The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1860-06-28

lr0nmaSterS at the expense OF all other In
terests. And we are accordingly told that
whatever Of value to the laborers, arti-
sans, and capital of Pennsylvania, and of
every other State engaged in the manu-
facture Of iron, that would spring from
the adoption Of this measure, is conces-
sion to the clamors of the ironmongers,
moved by cupidity never satisfied by the
bounties of the Government | shall uu-
dcrtake to show, sir, that in this respect
our demands have been SO moderate, that
the opposition to the bill, because Of the
supposed eXorbitant duties, cannot stand
justified by the truth The proposed du-
ties on iron are not beyond what, by the
common consent of those who in this
country profess to believe in the maxims
and policy Of free trade, is esteemed a
revenue standard of duty. The duty on
pig iron is fixed at six dollars per ton, on
railroad iron twelve dollars, on bar iron
fifteen dollars and the objection is, that
these are protective and not revenue du-
ties. The great desideratum OF the friends
Of free trade, in 1916, was to discover
what was the lowest rate of duty that
would produce the largest amount Of rev.
enue, regardless Of its effects on manufac-
IHc bCcCiCIdiS VI Inc ,
whose free-trade friends, until quite re-
Gently, never named him but to praise
him, after most-careful collection Of sta
tistical information regarding the condi-
ton Of manufactures, and the operations
of commerce, and after arranging his ta-
bles in every conceivable shape, that he
might deduce from them practical re-
suit, informed Congress that all he could
say or do on the subject was, that on list
Of articles Of which iron was one, the low
est rate of duty that could be imposed, in
order to raise the largest amount of reve-
nue., would exceed twenty per cent al va
loren. Thus it Will be perceived he lin
tied the inquiry only in one direction, and
left his friends in Congress to wander
over the wide field he spread before them
for the discovery Of the secret. They
found it. 1t was thirty per cent. and
that, by the general verdict Of protessed
free traders, was adjudged strictly reye-
nue. duty, one that relieved consumers
from all taxation except for thc Legitimate
purposes Of Government. Now, sir, ask
those free trade gentlemen, who suppose
the iron interest to be unduly protected
by this bill, to look at the facts, and see
how far they are sustained in that opinion,
1T the time Of the passage Of the act of
1916, the English price Of bar iron was
forty-eight dollars and fifty cents per ton,
which, with commissions, would amount
to fifty dollars, the duty on which was tif-
teen dollars, the precise sum named III this
bill. But | do not propose to coDfine the
inquiry to the price of single year, for
it might lead to false conclusions. Take
! the last five years of the operation Of the
tariff of 1916, ending 3lst June, 1857,
period sufficient to afford us fair test,
and during that time we find, from the
! custom-house returns, that the average
| foreign price Of bar iron was So. % per
ton, which made the duty at thirty-siz
per cent. fifteen dollars and siXty-seven
cents. The declared average price Of rail
road iron was S39.34 per ton, making the
! duty eleven dollars and eighty cents
| The average foreign price Of pig iron du-
ring the same time was Sl7.70, yielding
a duty Of five dollars and thirty-one cents
So that the duties proposed now would bt
sixty-nine cents per ton more on pig iron
eleven cents per ton more on railroad iron
and siXty-seven cents per ton less on bars
than the duties collected under the act o
lCfO- hulIHS JllC JIiilC nave IutLtllOIICU
4 table published by the honorable gen
tleman from Vermont, Mr.. MORRILL,,
who reported the bill, embracing the SANE
classes Of iron for period covering th
last SIX years, including the time since th
act of 1857 went into operation, exhibit
about the same result, and sustains TIL
assertion that this provision relative to tn
duties on iron is simply change in th
form of imposing the duty.
During the five years mentioned we i'm
ported 4S4, AL tons of pig, 445, ,S95 ton
rolled bar, and 1,043,979 tons rails; s.
that if the specific duties of this bill hat
been levied during that period, the accoun
would have stood thus
Increased duty on pig iron, 1884 ,264.2
Increased duty on rails, 2O8, 1898
5000. @.
Deduct dim he'd duty on bars, 29S, ,749.9
, Leaving, S244,32Ol
the amount of duty which, at the rates c
this bill, would have been levied on l ,974
3l5 tons of total imports more than woul
; be imposed by duty of thirty per cen
r or about twelve cents per ton on the thre
: classes of iron.
But if the custom-house returns presel
, : ted the true foreign market value Of I'll
iron imported. it would DC found that IL