Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1858-12-31
The tables furnished by the Secretary

The tables furnished by the Secretar
are q conclusive answer to the theory
, al ra1orem duties on iron, and prove tha
it is alike opposed to the interests of tn
> Government, and Of the consumers OF Tor
eigu iron aud steel. This l proceed t
demonstrate.
, At pages So and Sc of the printed me
mortal of tho iron masters of Pennsylva
mia, are given certificates from machinist
=, and consumers of iron, in Philadelphia
and Boston, who concur in saying tia
they do no. find the low price Of foreigr
iron any advantage in their general busl
ness, and for the reason that they find the
consumption greatest, and business mos'
satisfactory, when remuDerating prices are
general, and when all branches of business
are in full activity.
The Boston manufacturers, who consume
"a 500 tons per annum, say, ''the consump'
ton of our manufactured articles falls of
when the manufacture Of iron languishes,
and orders fail when foreign iron is plenty
and cheap"
The reason of this is given in a letter
of Mr. John A. Wright, who says:
"The average number of men employ
ed at charcoal furnace making 1000 tons
pig iron per year, is not less than 10, ma
king population Immediately dependent
of not less than $50. The average num-
! Der of horses and mules is not less than
so. The amount of grain used will not
vary much from ., 800 bushels of wheat,
5000 bushels of corn, 3, 900 Of oats, 600
rye, so tons hay, and 5000 bundles of
straw the amount Of merchandise sold Is
near IS, 600; aud, in addition, there is
large amount of bacon used. The farmer
finds market for the vegetables and feed
be can raise, his butter, eggs, veal, PUta-
toes, &c, articles which will not bear
transportation to market; and, what is no
unimportant item, saving large quantity
of manure to be used q: home to enrich
the soil"
The same letter says that the effect of
tho erection Of furnaces, is, that lands
which otherwise would not be worth more
than from 81 to IS per acre, sell from $40
to $50 per acre.
We find from the Secretary's table, that
the production Of pig iron, which, until
1920, was but 10000 tons, had in 1855
risen to 1000, 900 tons. If we apply the
data given by Mr.. Wright to the million
Of tons, we End that if 900 tons employ
70 men, then 100000 will require TO-
Y9R 5v lSH1 H sdppsi GHs suBBSy 800
tons employ so horses, 100000 will
employ $4,000 horses. If 1000 tons re-
guire $500 bushels of wheat, 100000
will require 100000 of wheat, 3.000,-
900 of corn, 100000 of oats, 100000
of rye, $4,000 tons of hay, 100000
bundles of straw, ss,O00,OC0 worth of
merchandise, and in the same proportion
bacon, beef, eggs, butter, vegetables, &c.
The advocates of low al vaiorenr duties
place their theory on the basis that the
price is regulated by the demand. ask
them to estimate what the relative effect
on the price of their great staples Of agri
cultural produce would be, if the $50, 900
persons engaged in and dependent on the
manufacturer Of pig iron, instead of being
consumers Of these agricultural products,
hat
would be the effect on the price Of agri-
cultural products, iu the interior and es-
pecially in the remote parts of the great
West, if there were no railroads or
steamboats, to cheaper transportation
And how are the railroads and steam boats
built Are they not the result Of the
surplus profits, aud the credits resulting
from the profitable employ Oyment of our
labor?
How can $50 persons, dependent on
the manufacture Of 1000 tons of pig iron,
consume $4,000 worth of merchandise Is
it not because the 20 men who are en-
ployed in its manufacture earn at least |
S2l 900 per amman, part of which pays
for the merchandise, and part for the
agricultural products which they consume?
DO gentlemen who advocate mere reve-
nue. duty take into consideration the fact
that by diversifying labor We give employ
meut to many men in agriculture, who, BY
the supply of iron workers, &C., with pro-
visions, &C., obtain the means Of consum-
ing foreign imports, and thus contribute
their proportion of the revenue? Do the
opponents Of an increased duty upon iron
take into consideration the fact that unless
the duty be so increased as to enable our
iron masters to compete with foreign iron,
the persons now dependent on the iron
must become agricu!turists
and that the effect must be redundant
supply, and that the value of the whole
agricultural produce, increased as the
quantity will be, will be diminished in the
rate of the excess? For there will be an
increased quantity without an increased