Washington sentinel., 1855-01-05
Railroad. .

TO the Editors Of the Washington Sentinel
GENTLEMEN A communication in recent
number Of the Richmond Enquirer in relation
to the remission of duties on railroad iron,
has induced me to examine the action of the
General Government on that subject. The fol-
lowing are the facts:
lst. BY the act Of July Ia, 1882, (stat at
Large, VOL A, p. 604) railroad iron of all
kinds, including rails, spikes, bolts, chains, &c.,
was made duty free if laid within three years
from the time of importation. This law was
general in its provisions, and continued in
operation some eleren gears. The policy orig
mated IN 1881, and before it was terminated in
lS43, by the tariff passed by the Wings in
1912, about seren millions of dollars were re-
funded from the Treasury of the United States
to the railroad companies.
I'd. After the passage Of the act Of July /,
1885, duties were charged on spikes, pins, &C.,
at the same rates as they were charged on
other iron; but rails remained duty free until
March 8, l843. See U. S. Laws, vol. s, PIP. 55l I
3. During the whole eleven years in which
railroad iron was duty free, in every case where
a company was unable to lay down its iron
within three years from the date of its impor.
tation, an application to Congress obtained
special relief A reference to the Journal Of
the House, in three several cases, shows that
they were passed men, con. and without even a
call for the yeas and nays. / presume the rest
were passed the same way; all parties, and all
sections of the country acquiescing in the
policy. ! notice that several of these special
acts we're for the benefit Of Pennsylvania rail-
roads.
From the Treasury table before me l am
able to trace s., ,4OS, 1920, and see for whose
benefit the duties were refunded, but the bal
ance ! cannot trace; from this table, it seems,
that Of the $4,4O8, ,9l9.20, Pennsylvania, New
York, and New England obtained some t,oo
millions and hree-quarters, and of this latter
sum Pennsylvania obtained $l,044 4,S75.24 |
Virginia sl66,022.99. South Carolina $780,.
1892. Georgia $l52,935,sO. How the bal
ance of the near seven millions of dollars re-
funded from the Treasury of the United States
was distributed among the several States l
do not know; it is fair to suppose that it was
divided as was the four millions; and, if so, it
went principally to the capitalists of Pennsyl-
yania, New York, and New England, and helps
to account for their numerous roads and large
wealth.
A. By the tariff act Of 1912, (see U. s. Stat
utes at Large, vol. 5, PIP. 55l,) specific duty
of $25 per ton was laid upon railroad iron ;
tut this was mo. 20 take effeet until the "a oi
March of the following year.
5. In 1876, by the act of 30th of July, a
Democratic Congress reduced the duties of $25
per ton upon railroad iron to 80 per cent. upon
its actual cost,
From this history Of the legislation Of Con.
gress upon railroad iron, we see that for the
first eleven years it was exempted from all du.
ties, if laid down within three years from the
date of its importation. If laid down after
wards special acts refunded from the Treasury
the sums paid therefor. During the succeed
ing four years from 1912 to ls46,) a specific
duty of $25 per ton was imposed, and during
the next nine years from 1876 to 1867 there
has been collected duty of 30 per cent. upon
the cost of imported railroad iron--eleven years
free from duty, thirteen years subject to duty.
It will readily occur to the intelligent reader
that the principle involed in making railroad
iron duty free, and Of refunding duties years
after they had been paid, has been sanctioned
by all parties, and been quietly acquiesced in,
if not directly approved, by the greatest and
the best men Of the country in public life, dur
ing one Of the most brilliant periods in Ameri-
can history-from 1891 to l843.
The general act Of 1882, and the numerous
special acts, were passed during the presidencies
Of Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren,, and
John Tyler. In Congress we're the following
remarkable men, all OF whom, so far as have
noticed, acquissced in, and most, if not all, OF
whom directly sanctioned the principle of max
ing railroad iron duty free. Messrs. Calhoun,
Clay, Woodbury., Webster, Buchanan, r. ].
Walker, Marcy, Bell Of Tennessee, Clayton,
Boyd, McDuffie, Polk, Livingston, Silas Wright,
Tazewell, w. r. King, Abbot Lawrence, Ber.
rian, Crittenden, Whittlesey, Cave johnson,
Governor Troup Of Georgia, Sewer, Governor
Dickinson Of New Jersey, B. W. Leigh, Hugh
i. White, Caleb Cushing, General Hayne Of
South Carolina, John Quincy Adams, p. P.
Barbour, George Wayne, &c, &c.
No one Of these great men, Of the various
parties in Congress, seemed to have seriously
assailed the plan of encouraging the construc.
ton Of railroads by making the rails duty free.
General jackson and his successors directly
approved the laws, general and special and
the treasurys returns show that Of all the
States, Pennsylvania and New York obtained
from the treasury, under those laws, by far
the most money. Under the workings Of those
laws making iron rails duty free, many, if not
most, of the leading railroads of Pennsylvania,
New York, and New England, were construct
ed in whole or in part. To aid in build.
ing those great railroads that have done so
InuCH tOWhIus nlidutipnlA,
New York and Boston what they are, iron for
railroad purposes ,cas made duty free during
an unbroken period Of eleren years. And yet,
at that very time, and during the whole eleven
years, a specific duty Of thirty dollars per ton
was levied upon iron used for all other than
railroad purposes in every part Of the United
States.
AS forcibly showing how far Congress actu.
a1lu xpant N enonnraoe tho huildipo of rail.
roads in the States, wealthy enough in those
days to construct them, we mention that the
duty paid into the treasury on iron laid down
on what is now portion of the great railroad
connecting New York and Boston, was re-
funded from the treasury Of the United States
By special act Of Congress, land apparently
without opposition from any quarter,) some flee
gears after the importation Of the iron By the
company Is it matter of wonder that New
England, New York, and Pennsylvania, have
most population, manufactures, commerce, and
wealth, when we see that they took advantage
of the liberal legislation Of Congress, and built,