Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1892 — Mincemeat of Peck's Report. [ARTICLE]

Mincemeat of Peck's Report.

How much the Republican earty has invested in Peck’s report, before and since its publication, is not known. It Is, however, probable that before the' end of the campaign they will be willing to give twice as much to blot out of •existence all memory of both Peck and his report; for the Democratic press is 1 swiftly proving the falsity-*! the claims' of one and making mincemeat of the; other. Not only is the report a lie on' its face—inasmuch as detailed state-ments-et forty-seven of the sixty-eight i industries reported show that these contain 400,000 employes, while the whole sixty-eight cental* but 285,000, but so far not a single Individual has been found whose wages have advanced $23 because of the McKinley bill, though ■every Democratic paper in New York; State is searching for this individual, ■ and some are offering premiums te bring him to the surface. But most im-; partant of all, and in spite of the factl that the records are burned, all of the• industries that have been investigated , through the laborers in them disprove, the report as far as they are concerned. Here are a few specimens: George McVey, a prominent officer in the Piano-makers’ Union, says there has been do increase in wages since 1891, and instead of benefiting pianomakers the McKinley law has actually injured them. He says he has been thirty years in the piaao business and has never know* the piano trade to be so dull la New York as sow. Increased duty on music wire and other raw materials, he thinks, is partly responsible for this dullness. Peck’s report said wages of machinists had been increased from 10 to 25 1 cents per day in 1891. August Wald nger,'delegate of the German Machinists’ Union, and Andrew Gunn, exPresident of the Amalgamated Society ■of Engineers, Blacksmiths and Pattern- ; makers, both assert that the McKinley bill has not helped machinists, and that there have been reductions, but no advances, since 1889. George K. Lloyd, delegate of the Tin and Sheet Iron Union, says that wages have been stationary in his industry for several years, though Peck credits it with an advance.

Peck says the wages of brewers were advanced oO per cent, in 1891, or from $101) to $l5O per month. Mr. Seifert, Secretary of tue Master Beer Brewers’ Pool, says that wages have been unchanged for seven years, and that the highest paid are but $lB a week. Peck says that bakers' wages were advanced from sl.66jf in 1890 co $1.83£ in 1891. Henry Weisman, editor of the official journal of the Bakers’ National Union, says there has been no increase of wages in three years, and that they are extremely low—in certain quarters as low as $1.50 and $2 per week. Mr. Weisman also declares that neither confectioners nor confectioners’ helpers have had their wages increased since 1889, as Peek reports. Peck says that wages in the clothing industries have been advanced about lo per cent, since 1883. Mr. Charles F. Belchers, General Secretary of the United exarment Workers of America, says that the tailors did get an advance of 5 per cent, in 1890, but that the wages of cutters had been stationary instead of being advanced irom 25 cents to $5 per week, as Peck says. Mr. Walter Westbrook, a Republican, and Master Workman of Local Assembly 2853, United Clothing Cutters, K. of L., also says there has been no change in the wages of cutt.rs since 1886. Peck says that the wages of upholsterers and cabinet makers were increased from Bto 25 per cent. Melchor Meyer, Secretary of Furniture and Cabinet-makers’ Union No. 7, says that the wages of workmen in bed, bedding, mattresses, chairs, lounges, extension tables, and upholstery trimmings were not increased last year nor this year, for the reason that the men were not organized. Cabinet-makers won an advance of 5 to 10 per cent, in 1891, he says, becaqgQ thjy were organized and midi a good flghJ. Peck says that outside of the lasters, who suffered slight reductions, the most of the employes in the boot and shoe industry had their pay advanced last year, Mr. W. L. Brower, the President of the General Council of the Shoemakers, says that wages of shoemakers in this State have been going down since 1888, aryl have declined 25 per cent, within a year. Peck says that carpet workers have had their wages advanced since 1890. The employes in Higgins’ big carpet factory, in New York, say that there have been no advances in three or four years.

Peck saye that the wages of carriage and wagon makers have been greatly advanced. August Ehser, Secretary of the United Carriage and Wagon Makers of New York, says that instead of an increase the men have been having their wages gradu illy reduced, and that the reduction during the past four years amounts to from 10 to 15 per cent. And these are the results of inquiry, not of protected manufacturers who receive the protection bonus under obligation to turn it over to their employes, but of the employes themselves who are supposed to know whether or not they have received what was intended for them. A possible explanation is that the manufacturers, who figure in Peck’s report, have received the bonus, but so iar have been too busy to make the division and are now holding the fund in trust for their employes. Altogether it seems probable tba 1 ; Peck was too prompt In delivering his goods to the Republican party, and that their value would have been enhanced a thousand fold if delivery had been withheld until about Oct. 31.