Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1831-03-15

psevement into the corners of the Union! To
civilized man in every situation, 10 article Of In
dspsn:abe nsee s.i'y To borrow the words Of one Of
the aoest political economists OF the present day
Look whore you will, In whatever direction you turn
your eyss, ircn meets you, the and
most necessary Of ell substances that not used Tor
supped; and Il 10 found, from universal experience,
that every nation exhibits skill, fort, and power ip
as tho raw material 10 produced NOR. abuu-
da'uy, more ch-sply, and more pertes'iy. That ma
lion which 10 Practically acqua sd with tho manuiac.
tur OPP rites, and uses OF ro0, than any other
Is the most civilized. the sest, the mot powerful
aud enjoys more OF the comforts Of human existence
than any other, other advantages being equal In.
deed, when consider all the dive rsif I'd aud ppor
sDt to which iron 10 applied in the various pur.
suit, OF lie, is almost miraculous inf in enlarg
ing the bouUds Of science, extending tho powers aud
promoting the happiness Of the human race, endowins
mao with an aimost supreme domiaon over the slc.
ments asd enabling him 10 compel a. em to minis,er
to his wants snd his comforts. almost tempt
cd 10 believe that Is the mighty ins,rume nt put
into our hands by wise aud merciful Providence to
convert the prmeval curse into The greaes Of BLISS
inE: ,,
jet tho committee will proceed 10 tho Of
tn case OF the petitioners. II appears that in March,
1885, while the tariff Of tina, year before Congress-
tho biackspitbs Of Philadelphia presented their petition
setting forth the oppressive aud unequal operation Of
the then exiing duties upon iron, and pointing out The
luxurious effects tia would necessarily re.ul from the
proposed increase Of those duties. They even then
complained that they found the mselvss completely
shut out Of market, by laws which they were
told were ado for their protectou that they were
preeluded from Participating in the suppy Of the
West Indian South Anne an markets which thew
could supply IN many articles 10 they could obtain iron
al reasonable price,; hat their business was more
depressed than most IL not all Others" and tracing
these evils to the abandonment Of The principle ",hs
tho duty on the raw material should never exceed
that on the m nufacured article, they earnestly pray
cd ",hst the duty all of iron manufac
tured by rolling should be twenty-five per centum ad
vaorem, the came az the du'y hardware" Regard.
less, however, OF these remonstrauces, the tariff Of
1928 became law; and Il 10 certainly worthy OF re.
mark that, while the protection Of American astry
was the known and we'd ohiect OF that law, no,
single provision introduced in favor Of he black
smiths. justly claiming to be considered az the most
useful mechanics 10 the WORLD" but, the contrary
new and It'll more on rous burdens imposed up.
on them by adding 81 ton to the already exorbi,an
duty upon bar iron while the duty on hardware was
suffered to rema n at rs per centum ad valorem. It,
the year $780, tbs petitioners, having by the further
experience OF two year, lied fully the grev-
Gus oper alton Of this sy up IN their empoyment.
came again 60 Congress with another humble petition
setting forth the cruel operation these laws upon heir
ndustrycompaining that they al been tire ated with
the most cruel injustice, and as " il they were TO
members Of the same political family"-pointing out
the manifest inequality of specified duty amount
ing to fIom lac $50 per tn kind Of iron OIL,
oil which bar iwa'e Is made, viii 9 an ad valorem du-
" OF OIL 20 per cent. was impo ed urol the manu-.
featured artcle-thus operating ainst them az dou.
BILE love, from the duty hardware rising and fall
log vi the price OF iron, while tina, was spe.
chc and s,a'ionary."t and concluded with an earnest
prayer that they might be put on the same footing
IN our own markets, with the foreign manufactured
by r,duc lon Of the duty on the raw material 10 an
equality with that upon the hardware" This petition
met the same fa'e as that which had pr. ceded it,
The case Of the petitioners was indeed exami ned by
tho Committee on Mauufac urss; and, 10 a repor,
made TO the Senate, not denied IN Al ths pe ion.
-rs bad just cause for complain. Ii was admitted TIM
they were entitled to be put, In our own markets. on
the came footing as the foreign manufacturer and tina,
this on could be done by establishing ga Just propor.
ton the duties upon bar iron aud those upon
hardwsre; y;t, cause a reduction of The duty on
the raw ma erial was the remedy suggested by the
petitioners, no attempt was made to afford them relief
Under AL shese discoura ents, the commtuee can
not but admire the manly spirit W hch a. induced the
petitioners once more 10 before Congress, with
complete vndics'Ion OF themselves from all Of the
imPutatons which have been attempted to be thrown
upon Them with clear and satsfa tory satemeu, Of
their grievaDees and full and conclusive rsfutaon
OF all the arguments which have heretofore been urg
Of the ablest and most valuable doc uments which has
Of late been issued from the American press, the
comm itee would specially invite the at,en n of the
Senate to It, as complete aud satisfactory expos. bn
oil the whole merits Of the gu ,stion Indulging in
specula'ions, building up theories, the petit
TONERS have, as practical men, brought the maxms Of
sound common sense, and the lessons OF experiences.
to tho calculation oil the case before them aAd have
deducsd conclusions which. In the opinion Of the COM
miliee, are absolutely irresistible. .
II appears from the petition (Which 10 fully sun.
ported ty the statement of John Sarchet one of
tbs psti,oner',t that English common iron. the
material used almost exclusively in the manutac-
ture OF hsrdwar. selling in England II the lat.
est advces at E5 IS. sterling. equal 10 S23 3d. per
on, the duy which, at 1877 ton, is equal 10 I59
per cent that the price OF smaller sizes tf the
same iron (such half inch and under) was E6 81.
sterling, equal to 1927 rs per ton, the duty on which
at S7S 40 tD. amounts to 2S2 34 rer cent Ii s OF
hs latter description Of iron that hardware 10
nufactured, and the petitioners declare themselves
unable to conceive what could have ssled the franz
ers Of the law, by Ills discrimination, to give sur h
a decided monopoly to the manuiactur Of hard
ware aud ronmongery at Sht field and Birmn CHA NJ
An answer to the question may probably be found in
the suggestion contained in the report OF the Committee
OF Manufactures, that there rolling mills which
have been in operation for several years, in the
county OF Morris, in the State of New Jersey, and
elsewhere, where common bar iron may be converted
into bars and bolts of the smaller size at small ex-
pcnse." IL is stated by the black smiths, however
that some OF them have actually paid TO the American
manufacturers 1925 ton for rolling iron OF one inch and
under into 5-Sths of an inch and from the same sizes
into halt an inch $50 ton; while the whole Of the
former to the manufacturer Of hardware in Great Bri
tain Is only 1923 3S per ton and Of the latter 1927 IT,
whereby the British manufacturer Is enabled to import
the same into the United States in the form of hard
ware, duty incuded0 at from $28 SO to S35 80 per
ton, "the discriminating duty in favor of the British
manufacturers being, all sizes Of iron over half an
inch, S3l 80, and on half inch, $40 II O." the duties
hardware manufactured of the smaller sizes of iron
being only oneelevenh of what they are on iron as
material, and hardware made of larger sizes a..
bout sixth. In illustration Of the practical effect
OF these unequalled duties several are stated by
the petitioners, and specimens OF the various descrip-
tions OF hardware, well Of the material of which
they severalIy made have been exhibited 10 the
con N1tff kFOun tkor~ nfas., Il.