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Samuel Gompers on Labor.

"tracts from remarks of Hon. CHARLES DICK of Ohio, in daily Congressional Record, June 9, 1900.

1893.

"Since August of this year we have been in the greatest industrial depresin this country has ever experienced. It is no exaggeration to say that are than 3,000,000 of our fellow-toilers throughout the country are without ployment and have been so since the time named. This lamentable indusal condition is attributed by many to various causes, and it seems to me at the accurate statement of them here is both requisite and appropriate, that we may be better enabled to so frame our legislation that it may ad to a proper solution of the problem dependent upon the wage-workers † solution. Never in the history of the world has so large a number of ople vainly sought for an opportunity to earn a livelihood and contribute the support of their fellows. In a society where such abnormal conditions revail there must of necessity be something wrong at the basic foundation."

1897.

"That terrible period for the wage-earners of this country which began a 1893 and which has left behind it such a record of horror, hunger, and disery practically ended with the dawn of the year 1897. Wages had been teadily forced down from 1893 till toward the end of 1895, and it was ariously estimated that between two million and two and a half million wage-earners were unemployed. It is agreed by all that the wage-earners are the principal consumers of American products, and it necessarily follows that a reduction in wages involves a diminution in the power of consumption, and consequently a proportionate decrease in production, and, naturally, also in the force of labor required for the production. A reduction of wages, therefore, results in an increase in the army of the unemployed, and any circumstance or combination of circumstances that will check reductions in wages, and hence the diminution of consumption by the masses, is a humane act, based on the soundest laws of economics and of progress."

1899.

"The revival of industry which we have witnessed within the past year is one for general congratulation, and it should be our purpose to endeavor to prolong this era of more general employment and industrial activity. In this effort no power is so potent as organized labor, if we but follow a right and practical course. It is beyond question that the wages of the organized workers have been increased, and in many instances the hours of labor either reduced or at least maintained. The report which your officers are enabled to submit to this convention, so far as the growth and progress of our movement during the past year are concerned, is of a most gratifying character. At last we are realizing some of the fruits of the years of unceasing sacrifice, devotion, and uninterrupted work of our fellow-union

ists."

The first of these quotations by Samuel Gompers is taken from page 11 of the Proceedings of the American Federation of Labor Convention held on December 11, 1853, during the last Democratic administration of our national affairs.

I

The second statement, that of 1897, is taken from a signed article by Samuel Gompers, presiden of the American Federation of Labor, published in New York on January 1, 1898. would draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to the difference noticed by the president of the American Federation of Labor within less than a year of the inauguration of President McKinley and the present Republican Administration.

The third quotation is from the report of President Gompers of the convention of the American Federation of Labor held at Detroit on December 11, 1899. It is a standing memorial to the benefits derived by American labor under a Republican administration and Republican laws that are designed to protect our wage-earners and enable them to secure the highest possible rate of wages in return for the labor which they have to sell.

It is but right to state here that Mr. Samuel Gompers, the president of the American Federation of Labor, is now, and always has been, an uncompromising Democrat. His frank and unsolicited testimony to the better conditions of labor under a Republican administration should, therefore, have some influence with our friends on the other side.

"That some may be rich show and hence is just encourage Let not him who is homeles but let him labor diligently example, assuring that his when built.”—Abraham Linc

that others may become rich,

industry and enterprise. wn the house of another, pne for himself; thus, by

be safe from violence

as one of the best records of legislation for the benefit of all Ź people that has ever been made. The railroad rate law, the pu

food law, the meat inspection amendment to the agricultural propriation act, the free alcohol law, the consular reform leg lation, the employers' liability law, all enacted at one session Congress, make a record of legislation which has not been par leled in many years.

The amendment to the interstate commerce law known as ti Elkins law of 1902, and the rate legislation just enacted, couple with many decisions by the Supreme Court of the United State render it reasonably certain that practices which had grown u by large shippers of commodities demanding and receiving fro common carriers exceptional rates for transportation not enjoye by others is prohibited by law and penalized both as to the rai way or other common carrier and the shipper. So that it i safe to say that each citizen in the United States will be treate the same as every other citizen. With equal privileges to all there is no reason to doubt that by enterprise, industry, and com petition under equal conditions monopoly is decreasing and wil finally cease and a square deal afforded to every competing citizen We are willing to stand by the record and trust to the intelligence of the people as to whether they will continue this record of prosperity and wise regulation of abuses, or accept the preachings and promises of the demagogue.

WORLD'S IRON INDUSTRY.

The Question as to Supply Lasting a Century.

