Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 June 1891 — COST OF PROTECTION. [ARTICLE]

COST OF PROTECTION.

AN OBJECT LESSON FROM PLATE GLASS. What We Pay to Protect the Plate Glass Men—Home and Foreign Prices—What Labor Gets—Enormous Profits for the Manufacturer. It is announced in the trade papers that “the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company, of Creighton, Pa., have increased their capital stock from $2,000,000 to $3,500,000, this being found advisable by the enormous increase in the business. They have works at Creighton, with a monthly production of 100,000 square feet of polished plate glass; works at Tarentum, with a monthly production of 150.Q00 square feet, and at Ford City, with a monthly production of 250,000 square feet of polished plate glass.” A little calculation will show how much it costs the country to protect the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company. Protectionists boast how protection has bro’t down the price of domestic plate glass from $2,50 per foot to an average price of eightyfive cents per foot. Accepting their figures, the total price of the 500,000 squ re feet made by the Pittsburgh company per month would be $425,000. Our glass companies do not work all the year round; but allowing ten months of work for the Pittsburgh company, it would have a gross income of $4,250,000 per annum. Now the reports of the treasury department show that the plate glass imported last year was invoiced at slightly less than than thirty.three cents per square foot At this rate the ten months’ output of th? Pittsburgh company could be imported at a total cost of $1,650,000, a saving of $2,(500,000. In other words, the consumers of plate glass in this country are compelled by law to pay a tribute of $2,600,000 per annum to this single company over and above the cost of the same quantity of glass imported and laid down in New York. Or if this concern should work twelve months in the year, the price of its total product would be $5,100,000, of which, $3,020,000 would represent the extra tariff price. The high protection onplate glass, equal to 141 per cent, on the largest sizes, shows itself in the yearly dividends o’ this Pittsburgh concern. In 1889 its dividends were 34f per cent., as testified in court by one of the company, and its shares, with a par value of SIOO, are now worth S2OO.

Notwithstanding the high profits which this company is making by virtue of high protective|duties, it does notfor that reason pay its labor any higher than non-pro-tected labor. In no industry are the hours of labor longer than in this, and in none is the work harder. And yet while these manuiaoturers charge for their glass all that the tariff will allow, the wages of the workmen are lower tnan those paid .to laborers anywhere else in the United States for work equally difficult and exhaustive and requiring equal skill. The manufacture of plate glass is divided into four separate and distinct processes and departments: The casting hall in which the glass is cast and the rough plate rolled. The grinding of the rough plate with sand. The polishing of the plate by the use of emery, rouge and felt. The cutting and preparing of the finished plateh for shipment. The most difficult and severe labor is performed in the casting hall, but in grinding and polishing the greatest skill is required. In the following table the wages of the most important workmen only are given. A day’s work is from ten to twelve hours, more usually the latter, especially in the casting hall:

CASTING HALL. Daily wages. Master teaser, $3 00 Pourers and skimmers, 2 75 Kiln teasers, 2 50 Kiln mouthlmen, 2 00 Rough cutter, 3 00 grinding room. Boss layer, 3 00 First layer, 2 25 Seeo» d layer, 2 00 Third laver, . 1 75 First tableman, 2 50 Second tableman, 1 75 Cannelman, 1 50 Matcher, 2 25 POLISHING ROOM. First layer, 2 75 Second layer, 2 00 Third layer, 2 15 Fourth layer, 1 90 Mixers, 1 80 Matcher, 2 00 CUTTING ROOM. First cutter, 2 50 Second cutter, 2 25 Third and fourth cutters, 2 00 Fifth cutter, 1 75 Packer, 2 25 Helpers, 1 J 25 f 1 65 The above are- the wages paid by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company at their works at Tarentum and Creighton, Pa. At th< ir plant in Ford City the workmen earn much less, in some cases 40 per cent, less than the above.

There are eight companies in this country engaged in making plate glass, having a combined capacity of about 10,000,000 feet per annum. At the prices already quoted this amount would cost the consumer $<,500,000 if bought in the home market; but it imported it could be had for $3,300,000. That is to say, we pay about $5,200,000 a year to protect our eight glass concerns. It is said that they all average above 25 per cent, in profits every year. In order to make the thing look less palpably absurd we pretend that we give this protection for the benefit of labor. But there are only about 3,000 laborers, including women and children, employed in the plate glass industry. In order to protect these we tax ourselves about sl,700 for aach one of them. The above tables show that only a small part of these laborers get as high as three dollars a day. Working ten months in the year, therefore, the highest priced labor in this industry can earn only S7BO. The consumer votes taxes to protect the laborer, but the manufacturer pockets these taxes in his 34 per ce t. dividends. Does it pay the people of this country to protect plate glass? -♦♦ . , Tfae finest Cream in town, as, . King’s Restaurant.