Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 September 1890 — THAT MELTON OVERCOAT. [ARTICLE]

THAT MELTON OVERCOAT.

Toledo Blade. A number of free trade papers are publishing tables showing the difference in price of a five-pound Melton cloth overcoat between England and this country, and twisting into an argument for free trade. We copy the following table, which purports to show the items of the cost of such a coat in London and New York: New York London, present free trade, tariff. 2’4 yards of melton. 89 00 118 00 Trimmings Cost of making 8 00 18 00 Cutting J 1 00 2 00 Total cost *24 00 850 CO Add 25 per cent, minimum profit i 6 00 .. 12 50 Selling price i - 830 CO 162 50 Which showing makes the coat cost $32.50 more in New York than in London; and the free traders howl that this is because of the tariff, and that it must, therefore, be abolished instan tor. * Now, as there arein-this, our city of Toledo, as good merchant tailors as

can be found anywhere, the above table was submitted to the one whose establishment happens to be nearest the Blade office—Mr. D. S. Applegate, As he read it, astonishment vifus depicted on his face, and he at once de* nounced the figures as to the American cost as utterly misleading. He gave the following figures, saying he would be glad any day to make a Melton overcoat, of the very best quality of imported cloth, at that rate: 2’yards double-weight Melton at 3->——SU 25 Trimmings, best possitle qu.lityl2 56 ‘ ntting.- ■ ~ 1 —8 00 Making. 6 0y Total..*-.: 32 75 Profit, 25 per cent 8 It Total cost— 49 91 He further® stated that Americanmade Melton is every whit as good as the English made, both as to the durability and appearance; that he can buy the very best'American Melton direct from the manufacturers at $3 per yard, which would make the coat figured above cost $35.31. The difference between it and the Lohdon-made coat is simply in the-cost of the labor, for the Americamm ide Melton sells just as cheap here as the English-made does in London. Here is another proof that the tariff is not a tax—for if American Melton, just as good in every respect, Sells here as cheaply as English-made does in London, the only person who pays the duty is the man who has his overcoat made of imported instead pf American goods. If one had the patience to take up every free trade assertion of this sort and analyze it, the result would be the same in every ease. He would find that The tariff is not a tax !