
old days of William the Conqueror when he took charge of
Britain and parceled the lands among his warlike leaders.
These titles have thence come down in the good old way,
and the dukes and princes of England, and o f Germany, of
Austria, and o f Russia still hold the titles and in measure still
impose their will upon the inhabitants thereof. It is also true
that this special class of landed nobles, who exercised monopoly
o f the land, having finally learned that they could only eat so
much and only wear so much and only occupy a given number
o f palaces were obliged to throw out the younger brothers of
each succeeding family, and, human selfishnees having become
satiated in princely and luxurious living, have turned them­
selves to some extent to the service of their fellow-men. But
they have had the wisdom and been compelled to limit the ex­
tortion which their legal rights made possible.
Indeed, they had a great example in France, which was serv­
iceable in teaching them not to go too far. It was this monop­
oly o f land— the Senator from New York [Mr. D epew] to the
contrary notwithstanding—which caused the French revolution,
sending the land monopolists to the guillotine, and resulted in
the minute subdivision of the lands of France among those who i
tilled the soil and made it productive.
th e ^ l
greed o f modern times. T do not blame an Individual for ex­
hibiting the natural tendency o f humiin life. I do not blame a
man for becoming greedy for wealth and power; ail o f us have
these impulses; but I do blame the laws which persist in shel­
tering him at the expense o f those who are entitled to protection
in the constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.
I wish to call attention to what is the effect o f monopoly.
Monopoly is worse in Europe than in our country because under
the rule in Europe the land was monopolized in the first place
by imperial power, and the control o f the land was handed down
to dukes, princes, and various others, and those people who come
to our shores and are willing to submit to any kind o f treatment
do so because they come from conditions of monopoly more
severe than those which we have in our own country.

35

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD,
It was the monopoly of land which led to the French revolu­
tion, notwithstanding the comments of the Senator from New
York, who attributed it to other reasons. Thomas Jefferson,
when minister to France in 1785, pointed out the terrific effect
of land monopoly in that Empire. He said:

Then Joseph said unto the people, “ Behold I have bought you this
day, and your land for P h araoh : lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall
sow the land.
“ And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the
fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed
of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and
for food for your little ones.

The property of France is absolutely concentrated in a very few
hands, having- revenues of from half a million of guineas a year down­
ward. These employ the flower of the country as servants, some of
them having as many as 200 domestics, not laboring. They employ also
a great number of manufacturers and tradesmen, and. lastly, the class
of laboring husbandmen.. But, after all, there comes the most numerous
of all the classes; that is, the poor, who can not find work.
I asked
myself what could be the reason that so many should be permitted to
beg who are willing to work in a country where there is a very con­
siderable proportion of uncultivated lands? Those lands are undis­
tributed only for the sake of game. It should seem, then, that it must
be because of the enormous wealth of the proprietors, which places them
above attention to the increase of their revenues by permitting these
lands to be labored.

Mr. President, we probably in this day of greater liberty and
greater enlightenment would rise in revolution against the dicta­
tion of Pharaoh in this form, but the practice upon which
Pharaoh acted, the principle upon which he established a mo­
nopoly in a necessary o f life by the exercise of his legal rights
and thereby acquired, by mastery of prices, all of the property
of the Egyptians and made them his commercial servants and
slaves, are in full play in this Republic under the operation of
a thousand varieties of monopolies, dictating prices upon all
of the necessaries of life and gradually absorbing, I may say,
Mr. President, rapidly absorbing, all of the property of this
Republic.
Pharaoh and his captains gave the Egyptians four-fifths of
what they produced. The present masters of monopoly do not
give to labor so large a part o f what it produces. I have dem­
onstrated by Exhibit 1 the wages paid as compared to the
value of the gross product, and have demonstrated by those
tables that taking the raw materials at the factory and calcu­
lating the additional value created directly by labor, it does not
receive one-half of the value it actually creates, much less
four-fifths, which was the rule established by Pharaoh.
Mr. President, it may seem austere to recall the monopoly of
Pharaoh, but I think it very important that the Senate of the
United States should consider and feel itself more actively re­
sponsible for the development and care of the interest of the
productive masses o f the Republic. I have no desire to hold
the leaders of the Republican party responsible for the drift of
modern times. I shall be content to see them exert themselves
to retain its good features and restrain its bad features.
I am willing to exculpate them. I will be very glad to see
them take advantage of a great opportunity to make themselves
permanently the representatives o f the people if they will only
give those things to the people which they are in honor bound to
give to enable them to enjoy life, liberty, the pursuit of happi­
ness, and the fruits of their own industry, which are now filched
from them by prices 50 per cent higher than the prices of the
world.

I have always felt sorry for the French nobility, for the socalled “ flower of France,” and have wondered why it was they
were incapable of realizing the fatal danger which their greed,
their extravagance, and their frivolity engendered. They played
with a powder magazine of human passion which finally ex­
ploded.
Our laws should protect the people in the peaceful enjoyment
of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and o f the fruits of
their own industry. I f the laws fail, there will be built up in
this country a powder magazine of human passion that may
some day explode with fatal consequences.
A safety valve has been furnished, for possible danger to the land
monopolist and other thence engendered monopolists o f conti­
nental Europe, by modern transportation, which has permitted
their great surplus of population to go toother parts of the world
and build up homes by their peaceful labor, where they would
not be subject to princes or potentates or to tyranny in any form,
whether governmental, religious, or plutocratic; and our fore­
fathers came to this land to free themselves from this tyranny
and to establish a government whose fundamental doctrine was
that the precious privileges o f life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness were inalienable. That is to say, Mr. President, the
individual could not deprive himself o f them if he would; that
he had no right to deprive himself of these things.
It has remained for the representatives of the people in Con­
gress to permit the dangers of monopoly to grow up by special
privileges granted by statute, by building up a monopoly breed­
ing tariff, by which foreign competition has been cut off and
home competition controlled and commercial mastery o f our
People established by the organization o f trusts, by secret
agreements, and by gigantic mergers, which embraced in one
corporate body every competitor.
Mr. President, there is no evil to a free people more dangerous
in every way than financial and commercial monopoly.
When a monopoly is organized strong enough to dictate the
Prices of the product of labor, or to dictate the prices of the
necessaries of life to the laborer and the entire people, there has
also been established a commercial master on the one side and a
commercial slavery on the other. The Standard Oil Company,
Which fixes the price o f crude oil to the producer and fixes the
Price of kerosene and gasoline to the consumer, regardless of
values either to one or the other, exercises a commercial mas­
tery that differs in degree, but does not differ in kind with the
hiastery which Pharaoh exercised over the Egyptians when he
established a monopoly in corn in Egypt.
Mr. President, under the advice of Joseph, Pharaoh and his
captains stored all the surplus corn o f Egypt during seven years
of plenty. They exercised their legal rights. During the seven
years of drought which followed they had the richest monopoly
recorded in history.
The price of corn went up; the price o f corn went sky-high
under this monopoly o f the home market. The Holy Bible ad­
vises us that, in exchange for enough o f this monopolized
product—

W IIO

IS

G ETTIN G A L L

THE

N ET P RO D U CTS OF LABOR

IN

T H IS

COUNTRY?

