Mr. Archibald Coats, the head of the Paisley concern, when twitted with using his monopoly to put up the price of thread, insisted that the advance was due entirely to the higher costs of materials. Moreover, he said, the concern was not a monopoly, that there were in the world 180 thread concerns outside of those in which he was interested. Mr. Coats’s materials were higher—cotton, fuel, spool-wood, had advanced, but on the other hand, Mr. Coats himself called attention to the savings he and his colleagues effected by their combination, both in manufacturing and in selling. These economies the representatives of the American end of the Trust told the Industrial Commission in 1900 were “immense,” “tremendous.” Mr. Coats stated in his report of 1906 that the profits of his concern in the second five years of the combination—that is, after the price of thread went up, and also after the price of materials had gone up—were nearly a third greater than in the first five years. They certainly were highly satisfactory,—a profit of $12,636,000 a year on a capital of $48,600,000 is doing well! The fact seems to be that through a monopoly in this country which it was possible to perfect only because of the high tariff on spool cotton which had cut off all competition from the 180 concerns which in free-trade England might affect him somewhat, Mr. Coats was able to sell his thread here at a higher price than he did in England and to increase his profits in five years by some 33½ per cent, and this in a time when his materials had largely advanced. That is, Mr. Coats and his friends had been able to make the millions of this and other lands bear all the fluctuations and vicissitudes of the thread trade. Whatever happens, he could protect himself and his favored workmen from sharing any of the losses of his business; he could even increase his profits.
One of the necessary articles which steadily advanced in price after the Dingley Bill passed, was shoes. It was an advance which was particularly hard on the poor, for shoes are one of the heaviest expenses in clothing a family. One of the budgets reported in a recent investigation of living expenses in New York City was that of a family of four persons, respectable, hard-working, and anxious to get ahead. Their total income was $600. These four persons kept themselves “neat and clean” on $40.00 a year. Out of this $40.00, $11.81, _or over one-fourth of the total, went for shoes and mending shoes_. In another budget of a larger amount ($895) $61.90 was spent for clothing in a family of eight persons, and out of this $8.00 went for shoes for the father, $1.25 for the mother, $8.33 for the six children, or $17.58 of the entire appropriation for clothes and shoes. In the budget of a shop girl there is perhaps no one item which costs more anxiety than that of shoes, none more important. She _must_ have them. They should be strong and weather-proof, for she must go and come in pouring rains and drifting snows. They should be well fitting, for she must often stand in them all day. The amounts spent in keeping themselves shod vary greatly, of course, according to the care of the girls, the distance they walk, the quality of the article bought; but when compared with the total allowance for clothes, the result is something appalling. Among the budgets of a recent investigation, was one of a woman forty years old, who had worked sixteen years at $6.00 a week in a well-managed New York factory. She sat at her work. She could have earned $8.00 a week by taking a place at the counter, but argued that the better clothes required and the wear and tear of standing would be really more expensive, so kept the $6.00 place. By limiting food she could save $1.00 a week. This gave her $53.00 a year for doctor, dentist, amusements, clothing, and “extras.” She spent $22.05 for clothes the year her budget was examined, and of this $7.16 went for shoes and rubbers. This woman was an especially careful person. Usually the sum credited to shoes is larger. They range from this one of $7.16 up to $26.60 spent by a girl who said she could not keep her feet dry on less than a pair of $2 shoes per month—$24.00 a year—with one pair for dress at $2.60; $26 for shoes on an income of $9.00 a week, cut down the year of the investigation to an average of $7.50 by illness!