Speech #500087251

Foss & Co.. who carry on the business in my district. write me: We have been for the past few years paying probably an average of two hundred men per day in our business the year through. and the time is approach. ing. and very soon. when we must abandon the enterprise unless we are protected from the direct competition of Austria. where labor receives less equivalent than in any other civilized country. The exporting agent of the manufacturers writes me that he has paid as high as $5.oU0 for freight on these boxes in a single month. and that he has collected more than $1.750.000 for the shooks thus exported from this country. all of which came from the foreign purchaser and was distributed among the manufacturers. workmen. and farmers of my section. He says: Under the law of 1875 the rebate on our American boxes exported in shooks and returned filled with fruit was about 5 cents a box. which gave our box a value in Sicily above the foreignmade box and enabled our manufacturers to compete with the pauper labor of Italy and Austria. Now. as the tariff is under consideration. and as our Democratic friends wish to reduce the revenue and increase exports as a basis for more permanent employment for our laborers. we hope you will join them to the extent of our request for amendment. The cost of this product is very largely for labor and transportation. and we can not compete with Italian and Austrian labor and pay American wages.