Mr. President, it is perfectly obvious to thoughtful men that
the tremendous accumulation of wealth in a few hands is lead­
ing to the rapid monopolization of every natural opportunity.
Nearly all of our national transportation is so controlled. There
is obvious control by monopoly o f telegraph, telephone, the ex­
press, of lumber, of building material, of coal, of cotton manu­
factures and woolen manufactures, of farm machinery, of oil,
of iron, of steel and their products; and on the other hand w'e
have a rather pitiful condition of extreme poverty exhibiting
itself in all o f our great cities, side by side with this enormous
concentration of wealth.
Mr. President, I believe we have the best people in the w orld ;
that even our masters of monopoly have shown a greater meas­
ure o f liberality in their gigantic benefactions to the people
from whom their fortunes have been drawn than any men in
the history of the world. I rejoice in their benevolence. I
know that they are neither hard-hearted nor lacking in gener­
ous impulse; they have simply been following the rules of busi­
ness established by a rigorous commercial age, where “ divi­
dends ” were emblazoned on every battle flag and “ success ” —
“ financial success ” —was the only standard. It is no wonder
that the weak and the poor and the inarticulate mass have
been forgotten in the fierce contest for wealth and power.
We have a wonderful country and a great and magnificent
people. We have a great mass o f the middle classes of people,
who are not in penury, have neither riches nor poverty, but
Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land comprise the bulwark o f this Republic, whose patriotism, whose
of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they wisdom, whose penetrating intelligence can be perfectly relied
bought.
* *
*
And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of upon; and the petty larceny of the two millions o f our revenue
Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said. “ Give us by the sugar trust, to which they pleaded guilty in New York
bread, for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.”
within the last few days, being but a trivial circumstance be­
And Joseph said. " Give your c a ttle ; and I will give you for your
side the universal plundering of the national pocketbook by
cattle, if money fa il.”
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph, and Joseph gave them the wholesale fraudulent prices fixed by the monopolies of this
bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle country, our great middle class, conservative and sound, will
o f the herds, and for the asses.
soon correct these evils at the ballot box.
And the Egyptians then gave up to this triumphant monop­
I am deeply disappointed that the party in power has appar­
oly all o f their land in exchange for corn for bread.
ently lost its opportunity to serve the people by removing the
And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the tariff wall sheltering monopoly and by lowering prices in the
Egyptians sold every man his field because the famine prevailed over
United States.
them, so the land became Pharaoh’s . ,
89032— 8445







CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

36

M ONOPOLY H A S SU B JE CTE D LABOR TO IRREGU LAR E M P L O Y M E N T .
The American workman has been subjected to foreign pauper
The panic of 1907 was caused by monopoly and by the danger­ competition; he has been refused the right to organize for his
ous plutocracy our system has erected in the United States, own protection.
as I fully set forth on February 25, 1908. This panic threw
He has been denied his political liberty.
out of employment millions of men, two millions of whom are
He has been compelled to march in political parades against
out of employment now, according to the recent report of his will.
Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of
He has been compelled to vote against his conscience under
Labor, from whose report I quote:
the threat of being discharged or denied the opportunity of
Permit me to call attention to t h i s : A t the beginning of December, working for his living.

1908, I sent out a circular letter to the executive officers of a number
of international trade unions of America and got from them a report
as to the state o f employment and unemployment, and from the reports
which were made to me within fifteen or twenty days I culled the fo l­
lowing in form ation:
The blacksmiths report during the past year about 50 per cent of
the trade unemployed; those employed averaging about four days a
week.
Boiler makers and iron-ship builders, 30 per cent unemployed.
Boot and shoe workers, 25 per cent unemployed.
Bridge and structural-iron workers, 25 per cent unemployed.
Carpenters and joiners, 40 per cent'unemployed.
Wood carvers, 30 per cent unemployed.
Cement workers. 30 per cent unemployed.
Cigar makers, 10 per cent unemployed.
Commercial telegraphers, 15 per cent unemployed.
Coopers, 15 per cent unem ployed; two-thirds of the employed work­
ing half time.
Elevator constructors, 40 per cent unemployed.
Steam and hot-water fitters, employment in the W est f a i r ; in the
East fully 40 per cent unemployed and working about one hundred and
eighty days a year.
Freight handlers, about 30 per cent unemployed.
Glass-bottle blowers, about 20 per cent unemployed. On account of
conditions of the trade, no work is performed during July or August.
Window-glass blowers, 20 per cent unemployed.
Granite cutters, about 15 per cent unemployed.
Hatters, men working about three-fourths time.
Hod carriers and building laborers, 60 per cent unemployed.
Hotel and restaurant employees, 30 per cent unemployed.
Machinists, 20 per cent unemployed.
Railway maintenance-of-way employees, 25 per cent unemployed.
Butcher workmen, 40 per cent unemployed.
Coal miners, work about two hundred days during the year.
Painters and decorators, 70 per cent unemployed.
Pattern makers, 30 per cent unemployed.
Pavers and rammer men, 25 per cent unemployed.
Printing pressmen, 20 per cent unemployed.
Shipwrights, joiners, and calkers, 50 per cent unemployed.
Tile layers, “ state of employment very poor.”
Tin-plate workers, 40 per cent unemployed.
Tobacco workers, working on two-thirds time.
Iron molders, 70 per cent unemployed.
I am sure it is not an exaggeration to say that there are now in our
country, and have been with little variation since October, 1907, nearly
2 .0 0 0 . 000 of wage-earners unemployed.

THE

D EFENSE

OF

TH ESE

SC H E D U L E S

UNSOUND.

Mr. President, the chairman of the Committee on Finance, on
June 4, made the only defense which has been offered of these
high schedules, and in discussing the matter he said:
In general, it may be stated that the wages of textile operatives in
America are double those of England, France, and Germany. A very
exhaustive inquiry has recently been made into the subject of wages by
the British Board of Trade, which shows that in Germany the wages of
cotton weavers run from lGs. 6d. to 19s. 6d.. or from $4.12 to $4.S7 per
w eek ; that in France the wages run from 16s. lOd. to 19s. 2d., or from
$4.20 to $4.79 per week ; that in Great Britain the wages run from 16s.
to 24s. l i d ., or from $4 to $6.22 per week.
For the United States the Bureau of Labor, in Bulletin No. 77, July,
1908, shows that the average wages of ali cotton weavers for the year
1907 was $9.74.
In addition. I may state that in many of the fine
yarn mills of New England making high-priced fancy fabrics the weavers
earn from $11 to $13 per week.
Many of the fabrics that will be dutiable under these provisions are
valued at a dollar a pound. The cost of the cotton is 20 cents a pound
at the outside, leaving 80 cents a pound for cost of labor in various
forms in this country.
Suppose that that labor costs twice as much
in the cotton-manufacturing States of the United States as it does in
our competing countries abroad, it is easy to see by a mathematical cal­
culation that 50 per cent ad valorem, to say nothing about 45 per cent,
will not equalize the conditions on these various high-priced goods be­
tween our own and competing countries.
If this was an original proposition, and we were to submit to the Sen­
ate rates which were protective and adequate, in view of the difference
in the cost of production, we could not make them any lower than those
fixed in these specific rates which we have asked the Senate to adopt.

