Thread: Flame War-1922 Style

While flipping through an old 1922 copy of American Cutler, the official organ of the cutlery industry (not really, it's on Google books,) The American cutler, official organ of the cutlery industry: a monthly ... - Google Books) there was a response by H.L. Henry, general manager of Geneva Cutlery in Geneva, NY taking strong exception to some remarks made by F. C. Dumaine of the Amoskeag Manufactoring Co. Amoskeag, in Manchester, NH. was one the the largest textile manufactors in the world at the time. It revolved around a tariff plan called the "American Valuation Plan"

US manufacturing and profits soared when the industrial centers of Europe turned to making implements of the "Great War". It not only meant that those traditional items sold in the US by importers were not available but those shortages needed by the US market had to be supplied by somebody. It also meant that the luxury items and household needs demanded by the European markets also had to be supplied. Thus for the first time in it's history, the US became a net exporter and a creditor nation. Some US companies were selling items to both sides. For a variety of reasons with the cessation of hostilities, those markets were closed and the Europeans began manufacturing those items again.

The American Valuation Plan was promoted as a way to tax cheap European imports and protect the strength that the US manufacturing sector had grown. A discussion in depth about how the plan became the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act of 1922 which lead to the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 can be found here. The Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922 | Economic History Services

What I found interesting is that in the arguments that the US cutlery industry made for the tariffs, two things emerged. First they were saying that the reason they needed the tariffs was to protect the wages and benefits that the US worker had acquired during this time in comparision with their European counterparts. Today they don't even pay lip service to preserving the standard of living US workers have. The focus is on the investor and profit margins.

The other thing I find interesting is the European straight razors that we all value so much, post war were being dumped on the US market. The Germans and English workers were being paid in devalued money compared to the dollar and the net cost was much lower. An American cutlery worker was making about $7 dollars a day compared to English and German workers were being paid the equivalent of $2 a day US. The German mark fell from .23 cents to the dollar to .05 to the dollar. The US cutlery industry couldn't compete and this was when protectionism became policy.

There was an article in an earlier edition that year that described how the Sheffield manufacturers were abandoning the old style, labor intensive process's involved in making razors and cutlery that they had used for decades. Instead they were adopting the US method of mass manufacturing.

Little did I know that shaving could lead to such interesting avenues of thought.

The same fate befell other American industries. The U.S had a huge watch making industry and made the best timepieces in the world and the Swiss wiped them out flooding the market with cheap watches made at little cost to them helped after WWll with practically no tariffs. American outfits couldn't compete and went under.

I've been reading the same group of magazines. It's amazing to see the policies and thoughts that were going on at the time!