Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1859-03-09

onl, sueulat tit thai M lbo m.e ol NJ
those mole to many manufacturer mnib
toin The pulUN ni nn Inflated system %
paper cuutnty md II s stil moro sin
pulAt thoi sUniu Who arc constantly labor
inr W iNAaic The vicious eyscm should
vhim 10 bc pdJ rrpN,Hrs, the hcnds ofth,
manufacturer " wcrc going 10 nam,
single measure That would DO moro lot
the manufacturers OF The country than
another ! would say, dispense with all
bank paper of less denomination than
fifty dollars People are all the while com
planning OF the scarcity Of money / tell
YOU sir we have too much money of th,
kind, aud we must get clear of the paper
element; and if there is the ncccssar,
power under the Constitution, Congress
should promptly drive it out Of existence
in every State in the Union
But sir II has been too much the habit
TO regard the views of Pennsylyanians on
the subject Of the tariff rs selfish, and ale
ledge that we seek what we would not
willingly concede toothers and must say
u word on this point This implication
is not well founded, and | repel it. We
seek the prosperity Of the non business,
not only because ii is essential to our in
terests, but because we believe that its
prosperity will conduce to the welfare Of
the whole country. We regard it as a
great national interest, the raw material
being found in great abundance in one
third of the States in the Union. 1t is, be-
sides, one of our great elements of nation.
al defence and wealth and will soon be.
come one of commercial power. It's use is
extending with each passing year; and
the best interests Of the country require
that its production should grow in an
equal if not greater, ratio. Its growth,
though fluctuating, has still been gradual,
and its increase has been very perceptible
in any term of five or ten years. In 1920,
it amounted to 10000 tons in 1880, to
100000 tonsI in I840,ythough the produc-
tton had fluctuated to greater or less ex-
tent, Mt different periods, il bad reached
an aggregate of 100000 tons and by 1855,
its highest point was attained, being about
one million tons, equaling about onesthird
of the production Of Great Britain. There
is no natural impediment in the way of
growth of production to a most fabulous
extent Our country abounds with the
native element. and our people possess the
enterprise, skill and industry, to beat the
world if you will only protect them for a
while, against the bogus article Of the for
eign producer. and the debilitating infu-
ences Of an inflated currency.
As much may be said, indeed, on the
latter point. in reference to the manufac-
ture Of wool, cotton, hemp; cutlery. &c,
as TO that of iron. But the production
and consumption of iron is only in its in
fancy. 1t is being daily applied to some
new purpose. ! can remember when the
idea of an iron plow, an iron bridge, or an
iron ship, was treated rs a flight of fancy.
Now iron is great element in the con-
struetion of all these. see it stated that
in 1858, of the one hundred aud fifty
steam vessels built in England, one hun
dred and seventeen were of iron, and that
during the same year eight sailing vessels
were built of the same material !" 1t is
employed in every department of uomes-
tic industry, and devoted TO ornamental
as we'll as substantial uses, superseding
wood, brick, stone, and even marble, and
has become leading element in the con-
Of houses, barns, bridges, roads,
pavements and every description of struc-
ture, private and public. The Department
at Washington, have very wisely encoura-
ged its use in the construction of public
buildings in all parts of the country, as
the cheapest and best material that can
be employed; holding that, in view of its
its use is true economy. In
deed, sir, the iron manufacturers are much
to the late Secretary of the Treas
ury-as | hope they shall be to the pres
entSecretary-for what he did liz this way.
Nor is it consumption to be confined to
our own country alone. The range of its
use is becoming world wide. 1t will be
demanded in untold amounts in all its
and especially in the shape of
rails, in Central and South America, in
Turkey, Austria, Russia, and the Islands
of the Sea. Great Britain is now the prin-
cipal producer, making about three tim IS
as much as the United States, say three
million five hundred thousand tons rer
annum but she cannot supply the de.
mands of the world, and it is the United
States alone that possesses ineXhaustible
stores of the raw material, and boundless
natural facilities for producing the article.
~ 10 W lHClIlj DcSllleS, even aI tlllS early
date in her history, a great means of ma
tional defense, and must soon become one
of wealth and commercial power. Who, ;
then, is not willing to countenance and
sustain such a branch of industry in its
struggling competition, not against fair
but against the frauds of the
foreign producer, and the power of for.
eign capital? am free to confess, sir, my
partialities for this interest; and while do
ing all that can for Others, | shall cher
lsh this as one Of leading Importance
But we claim no special or unreasonable
favors. We are not the recipients, under
the tariff, of half the benefits alleged.
The Senator then proceeded to submit
a series of facts touching the process of
making and the elements entering into
the production of iron in order to exhibit
the difficulties in the way of American
production and at the same time to estab-
lish the value of the iron business to the
agriculture of the country;
Nothing is more unpleasant to my feel
ings than to allude to the country in
sectional point of view, or to notice the
States seDaratplV coDcernino tha ,olo