The chairman takes the wages of the cotton weavers of Ger­
many, France, and Great Britain for 1905, reported by the
British Board of Trade to Parliament, just after the panic,
and compares these wages with the weavers in the United
States for 1907, and withholds the statement made in the
report from which he quotes that the wages o f ribbon weavers
at St. Etienne, France, was twice as great in 1906 as in 1905
and 50 per cent higher in 1907 than in 1905.
The chairman does not point out that the spinners, both
male and female, in the United States, by these same tables,
Secretary Stra us . D o you mean by that that before that period those were paid less wages in the cotton industry in the United
2 .0 0 0 . 000 were employed?
States than they were in Germany or France. The male
Mr. G om pe rs . I do, sir.
spinners received $4.12 a week in the United States. $5.91 in
Secretary S tra us . Are there not always some unemployed?
Mr. G om pe rs . In some trades, some callings, and seasons, yes, s i r ; France, and $6.57 in Germany, and the spinners in the woolen
hut up to October, 1907, and for a few years just prior thereto, it was industries were paid $6.52 in the United States, $6.22 to $6.81
a practical fact that any man who could work could find work to do.
I in France, and $7.20 to $7.79 in Germany. The foreign weavers
refer to the condition now of the men who want to work and who can
were paid less than our weavers and the foreign spinners
find no work to do.
It is probably one of the greatest tributes that can be paid to all our were paid more than our spinners, and the chairman of the
people— and I think in a great measure that credit belongs to the organ­ Committee on Finance withholds this important fact.
ized workers, organized labor— that during that whole period of nearly
It is impossible to follow a leadership that is either careless
eighteen months, and two winters, with so vast a number of unemployed,
life and property have been secure and public order has been main­ or inaccurate in making statements for the guidance of the
tained : and I know of no force in all our country so potent as a con­ Senate.
The chairman has withheld information from this
servator of the public peace as the much-abused and maligned labor
organizations. In this morning’s papers we read of a demonstration body, and the quotations he offers, being a partial truth, are
of the unemployed in Berlin yesterday, where the sabers of the soldiery wholly untrustworthy and misleading.
were drawn to disperse hungry crowds.
It is set forth in the cable­
Mr. President, this is the only defense that has been made,
grams that the unemployed there proposed socialistic remedies for re­
lief.
I do not know of what those remedies or propositions for relief and in effect it amounts to this, that a pound of fabric o f cotton
consisted.
I take it that any proposition coming from the poor crowd costs 20 cents a pound for the cotton and 80 cents a pound for
of fellows who want work or relief would be regarded as extremely
the cost of labor.
radical. But the American workmen ask for no relief that can at all
The chairman proves too much; he leaves nothing for capital.
be construed as socialistic. The relief which we ask for the men
and women of our country who have been walking the streets in idle­ The statement is obviously false.
He leaves nothing for capital,
ness for eighteen months we ask upon high patriotic, practical, and for the enormous dividends paid by the cotton mills of his State.
humane grounds, and for good economic reasons. I know, of course,
He is flatly contradicted by the census, which shows that the
that we are often met, when these matters are presented, with the state­
ment that they are paternalistic, and that our form of government does total labor cost in the entire textile industry is 19.5 per cent of
not admit of the Government undertaking projects that would smack the gross value of the product.
of paternalism. Yet in the great calamity which overtook the people
He is flatly contradicted in his contention by the census re­
of Italy quite recently the Government of our country generously and
promptly appropriated $ 8 0 0,000 as the direct gift of the American
ports as to every schedule.
people as a whole
this in addition to the many generous contributions
He is flatly contradicted by Carroll D. Wright's report on rela­
of our people in their individual capacity. No word of adverse criticism
has been indulged in. On the contrary, the appropriate i of this vast tive labor cost in 446 individual cases.
sum o f money was looked upon as a duty which in common humanity
The aggregate value o f the products of cotton mills for 1900
the people or our country owed to a stricken people.
It is only re­ was $332,806,156 (vol. 10, Table 14). The materials used cost
ferred to to illustrate the thought that the lingering hunger and misery
due to the unemployment of our people, brought about by forces en­ $116,108,879 (Table 13), and the total wages (Table 9) amounted
tirely beyond their control, should receive consideration at the hands of to $86,689,752, and for cotton small wares amounted to $<13,194.
our government, both national and state.
THE

M O N OPO LY P R O H IB IT IV E

T A R IF F H A S
TYRANNY.

EX PO SE D

A M E R IC A N

LABOR

TO

T otal c o s t _______________________________________________________$332, S06, 156
Material c o s t ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ $ 1 1 6 ,1 0 8 ,8 7 9
Total wages-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - $86, 689, 752
Per cent o f labor to gross product----------------------------------------26
Average per cent of tariff rate fixed by the Senate bill—
47. 14

Mr. President, the monopolies established under the prohibi­
Approximately twice as much as the total wages paid the
tive tariff have almost entirely destroyed the organizations of
labor among their employees and have driven out in large meas­ American workmen, thus sheltering the manufacturer in mo­
ure the liberty-loving Americans and have introduced in their nopoly by excluding foreign goods.
The chairman of the Committee on Finance, in the face of
place foreigners, who know but little of liberty— Slovaks, Bul­
these census reports, rises in his place as an expert and tells
garians, Hungarians, Poles, Greeks, Italians.
89032— 8445

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
this Senate that the labor cost of these manufacturers is 80
per cent, when the truth is 26 per cent, and he justifies the cot­
ton schedules upon this gross and indefensible error.
Granting that foreign goods have no labor cost whatever,
26 per cent is the maximum schedule to protect the American
workmen; 26 per cent is the maximum average rate required
if the Republican platform is to be carried out o f providing the
difference in the cost o f production at home and abroad.
If the labor cost abroad is one-half the labor cost in the
United States, the rate required to prevent the foreign manu­
facturer from having the advantage in cheaper labor would be
26 per cent, the American cost, less 13 per cent, the European
c°st, or a net rate of 13 per cent.
The difference in the labor cost at home and abroad would
therefore be 13 per cent and not 47 per cent, as the schedule is
Written.
Mr. President, the gross error, to use the mildest terms possi­
ble, of the Committee on Finance and the advocates o f a pro­

37

hibitive tariff runs in like manner through other schedules,
the proof of which I submit. Taking the table of the com­
mittee itself in print No. 3 of April 12, 1909, page 68, I place
side by side with the proposed ad valorem rate the total per­
centage of labor cost to the value of the product, the proof of
which' will be found in Exhibit 1, taken from the census re­
ports, and in the volumes on manufactures, of census, 1900,
and is verified by the figures of the Committee on Finance giv­
ing wages and the value of products in columns 8 and 9.
I ask attention to the recapitulation compiled by the Commit­
tee on Finance April 12, 1909, and ask permission to print that
table with an interlineation which I have placed in it showing,
from the figures submitted by the chairman of the Committee
on Finance in that table, what is the percentage of wages to
value of product as shown in 1904.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the re­
quest of the Senator from Oklahoma? The Chair hears none.
The matter referred to is as follows:

Estimated revenues.
R E C A P IT U L A T IO N .

[Compiled by Committee on Finance, April 12, 1909.

The ad valorems are based on the dutiable values.]

Revenue under—

Schedules.

Value of mer­
chandise (duti­
able and free).
Present law
tact of 1897).

A—Chemicals, oils, and paints___________________
n—Earths, earthenware, and glassware_________
—Metals, and manufactures o f_________________
P—W ood, and manufactures o f__________________
i. Sugar, molasses, and manufactures o f______
F—Tobacco, and manufactures of___ ___________
Agricultural products and provisions_________
H—Spirits, wines, and other beverages__________
I—Cotton manufactures_____________ ___________
« ~ F la x , hemp, and. jute, and manufactures o f—
K—W ool, and manufactures o f__________________
Ij—Silks and silk goods-------- --------------------------------Pulp papers and books- ____________________
N—S undries......................................................................
Total from customs.............................. ...........