Consul J. C. McNally sends a report from Liège on the international iron and steel industry and the outlook for the future, based on trade journal statements. It follows:

It is estimated that the iron ore used to date aggregates 3,300 million tons, and that the consumption of raw iron has multiplied twenty-five times. In 1800 the world absorbed 2,000,000 tons, while at the end of the century the figures were 50,000,000 tons. The following table will show the rapid increase of cast iron since 1800, in millions of tons:

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The following table shows the great increase in the average annual output of the individual blast furnaces of each country:

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The manufacture of cast iron for the years 1904-5 is estimated as follows:

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President Hadfield, of the Iron and Steel Institute of England, said in May last that the demands of the century in cast iron, taking as a basis the production of the last thirty years, would mount to about 54.000,000.000 tons of ore. If this hypothesis is eted, which is considered arbitrary, the stock or supply on would be exhausted before the twenty-first century,

Samuel Gompers on Labor.

daily

Extracts from remarks of Hon. CHARLES DICK of Ohio, in daily Congressional Record, June 9, 1900.

1893.

"Since August of this year we have been in the greatest industrial depression this country has ever experienced. It is no exaggeration to say that more than 3,000,000 of our fellow-toilers throughout the country are without employment and have been so since the time named. This lamentable industrial condition is attributed by many to various causes, and it seems to me that the accurate statement of them here is both requisite and appropriate, so that we may be better enabled to so frame our legislation that it may tend to a proper solution of the problem dependent upon the wage-workers for solution. Never in the history of the world has so large a number of people vainly sought for an opportunity to earn a livelihood and contribute to the support of their fellows. In a society where such abnormal conditions prevail there must of necessity be something wrong at the basic foundation."

1897.

"That terrible period for the wage-earners of this country which began in 1893 and which has left behind it such a record of horror, hunger, and misery practically ended with the dawn of the year 1897. Wages had been steadily forced down from 1893 till toward the end of 1895, and it was variously estimated that between two million and two and a half million wage-earners were unemployed. It is agreed by all that the wage-carners are the principal consumers of American products, and it necessarily follows that a reduction in wages involves a diminution in the power of consumption, and consequently a proportionate decrease in production, and, naturally, also in the force of labor required for the production. A reduction of wages, therefore, results in an increase in the army of the unemployed, and any circumstance or combination of circumstances that will check reductions in wages, and hence the diminution of consumption by the masses, is a humane act, based on the soundest laws of economics and of progress.'

1899.

"

"The revival of industry which we have witnessed within the past year is one for general congratulation, and it should be our purpose to endeavor to prolong this era of more general employment and industrial activity. In this effort no power is so potent as organized labor, if we but follow a right and practical course. It is beyond question that the wages of the organized workers have been increased, and in many instances the hours of labor either reduced or at least maintained. The report which your officers are enabled to submit to this convention, so far as the growth and progress of our movement during the past year are concerned, is of a most gratifying character. At last we are realizing some of the fruits of the years of unceasing sacrifice, devotion, and uninterrupted work of our fellow-unionists."

The first of these quotations by Samuel Gompers is taken from page 11 of the Proceedings of the American Federation of Labor Convention held on December 11, 1853, during the last Democratic administration of our national affairs.

The second statement, that of 1897, is taken from a signed article by Samuel Gompers, presiden of the American Federation of Labor, published in New York on January 1, 1898. I would draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to the difference noticed by the president of the American Federation of Labor within less than a year of the inauguration of President McKinley and the present Republican Administration.

The third quotation is from the report of President Gompers of the convention of the American Federation of Labor held at Detroit on December 11, 1899. It is a standing memorial to the benefits derived by American labor under a Republican administration and Republican laws that are designed to protect our wage-earners and enable them to secure the highest possible rate of wages in return for the labor which they have to sell.

It is but right to state here that Mr. Samuel Gompers, the president of the American Federation of Labor, is now, and always has been, an uncompromising Democrat. His frank and unsolicited testimony to the better conditions of labor under a Republican administration should, therefore, have some influence with our friends on the other side.

"That some may be rich shows that others may become
and hence is just encouragement to industry and enter
Let not him who is homeless pull down the house of ar
but let him labor diligently and build one for himse
example, assuring that his own shall be safe f
when built."---Abraham Lincoln,

Agriculture.

Nothing can give a more comprehensive view of our present agricultural conditions than the following extracts from the last report of the Secretary of Agriculture, December, 1905.

To the President:

I have the honor to submit herewith my ninth annual report as Secretary of Agriculture.

The well-being of the American farmer is a matter of profound interest to the entire country. It is, therefore, in the highest degree gratifying to present for your consideration the following evidences of the unprecedented prosperity which has in this and recent years rewarded the diligence of the farmer and the efforts of this Department on his behalf.

Farmers' Wealth and Well-Being.

Another year of unsurpassed prosperity to the farmers of this country has been added to the most remarkable series of similar years that has come to the farmers of any country in the annals of the world's agriculture. Production has been unequaled; its value has reached the highest figure yet attained; the value of the farmers' National surplus still maintains the magnitude that has built up the balance of trade by successive additions for many years sufficient to change the Nation from a borrower into a lender; there is a continuation of the unprecedented savings that have embarrassed local banks with their riches and have troubled farmers to find investments; and, as if all of these manifestations of a high degree of well-being were not enough, the farms themselves have increased in value to a fabulous extent. Farm crops have never before been harvested at such a high general level of production and value. The partial failure of two or three second-class crops makes no apparent impression upon the great aggregate of all crops.

