Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-09-03
AMERICAN AND ENGLISH RAILWAY IRON.

The following article from the Railway Tmes win he
read with interest The increase Of wages In the MINING
and manufacturing districts of England and a.
quence the increased expense of production and
ton all tending to give this country manifest avan
tages England in manufactures and among the
important is that of railway iron:
Owing TO some unfortunate circumstances the iron Of
American manufacture used upon some of our raways
has proved very poor and compares badly with the earu
mporations Of English iron. This is owing not 70 am
deficiency in the value Of American ores but the der
cheney Of the manufacture very large per centage ~
the late importaons Of English railway iron however
has proved very defective not because the English canno
make good iron but because railway managers have
been so oyeranxious to iron their roads without DELAY
that they have taken whatever has been offered them =;
exchange for their bonds 1t is time that this mater
should be more sharply looked after In almost every
fair trial Of the iron manufacture Of the two countr;e
our bars have stood the tests and have come off ahead az
the foreign competitors.
g Every portion of the United States is well suppea
with iron orc OF the very best quality and in quantities
OF illmitable amount Why should not our great con-
sumers, the railway companies in particular make some
effort to use the product Of home manufacture? From
variety Of circumstances the emigration Of the iron work
ers OF Great Britain the consequent high price of labor
in that particular department. the great demand for ro
during the year two and the CONSEQUENT scarcity
of good article in Great Britain the quality of the pre-
sent stock hand is far below the medium manufactures
of the United States We understand that on the section
of the Hudson River Railway, near New York one track
is laid with American and the other with English iro
The American iron has been in several years longer
than the English and is scarcely at ALL while the
English iron will have to be replaced in year or
AT the outset the American iron the money but
had it cost twice much would prove cheapest in the
end This is one Of large number Of encouraging facts
that are daily transporting all going show what valu-
able trade has been neglected and suffered to decay in
this country during the past eight years 1t does
seem most outrageous piece of for us to send
money abroad for the purchase Of railway bars to be
laid down Immediately our iron mines and coal
fields With the exercise Of sagacity and COM
mon prudence this country has in its power build
up interest in its iron manufacture that will fur out
strip in amount and value any other single business in the
country tprove profitable for very few years. home
competition will soon reduce the market value to the
lowest paying point, just competition has done in our
cotton manufactures. We now underseng, at q
profit too our foreign competitors in cotton manufac-
turing, even in their own markets. Give iron manu-
acturers fair chance for very few years. and we can
defy the world in competition