Proposed bill
(H. R. 1438).

$12,067,619.81
31,301,003.97
68,013,829..V
)
24,103,S10.!X)
92,781,081.69
20,959,03'.79
61,925.575.39
25,031,-129.91
Sl,Sr>.8M.07
114.172.202.94
C2.8iS.797.8t
38,613,819.20
20,005,023.62
135,821,481.03

$11,187,405.69
15,350,019.67
21,8 2,195.72
3,705,024.34
60,33S,.523.81
25.125,057.41
19,181,915.93
16,318,120.14
14,291,023.85
49 / 09,583.31
33,551,815.89
29,313,703.39
4,136,029.42
23,S93,513.49

$11,754,112.83
15,217,487.70
21,523,639.22
2,723,058.08
59,635,940.54
26,113,185.29
20,594,281.57
20,518,168.77
15,023,742.16
50,351,133.25
30,564,815.83
23,581,936.60
4,042,076.14
31,307,603.27

779,140,621.87

323,110,914.39

338,973,303.31

Pres­
ent.

Per ct. Per ct.
27.62
28.20
49.03
48.70
32.41
31.65
15.12
11.21
65.03
65.30
87.20
87.18
30,16
32.28
70.69
S3.83
44. SI
47.14
43.67
44.07
58.13
'58.19
52.33
00.76
23.67
21.88
22.50
23.06

8
37.1
12.7

6$14,258,2£6
154,652,719
652.109.633
378,461,021
23,536,189
62,640,303
100,839,004
43,924,676
217,955,322
27,22!,.574
135,069,063
26,767,943
123.903.633
<340,593,132
*

“ $572,848,476
420,944,049
3,130,253,195
1,393,489,978
413,333,428
331,117,681
2,194,833,891
474,487,379
1,014,094,237
185,094,092
767,210,990
133,288,072
548,957,239
“ 1,954,228,027

72,331,938,518

'13,534,180,743

~I8~9~
5.7
8.9
26.0
13.3
19.7
22.6
16.2
19.9

7.5
36.7
20.8
27.1
5.6
18.9
4.5
9.2
21.4
14.6
17.6
20.0
22.6
18,3

9,862,388.95

Net increase..................................................................
Total luxuries, articles of voluntary use, duti­
ab le.................................................................................
lQ tal necessaries, dutiable---------------- --------------- -

Volume
Per­
IX,
Census of manufactures, 1905“ centage
(calendar year 1904).
Census
of
1900A
labor
cost to
value
Per­
of
centage
prod­
of
Value of prod­ ucts by
labor
ucts, including wages
Pro­
custom work
Wages.
and
posed. cost to
value
and repairing. value,
of
as
prod­
shown,
uct.
1904A

Equivalent
ad valorems.

—

283,411,901.2S
189,728,717.59

149,857,283.47
179,273,627.92

160,451,103.74
178,519,199.60

52.48
36.77

55.47
36.60

_

_____ _____ —

|
338,945,001.07 —
Total entries for consumption, dutiable and free. 1,415,*02,281.78
23.95
■^otal necessaries, dutiable and free___________
178,519,199.60
1,125,990,3S3.50
15.85
----------------" Industries grouped to conform as nearly as possible with the articles enumerated in the respective schedules of the tariff law
Indus­
tries with products named in two or more schedules arc credited to the schedule which includes the major product.
The value of products
tor each group is the sum of ail products of all industries in the group, and hence includes a large amount of duplication due to the product
of one industry serving as material for another.
6 Should be $ 5 6 ,7 9 0 ,1 4 3 ; addition erroneous.
A Should be $273,95 9 ,3 2 0 (see page 6 7 ).
f Should be $2,2 7 7 ,8 3 8 543
''Should be $ 7 0 7 ,4 0 1 ,4 1 7 ; addition erroneous.
‘ Should be $1,495,6 8 0 ,4 3 7 (see page 6 7 ) .
'S h o u ld be $13 270 192 088
h Percentage of wages to value of product calculated and inserted by It. L. O w e n .
SC H E D U L E A---- C H E M IC A L S , ETC.

SC H E D U L E D---- WOOD, ETC.

Mr. OWEN. This table shows that the percentage o f labor to
G'-e value of the product in Schedule A, for example, by the very
figures given by the Finance Committee itself, is only 7.5 per
‘*ent, while the proposed schedule is 28 per cent—four times as
b !gh as the entire labor cost involved in the product.

In Schedule D the total labor cost is 27 per cent, and the
difference in labor cost in this country and abroad would be
134 per cent, not counting freight, which would be as much more
in favor of this heavy material; and here the proposed rate is
11 per cent, and this schedule ought to be absolutely free in
order to protect our forest and conserve our natural resources
otherwise, as well as supply our people with cheap building ma­
terial and our publishers with cheap paper.

SC H E D U L E B — G L A S S W A R E , ETC.

In like manner in Schedule B the total labor cost is 36 per
cent. The total labor cost in Europe, if it were half as much,
would leave the net difference in labor cost only 18 per cent, {
while the proposed tariff is 48 per cent for Schedule B.
SC H E D U L E C— M E T A L S , ETC.

In like manner Schedule C exhibits a total labor cost of 20
per cent. The difference in this labor cost and the European
labor cost, accepting the statement o f the chairman of the Com­
mittee on Finance that the labor cost in Europe is only half as
much, would be 10 per cent, and the difference in labor cost for
which the protection might be required would not exceed 10
per cent, but the proposed rate is 31 per cent— three times as
high as it ought to be for protective purposes.
89 0 3 2 — 8445




SC H E D U L E E-----SUGAR, ETC.

In Schedule E, sugar, and so forth, the labor cost is 5.6 per
cent; the difference in labor cost would be less than 3 per cent,
which would be more than offset by freight, and here the proIKised duty is 65 per cent, giving a complete monopoly to the
sugar trust, which takes nearly all the profit, leaving a small
fraction o f the profit to the sugar planter.
SC H E D U L E F ---- TOBACCO , ETC.

The total percentage of labor cost in tobacco manufactures is
18.9 per cent. The difference in this country and abroad, tak­
ing the word of the chairman of the Committee on Finance.




38

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

would be approximately 9i per cent; the ad valorem rate o f the
Senate bill is 87 per cent.
SC H E D U L E G-----A G R IC U LT U R A L , ET C .

Here the labor cost is 4.5 per cent; the difference in labor
cost could not possibly equal the freight, and these products
might as well be free, with some very minor exceptions, even
from a standpoint of absolute protection.
But instead o f corresponding with the rate required to pro­
tect, the rate is put at 32 per cent, which is perfectly silly, and
should not deceive the most stupid man that ever plowed a fur­
row. For example, the tariff on corn is 15 cents a bushel (par.
227), and the total amount imported in 1907 was 9,000 bushels,
and the amount raised was 2,595,320,000 bushels.
And the farmers o f the country are flattered with 15 cents a
bushel tax to keep the pauper labor o f Europe from running
them out o f their cornfields. The American farmer who does
not see the hypocrisy of this schedule and the profound con­
tempt which it exhibits for his intelligence is assuredly in­
capable of reason.
SC H E D U L E I ---- COTTON

M A N U FA C TU R E S.

The labor cost in cotton manufactures, according to the fig­
ures of the chairman of the Committee on Finance, is 21.4 per
cent. The difference in the labor cost in the United States and
abroad would be between 10 and 11 per cent. The schedule is
put at 47 per cent.
SCH ED U L E J ---- F L A X , ETC.

