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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2016)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | March 4 , 2016 | PAGE 9 Labor 100 Years Ago — March 4, 1916 A look back at the front page stories of the Oregon Labor Press, March 4, 1916. A digital version of the front page can be seen on our web site at www.nwlaborpress.org * What Cigar Industry Means to Portland Editor Labor Press: In your is- sue of the 26th inst. I read with satisfaction that the Portland grocers have decided to boost “Home Industry,” and as an evidence of good faith have through their organization taken practical steps to that end. The cigar industry can be made a valuable asset to Port- land if the grocers and other dealers in cigars will carry out the program, which the Retail Grocers’ Association declares is the proper method of aiding Portland manufacturers. In order to bring forcibly to the attention of retail mer- chants, and also to the users of cigars, I want to show just what it means to Portland when a “home made” article is * given the preference (the same logic applies to all commodi- ties made here, whether they be candies, brooms, shoes, fur- niture, clothing. food products, or cigars), but I will illustrate by giving a few figures dealing with that branch of our indus- try. In Portland there are some 250,000 people. Of that number about 50,000 are male adults, and of the latter number about 30,000 use ci- gars. A conservative estimate of the number of cigars used every day in Portland is 100,000 — 3,000,000 a month—36,000,000 a year. The average cigarmaker turns out about 50,000 cigars a year, working 48 weeks, which means that it would require 720 cigarmakers to supply the Portland trade. At the rate figured the average weekly wage would be about $18 per man, or $622,080 a year—a payroll not to be sneezed at. Of course there is no like- lihood of the complete suc- cess of a home industry, but if one-half of the cigars used here are made here, it means in round numbers a yearly payroll of $300,000 distrib- uted among more than 300 workmen. We see in the great dailies of the city, occasionally, that the Chamber of Commerce is boosting “Home Indus- try”; that the Ad Club is do- ing good work for the city; but Portland, despite its mild climate, its wonderful high- way, its attractive scenery, its splendid location, will never be a successful city in the broad sense, until it becomes a city of “industries”; and it will never become a city of industries until its citizens conclude that home-made goods are worthy of prefer- ence, all things being equal. The grocers are to be com- mended upon their initial, practical step. The manufac- turers and the consumers should co-operate. E.J. STACK