After much laborious collection of information an estimate of the value of the crops of 1905 and of all other farm products has been made, as was done last year. The census's detailed statement of the value of all farm products was taken as the basis, and the various items have been brought down from year to year in their quantities and values. For such crops as will later receive a final estimate by the Bureau of Statistics of this Department, the figures herein used are subject to small correction. All values adopted for the various products are farm values, and are in no wise to be mistaken for exchange, middleman's, or consumer's values.

High Crop Values.

Corn has reached its highest production with 2,708,000,000 bushels, a gain of 42,000,000 over the net lower year, 1899. In value, also, the corn crop of this year is higher than that of the next lower year, 1904, by $128,000,000, and the total value may be $1,216,000,000. No other crop is worth more than half as much.

Hay. Second in order of value among all kinds of crops is the hay crop, which takes the second place back from the cotton crop, which held it for the two preceding years. Many hay crops have exceeded in tons the product of this year, but because of high prices the crop reaches a value of $605,000,000, which is higher by $34,000,000 than the value of the crop of 1893

Cotton, including seed, stands third in value among the leading crops of the year, although some uncertainty still remains concerning its quantity and value. It can only be said that its value, including seed, is expected to rise well toward $575,000,000, and will be nearer to that figure, or above it, in proportion as expectations of cotton planters are realized with regard to er prices.

182

Wheat.-Fears last year that the United States had fallen to the level of its consumption in the production of wheat were illfounded. The short crop of that year is followed this year by the second wheat crop in size that this country has ever produced, 684,000,000 bushels, and the value of this crop, $525,000,000, overtops the highest value before reached, in 1891, by $11,000,000.

Oats.-Fifth in order of value among the crops of the year is the oat crop, with 939,000,000 bushels, or 50,000,000 bushels under the highest production, in 1902. In value as well as yield the oat crop of this year has been exceeded in only two previous years, amounting to $282,000,000, only $22,000,000 under that of 1902.

Potatoes.-Next after oats comes the potato crop, which has been a partial failure and falls below the highest production of preceding years, that of 1904, by 72,000,000 bushels; but in value the crop has done better since it occupies the fourth place from the highest, and is valued at $138,000,000, or only $13,000,000 below the highest preceding value, that for 1903.

Barley. The high price of barley during the last three years has much increased the size and value of this crop, so that it now occupies seventh place among the leading agricultural crops. In quantity the crop of this year, 133,000,000 bushels, is third among annual barley crops, though only 7,000,000 bushels under the highest crop, that of 1904, and has a value of $58,000,000, or only $4,000,000 under the most valuable crop of this cereal, that of 1902.

Tobacco, like potatoes, is an undersized crop this year, as it was last year, and, considering the difficulties in the way of placing a value upon it at this time, an estimate of $52,000,000 may be too low. At any rate, because of high prices, the entire crop almost exceeds the highest value yet reached, that of 1899.

Sugar Cane and Sugar Beets.-Although unrelated in culture, the common purpose of growing sugar beets and sugar cane permits their combination in a statement that their united value this year is estimated to be in the neighborhood of $50,000,000. This is a farm value for the raw material from which sugar, sirup, molasses, and feeding stuffs are derived in processes of manufacture.

Rice. The rice crop is not available as some other crops which are not mentioned here, yet its remarkable position entitles it to notice. Its production increased from 250,000,000 pounds of rough rice in 1899 to 517,000,000 pounds in 1903 and to 928,000,000 pounds in 1904; but the extraordinary production of 1904 fell to 637,000,000 pounds this year, and, although second in quantity, this year's crop is probably worth more than the crop of 1904, which was valued at $13,892,000.

Exceptional General Level.-While it may be observed that only one crop-corn-reached its highest production this year, four crops reached their highest value-namely, corn, hay, wheat, and rice. The general level of production was high and that of prices still higher, so that no crops for which separate estimates can be made fall below third place in total value compared with the crops of preceding years, except potatoes, barley, tobacco, rye, and buckwheat. The cereals, including rice, more than maintained their previous strong position in production, and their aggregate yield is 4,521,000,000 bushels, with a farm value of $2,123,000,000, or $145,000,000 over last year.

Dairy and Poultry Products.

Butter and Milk.-Both butter and milk have higher prices in 1905 than in 1904, and these, combined with increased production permit an estimate of the value of dairy products at $665,000,00 or $54,000,000 above the estimate for last year. No crop but co produces the income that the dairy cow does.

The farmer's hen is becoming a worthy companion to his cow The annual production of eggs is now a score of billions, and, after supplying the needs of factories, tanneries, bakeries, and other trades, they are becoming a substitute for high-priced meats, besides entering more generally into the every-day food of the people. Poultry products have now climbed to a place of more

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