In like manner the difference in the cost of labor in the pro­
duction of flax, hemp, and jute goods is 7 per cent. The sched­
ule is 44 per cent.

The Senator from Montana, another one of the able de­
fendants o f this totally indefensible bill, with its monopoly-pro­
tecting schedules, thought it a sufficient answer to suggest that
tlxe Senator from Oklahoma could not expect to be furnished
with intelligence.
Mr. President, I invite the defenders of this bill to put upon
the face of the C o n g r e s s i o n a l R ecord an answer to these tables
which I have submitted, showing the relative labor cost of our
manufactures and the gross disparity of the schedules they
submit in comparison with the lower rates which would prop­
erly measure the difference in the cost o f production at home
and abroad.
The proponents of these schedules, in my opinion, can not an­
swer my objections without putting themselves to utter confu­
sion, if they answer in a spirit of perfect moral and intellectual
integrity and frankness, because it contains a multitude of items
which are practically prohibitive, which produce no revenue
worth mentioning, and has resulted necessarily in the exclusion
of foreign competition, followed by combinations in restraint of
trade and the establishment of monopoly prices—charging the
people too much for what they buy from monopoly and paying
them too little for what they sell to monopoly. This is why the
Republican organization pledged itself to revise the tariff and
made the people believe it would be a downward revision.
I give a table of examples of these prohibitive duties, to­
gether with the paragraph of the bill, duty, the revenue, and
the table from which the information is drawn.
These are but a few of the items which might be multiplied
indefinitely.
E x h ib it 14.

SC H E D U L E K -----W O O L, ETC.

It should be remembered that in products of wholesale inter­
national use our imports may be prevented by a small tax where
it makes the imports unprofitable, so that the prohibitive rates
which average just high enough to prevent competition, as shown
SC H E D U L E L-----S I L K , ETC.
Silk and silk goods: The difference in labor cost o f produc­ by the table below, serve as a great check to international
tion is 10 per cent, but the proposed tariff is 60 per cent, so as commerce and lower the amount o f revenue which we ought
to receive under a system of liberal imports and exports.
to insure a monopoly.
The trivial reductions claimed to liave been made by the
S C H E D U L E M ---- P A P E R , ETC.
Senate bill as amended are o f no consequence, because the
Pulp, paper, and books: In this schedule the difference in the rates lowered were so far above the prohibitive point that lower­
labor cost o f production at home and abroad is between 11 and ing the rates leaves them still prohibitive and reminds me of
12 per cent. The tariff schedule is 21 per cent.
the quotation of my colleague from Macbeth:
The difference in the cost of production measured by labor in
this country and abroad is about 8 per cent. The tariff is 58
per cent.

Then be these juggling fiends no more believed,
W ho palter with us in a double sense,
Who keep the word of promise to our ear,
And break it to our hope.

SC H E D U L E N ---- SU N D R IE S.

And. finally, in sundries the difference o f labor cost in this
country and abroad is 9 per cent, while the Committee on
Finance imposed an equivalent ad valorem o f 23 per cent.
I challenge the chairman o f the Committee on Finance to
answer this exhibit, and invite him to use all o f his experts,
and to put on the pages of the C o n g r e s s io n a l , R ecord his an­
swer, where it may be critically examined by the scholars of the
country.
I charge him before the country and before the eyes o f civil­
ized mankind with writing these schedules, under the pretense
of protecting the American workingman, far above the total
cost o f the labor in the gross product, which would not be justi­
fied even if the percentage o f labor cost in similar articles
abroad was absolutely nothing. But granted that the labor
cost abroad is one-half what it is in the United States, I put in
this table the maximum average rate, thus measuring the differ­
ence in the cost of production at home and abroad, and call the
attention of the country to it.
The defense o f these monopoly protecting schedules has been
as remarkable as the schedules themselves. To my inquiry as
to why the rates were not adjusted to the difference in the cost
o f production at home and abroad, the first defense was that
o f the Senator from New Hampshire, that the inquiry as to
what was the difference in the cost of production at home and
abroad was absurd.
Mr. President, I have demonstrated that the answer of the
Senator from New Hampshire is itself absurd, if it were offered,
in perfect good faith, as I am sure it was.
The next answer would appear to come from the Senator from
Massachusetts, who, having explained a question I did not ask,
saw fit to suggest he could not give the Senator from Oklahoma
the understanding with which to comprehend, and when I suc­
ceeded in enabling him to understand my question he confessed
that he was not prepared to answer it.
The Senator from Rhode Island, the chairman o f the Com­
mittee on Finance, whose genuine good temper at least I always
admire, suggested as a proper answer to my inquiry that I was
“ new to the Senate,” a polite way o f suggesting a lack of learn­
ing and understanding which is commonly practiced by the
managers of the committee on committees when they can not
answer intelligently an embarrassing question,
89032— 8445

T A X IN G

RA W

M A T E R IA L S

IN J U R IO U S TO A M E R IC A N
N A T IO N A L CO M M ERCE .

M A N U FA CTU RER S

AND

Mr. President, when we tax by the tariff the materials needed
by our manufacturers, whether such materials are raw mate­
rials or partly in the process of manufacture, we put our
American manufacturers at a serious disadvantage in competing
with foreign manufacturers in the markets of the United States
and obstruct our own commercial expansion.
Foreign countries provide their manufacturers in large de­
gree with free raw material, and therefore with cheaper mate­
rials needed for manufacture. Foreign manufacturers have,
therefore, this advantage over our manufacturers in competing
for the markets. Taxing raw materials used by our manufac­
turers will, for this reason, limit our foreign exports o f manu­
factured goods. This means limiting the production o f Ameri­
can factories. This means restricting the number o f our work­
men, lessening the demand for their labor, lowering their
wages; and, what is more, means also a smaller output and a
consequent greater cost to the consumer (over and above the
increased cost imposed by higher raw materials), for the reason
that the greater the output the more economic the production.
Cheaper material means a greater foreign market for Amer­
ican productions; it means increased demand for A m e r ic a n
labor; it means higher wages for American labor; and it m e a n s
cheaper prices for American consumers, always believing, as. I
believe, that the artificial prices now fixed by monopoly will be
in due season abated.
American manufacturers are at a further disadvantage be­
cause they sell to foreigners the goods needed in more advanced
manufactures cheaper than they do to each other icithin our
oicn borders. Because o f this, millions o f capital created by
American labor is going abroad to get the advantage o f these
cheaper prices and to employ, not American workmen, but for­
eign workmen. (See North’s report.)
ANT

OBSTRUCTION TO COMMERCE L IM IT S T H E OPPORTUNITIES FOR
LEGITIM ATE EM PLOYM ENT OF BOTH CAPITAL AND LABOR.

TH B

Mr. President, it is perfectly obvious, that having provided
a tariff high enough to equal “ the difference in the cost of
production at home and abroad,” so as to put our manufacturers

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
on a perfect level with the manufacturers of foreign lands in
the cost of production, that any further tax upon our imports or
our exports, or upon their imports or exports is merely a bar­
rier to a free interchange of commerce, limiting both our com­
merce and their commerce.
There is a very important factor in commerce separate and
apart from the question of equality of cost. We import woolen
goods, cotton goods, silk goods, and we export goods o f the
same material to the very countries from which we import such
goods. The factor entering into this proposition is not one of
cold economy alone, for it obviously would be more economical
to buy our woolen goods in our own country and save the dif­
ference of freight and the same thing would be true for the
Europeans— that it would be better for them to keep their goods
at home from a standpoint purely of economy.
But the question of economy is not the only factor controlling
or guiding exports and imports. It is a question of taste and
of personal fancy that causes Americans to buy French. Scotch,
or English goods, and which causes the Scotch, English, and
French to buy American goods. We enlarge their markets by
buying their stuff. They enlarge our markets by buying our
stuff. We increase the demand for their labor; they increase
the demand for our labor; and we export no more than we import,
for the volume o f our exports is determined by the volume o f our
imports (using these terms to cover credits and expenditures).
VO LU M E OF E X P O R T S CONTROLLED BY VO LU M E OF IM P O R T S.

%
This question can be reduced to a mathematical demonstra­
tion, properly interpreted. It is only necessary to take the
unit o f the export or o f the import to determine this question.
When the American exports $100,000 worth o f goods in any
form, whether in cotton bales or in cotton cloth, he receives
from his foreign customer a hundred thousand dollars in money,
or credit, which he may convert at his will into cash or into
goods, and his export will be balanced with an import or its
mercantile equivalent in cash, in credit, or expenditure abroad,
or with work performed, as in carrying freights, and so forth.
A vast multitude of such transactions do not alter this sub­
stantial truth. It merely enlarges and emphasizes it, and it
may be taken as a sound commercial maxim that our exports
are balanced by our imports and our imports are balanced by
our exports, and when we obstruct our imports we obstruct our
exports, and thereby diminish the world’s demand for the goods
of our manufacturers; we thereby diminish the world’s demand
for the products of American labor; we thereby diminish the
demand for American labor; we thereby diminish the employ­
ment of American labor and lower the wages of American labor.
BALAN CE OF TRADE.

[Giffen Essays in Finance, 161.]

Tables showing the balance of trade are apt to mislead men.
For example, our statistics will exhibit in one column our im­
ports, in another column our exports, and the balance is called
the “ balance of trade.” If we have exports more than we have
imports in these tables the balance of trade is said to be in our
favor.
This conclusion o f the balance being in our favor is unmiti­
gated nonsense. Whenever we ship goods from the United
States we get what our citizens regard as the equivalent, in
cash, credits, or other property.
He who attempts to draw any conclusion whatever as to a nation’s
Wealth or poverty from the mere fact of a favorable or unfavorable
balance of trade has not grasped the first fundamental principle of
Political economy.
(II. T. Ely, Problems of To-day, p. 2 8 .)

The plain truth is our statistics, showing merely “ exports ”
and “ imports,” do not and can not take into account our
credits abroad or the credits o f foreigners in the United States.
They do not and they can not take into account the payment by
the United States of exceeding $100,000,000 annually for ocean­
going freight and passengers carried exclusively in foreign bot­
toms. These tables can not take into account expenditures of
tuiiaens o f the United States abroad, which probably exceed
$100,000,000 per annum.
These tables do not take into account millions of dollars
shipped abroad by foreigners working in the United States.
These tables do not take into account numerous foreign in­
vestments made by citizens of the United States in foreign
lands and by foreigners in our land.
These tables do not take into account even the transfer of
great estates from the United States abroad by international
marriages.
The plain truth, which can not be disputed without stultifi­
cation, is this, that for every export we receive its equivalent
In cash or credit, and for every import we pay in cash or credit.
The available gold in the world, which is the basis o f what we
call “ cash,” is a comparatively small amount. The total gold
in the United States amounted to one thousand five hundred
8 0 0 3 2 — 8445




39

and ninety-three millions December 31, 1906. (Statistical Ab­
stract of the United States, 1907, pp. 742.)
The annual production of gold in the world amounted to four
hundred millions in 1906. Germany had over a thousand mil­
lions in gold, and France about a thousand millions in gold, and
the British Empire about a thousand millions in gold in 1906,
and all of the gold money on earth combined did not exceed
seven billions.
No thoughtful man will pretend that we can pursue a policy
by which our exports would be paid in gold and not paid in the
goods and credits and properties of foreign countries. It can
therefore be taken as true that our exports are paid for by im­
ports, and that when we limit our imports we limit our exports
and our national commerce under a laic as fixed as the law of
gravitation.
Mr. President, the Senator from New Hampshire made a
single defense with regard to these schedules which I desire
to answer, and it is the only defense, outside of that of the
chairman, so far as I have observed in the R ecord , that I re­
gard as meeting the matter in any degree, and that is the state­
ment, in effect, that by lowering these schedules we would in­
vite into this country the imports of other countries, which
would throw out of employment our own laborers.
This theory, Mr. President, is not sustained by the theory
o f economic teaching which shows that inevitably exports are
always paid for by imports and imports are paid for by ex­
ports. If we examine into the individual transactions of which
the aggregate is composed, we will observe that when any
American ships abroad any export, whether it be cotton or
cotton goods of any kind, he is immediately paid in cash or
cash credits or its equivalent, and therefore there comes back
to the United States the immediate equivalent of that which
the American exports. That individual export is instantly
balanced. Since the whole must be composed of its several
parts, it follows that exports are paid for by imports and im­
ports are paid for by exports, and when we reduce the tariff
and invite into our country foreign exports in effect we stimu­
late American industries; we enlarge the productive power
o f the American fa ctory; we increase the demand for labor
and the employment of capital; and we put ourselves in the
attitude o f shipping abroad more things than we now ship and
enlarging both our exports and imports in like volume. I think
the reason why our imports and our exports compare so un­
favorably with the other nations of the earth is largely because
we have followed the Chinese method of excluding, in large
measure, the products o f other lands.
I wish to call attention to our status as to imports and ex­
ports per capita.
C O M P AR ISO N OF T H E

CO M M ERCE OF T H E U N ITE D
CO U N T R IE S.

S T A T E S AND O TH E R

We plume ourselves on our tremendous commerce in exports
and imports when, in point o f fact, our rank among other
nations of the world in the quantity of our foreign commerce per
capita is entirely discreditable to us. In the quantity of our
exports and imports we rank far inferior to every highly civi­
lized country in Europe, as the following table will exhibit,
taken from the Statistical Abstract of the United States for
1907, page 73S:
impor-ts and exports per capita of countries, 1906.
Country.

Sweden------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imports.
17. S
O
34.87
70.23
53.77
93.90
45.08
22.53
21.25
02.31
64.82
25.86
2S.05
184.3(5
36.22
29.23
81.97
68.45
21.13

Exports.
22.10
54.87
85.70
79.70
75.30
39.84
29.25
29.89
66.06
55.55
24.77
22.56
143.01
21.91
22.93
59.97
42.49
38.34

The imports of the German Empire, of France, United King­
dom of the Netherlands, of Norway and Sweden, of Switzer­
land, exceed their exports by hundreds of millions, but the ex­
ports of Siam, Egypt, Peru, British Indies, Haiti, Cuba, Mexico,
Russia, Santo Domingo, and the Congo have their exports ex­
ceeding their imports, and we are not in a good class if civiliza­
tion and intelligence are considered.




40

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

We are in the activity of our foreign commerce, however, de­
cidedly ahead of the Congo Free State, Persia, Peru, Paraguay,
India, Siam, and Turkey. Our country can feel but little pride
in the school of political economy, if organized blind greed can
be called a school of political economy, controlling the United
States and its pitiful comparison with the foreign output of
the other intelligent nations of the world. Let us at least equal
Great Britain, which has learned the economic truth that pro­
hibitive tariffs obstruct and do not promote commerce, and let
us act upon that policy, retaining our tariff for revenue, high
enough for honest incidental protection and no higher.
Our patriotic citizenship has been grossly misled by the
leaders of the party in power as to our comparative commercial
activities.
The growth of our exports and imports show a small relative
increase:
Our total im ports:
1881______________
1 8 9 0 ______________
1 9 0 0 ______________
1 907______________
Our total exp o rts:
1 881______________
1 8 9 0______________
1900______________
1 9 0 7 ______________
Population in—
1881______________
1 8 9 0 ______________
1 9 0 0 ______________
1907 (estimated)

6 5 0 ,0 0 0 ,
773, 000,
830, 000,
1, 415, 000,

000
000
000
000

883,
845,
1. 370,
1, 853,

000
000
000
000

000,
000,
000,
000,

58, 000, 000
62, 000, 000
75, 000, 000

88 , 000, 000

It will be seen from these tables that notwithstanding the
tremendous improvement in modern machinery and the in­
creased output from that source, and the wonderful growth of
seagoing vessels and their freight-carrying capacity, our exports
and imports have about doubled in twenty-six years and have
not increased much faster than our population. This is a dis­
creditable showing to the intelligence of the American people.
It will thus be seen, Mr. President, that our exports and im­
ports are small compared to the exports and imports o f na­
tions whom we have been taught to believe inferior to us; but
in the building o f a nation we are ourselves vast consumers of
our own products, and this must stand to our credit.
It will also be seen that our exports and imports have not
grown in the last quarter o f a century much more rapidly than
our population, which shows in fact that we have not kept pace
in foreign exports with the enormous productive capacity of
modem machinery and invention.
These are facts worthy o f consideration, which tend to show
the natural consequences o f obstructing our imports by pro­
hibitive taxes, by vexatious and difficult regulations; and the
present bill is peculiarly unwise because instead o f providing a
substantial reduction on the prohibitive tariff rates and re­
moving the obstructions to our commerce it has utterly failed
to do so. On the contrary, it has increased many items and
the average of all items, and the crowning absurdity is offered
in proposing to penalize foreign countries, who are already
largely excluded from our markets, by threatening them with a
25 per cent advance on rates now largely prohibitive unless
they promptly remove within the year the tariff obstructions
which are obnoxious to us, and thus we invite the retaliation of
the nations of all the world. Nations are composed of individ­
uals, and the law of human nature which governs the individual
will govern nations to a substantial degree.
OUR NATIONAL PROSPERITY IS NOT DUE TO A PRO­
HIBITIVE TARIFF, BUT IN SPITE OF IT.
Mr. President, it has been a common practice for the advo­
cates o f the high tariff to claim that the prosperity of the people
o f the United States and the employment of its people is due to
the so-called “ protective tariff; ” nothing could be more utterly
fallacious.
Modern prosperity is due to the dissemination of human
knowledge through Ihe.pri.uliug jji'ess. inventionii o f labor-saving
machinery, hundreds of thousands o f inventions under the re­
ward o f personal patents granted by the United States, granted
by Great Britain, by Germany, by France, by Norway and Swe­
den, by Italy, by Japan, by every civilized country in the world.
The United States has granted over 900,000 different patents
covering art in manufacture, but the art to which we are chiefly
indebted for our modern prosperity is the development o f paper
making and the printing presses, by which the learning and
the knowledge of all men is made the common property of every
man and enriched him beyond all computation.
Out of these inventions have sprung the incredibly cheap
manufacture of cloth and fabrics of every description; o f metals
in a multitude o f forms, from Bessemer steel to the Waterbury
watch, made by machinery and distributed to man at an in­
89032— 8445

credibly cheap price. The telegraph, the telephone, the modern
railway, the mail service, and every agency of civilization
have been brought into service by the wonderful increase
o f the intelligence of man. China has just completed its
first railway built by Chinese engineers and workmen, and soon
will be the joint heir of the wonderful increase in human
knowledge.
All of the nations of the world prosper in this magnificent
development o f the human race, due to the increased intelli­
gence o f man, due to modern processes, springing chiefly, and
above all, from the great invention of Gutenberg.
Mr. President, not long since I stood upon the banks of the
Niagara River. Down the canal below the great falls I saw
a great wood yard, and saw two men passing pieces o f wood
to an endless belt. I followed it down the bluff nearly 200 feet;
below a giant penstock of 7 feet in diameter delivered a col­
umn of water upon a turbine wheel developing over 1,000 horse­
power, which caused to spin with lightning speed French burr
wheels, against which these pieces of wood were placed and
pressed by hydraulic pressure.
They melted almost instantly, and the macerated fiber by
an endless belt, passing immediately to the paper factory on
top of the bluff, was automatically delivered into a circular vat
with moving arms; adjacent was a man engaged in putting
into this vat sizing; the prepared mixture was fed upon an
endless belt, porous—the water dripped through, the sheet of
wet paper emerged, passing through a series of rolls, the last
ones heated by steam, and at the end of the comparatively small
room the material which a few minutes before had been logs of
wood appeared as rolls of news paper ready for the Hoe press.
At Herald square, New York, I saw these same rolls being
fed like lightning into giant printing presses and emerging a
modem newspaper, a miracle o f design; hundreds of thousands
o f copies turned out in a few short hours, full of learning,
literature, art, full of business, full of wit and humor, full of
the news of the whole world gathered together by the ablest men
with the aid o f the telephone and telegraph; filled with beautiful
illustrations and photographs o f everything conceivable.
Mr. President, where is the advocate of the prohibitive tariff
so lacking in common sense or intellectual integrity that he will
assert that these great advances of the human race, which are
common to all the civilized nations, whether they have or
whether they have not a protective tariff, nevertheless enjoy
all of these things. Let those who believe that these things are
due to the protective tariff support this bill and applaud it.
But those that see that these things are due to the development
of the human race and to the providence o f God can be misled
by no such shallow sophistry.
Mr. President, England has been very prosperous; she is the
mistress of the seas; the sun never sets upon her dominions;
her wealth is enormous. The prosperity of England is not due
to the protective tariff, but to the policy of the greatest freedom
of international commerce.
France and Germany have the protective tariff and are like­
wise prosperous, but they are prosperous in spite of the pro­
tective tariff and not because of it. The prosperity of the
whole world is due to the increasing intelligence of the human
race, its mastery over the forces of nature, its substitution of
machinery for the labor o f man.
“ Protectionists justly contend that the high tariff of 1897 has
not ruined the foreign trade of the United States, which on both
its import and export sides has exhibited a great advance.”
Undoubtedly this contention is true, but the obstructions inter­
posed in commerce has not served to make the imports and
exports o f the United States contrast favorably with the ex­
ports and imports o f other nations. The imports and exports of
the United States do not compare favorably with those of the
civilized nations of the world, as I have already shown.
One thing should be settled for all time, and that is such
prosperity as we have can not be due to the artificial obstruc­
""•■■■ - *•
tion o f our Intel national commerce. ....... .
HOW T H E PRESEN T SYSTEM

W A S E S T A B L IS H E D .

It would seem incredible that the monopoly engendering
policy could be established and persisted in against the will of
the people, and I shall endeavor to show how this has occurred
and its proper remedy.
In 1856 both parties were agreed on a low revenue-producing
tariff. For fifteen year everybody had been content with the low
Walker tariff o f 1846. The exigency of the civil war required a
high tariff for the extra revenues demanded at that time.
Like all tariffs this Morrill tariff o f 1861 raised the prices on
the consumer and gave the American manufacturer a special
opportunity to make money at the expense o f the consumer.

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
When the war was over the question of lowering the tariff
begun to be considered.
The Protective Tariff League was thereupon organized,
with far-reaching 'affiliations, powerful press agencies, with
an educational bureau which instructed every boy who ap­
proached the voting age throughout the United States in the
sophistry of a high tariff, appealing to his patriotism to
stand by American labor. This policy has had abundant
success, but it could not have succeeded except for the political
changes in party administration which had taken place prior
to the war.
This change to which I refer was the transfer of the power
directly from the people through the agencies of precinct con­
ventions, nominating delegates to county conventions, county
conventions composed of delegated delegates to select delegates
for the state convention, state conventions composed of dele­
gates delegated by delegated delegates.
These political functionaries were thrice removed from the
People, the state delegates being delegated by county delegates,
the county delegates being delegated by precinct delegates,
and the precinct delegates probably delegated by the local rep­
resentatives of what is known as the “ machine politician ” and
bis petty circle.
In machine politics the precinct manager will call a primary
at some place convenient for his control and probably inconven­
ient for the attendance of the people. He will notify his strikers
hi advance and be sure of a sufficient number to put through a
slate and plan agreed upon. In this manner the machine can
evade a wholesome public opinion and manipulate the delegates
to the county convention, and with this machine county conven­
tion a machine state convention is assured.
In this manner any person having an important material in­
terest to serve, such as establishing or maintaining a policy of
government, permitting some people to tax other people for their
benefit, have a political opportunity.
All that the Protective Tariff League and its commercial and
Political allies had to do under this system of government
Was to have a proper bureau established, see to it that repreaentatlves of the system were in place to manage the machine
Politics; and in this way they have been able to control
dominating conventions—county, State, and national—and the
will of the great body of the people could not make itself
freely felt, being unorganized and not clearly realizing the
manner in which the monopoly-producing system was taxing
them.
The Protective Tariff League and the representatives of
^offish commercial interests, the beneficiaries o f the manipula­
tions of our statutes, have intertwined and interwoven them­
selves with the organization of the Republican party in such a
Planner as to be inextricable. They have successfully appealed
to the well-known patriotism of the great body of Republican
aitizens and skillfully trained them to believe as true, thiugs
which were not true in fact, and were sophistical in reason and
unsound in conclusion. This process has gone on until it has
become impossible to separate the political and patriotic impulse
from the commercial, so that men of high character and upright
Purposes find themselves used against their will and are more
often used in total unconsciousness of the fact that they are
being used by commercial interests under the color of patriotisin and party pride. The machine method o f politics is a bad
Method and ought to be abated.
BO TH

P A R T IE S

HAVE

BEEN

AFFECTED

BY

T H IS

nominate and elect his representative in county, State, and Na­
tion, and to establish an “ initiative and referendum,” with its
salutary check on the representatives of the people.
Machine politics glorifies organization and forgets that the
best safeguard of society is to allow the actual sentiment of
the majority of the people having appreciable education to rule
and not take that power out of their hands by clever machine
manipulation.
When we follow delegation of power from the citizen to the
primary delegate, from the primary delegate to the county
delegate, from the county delegate to the nominee for the
legislature, from the member of the legislature to the United
States Senate, a Senator chosen in this manner is four degrees
removed from the people.
Through machine politics selfish interests can exercise an
undue influence in our parties and in our administration of
government. I can not but feel that the influences of mo­
nopoly in this country are in present control; that this bill is
written to serve their purposes; to make the rich richer
and the poor poorer; to benefit the few at the expense of the
many.
In making this comment I do so with the profound convic­
tion that this condition can not be greatly prolonged, but that
the American people will in a short time cause the laws to be
so amended as to promote the greatest of all modern needs—
the more equitable distribution of the proceeds of human labor.

E V IL .

It is this method which sometimes sends to the Senate of the
United States representatives who would not be the choice of
*be people at a popular election.
It is natural therefore that the election o f Senators by direct
vote, or the nomination o f Senators by direct vote should not
oe approved by those who have been or might expect to be in­
debted to machine politics hereafter for their own preferment
It w a s a recogn ition o f th is abuse, which has grow n up in
our country, that led the Democratic party at Denver, which.
I freely confess, is not entirely purged of this evil o f machine
politics, to put the query to the people of the United States,
Shall the people rule?
The true remedy for this condition is not by an iuconsequen
tial debate with the chairman o f the Committee on Finance,
who has spent months and years over these schedules without
ever touching the only question of importance, to wit, the d if­
ference in the cost of the production at home and abroad, but
it is to be found by reducing the political machine to innocuous
desuetude and the restoration of the people’s rules by the di­
rect primary, allowing each citizen, regardless of party, to
89032— 8445--------6




41

o

Ill fares the land to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.

Mr. President, I do not desire to detain the Senate longer. I
have taken some pains to show that in the protected industries
the labor of the country is not paid as well as in the unprotected
industries; that labor has continued to receive a diminishing
part of the proceeds o f labor; that labor has not received a
fair share of its own product. I have undertaken to show how
labor was naturally oppressed by the upbuilding of gigantic
monopolies in this country, whose policy was to close up fac­
tories, to pay labor as small a wage as possible, to raise prices,
and to limit the output; to tax the people as high as they
thought the “ traffic would bear,” and to control their wageearners, both commercially and politically. That is a very
natural thing for them to do. They are not greatly to blame if
the law permit. The lawmaker is greatly to blame if the law
continues to permit.
But I have also demonstrated that our census shows, in the
most overwhelming and convincing manner, that this bill has
paid no attention whatever to “ the difference in cost of pro­
duction at home and abroad; ” that that difference, even if the
foreign manufacturer paid nothing whatever for his labor,
could not exceed nineteen and a fraction per cent for pure pro­
tective purposes, while many of the rates in this bill exceed 100
per cent. Having shown this, having pointed out what the
effect has been upon the wages and general conditions of labor
and upon the mortality of human life under this system of gov­
ernment which we have been following; having submitted the
suggestions for the amendment of these conditions, in the hope
that perhaps in the future they may be of some use to future
students of these questions, I am done.
I have called attention to the policy of New Zealand, which
protects human life first, which has controlled monopoly, in
order that the poorer and the weaker elements of society may
have a better opportunity to live. I have called attention to
what the necessary result is o f gigantic fortunes piling up until
the fortune of a single individual will reach nearly a thousand
millions; that its only effect upon this country must be to
absorb all of the transportation and transmission companies,
all the coal mines, all of the purchaseable lumber and ores, all
of the purcliaseahle real estate, all of the things visible and in­
visible desired by men and generally grouped together and called
the “ opportunities of life.”
There can b e b u t one result, and the Senate is in honor
bound to consider this and to find a way to control it and cor­
rect it. in order to protect the children and the women, as well
as the men of this country.
I can do nothing more than appeal to the Senate and to call
their attention to their responsibility in this matter. Having
done so. I have discharged the only duty which it is possible for
me to discharge. I have given many days of hard labor to this
question, and of unremitting industry, in a desire to place
upon this record the truth, and nothing but the truth, in
the hoi>e that it might appeal to the leaders of the Senate, and,
if it did not, that it might appeal to the people of the United
States.




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