, 1864-02-13
THE MANUFACTURES OF IRON
MARKET


We have cheap and abundant materials, and
that these may be combined and converted
into iron ns cheaply as ut any Eastern local
ity. 1t is not enough, however, to be able
to make iron cheaply. To insure profits there
must be large and permanent demand, at
prices above cost, and one must enter the
market on equal terms with all competitors.
The practical questions then recur: what is
the prospect Of selling iron In the North.
west for the futureY Can we sell sufficient
to warrnnt the outings necessary for e1ten-
eive Works3 We think the Western manu-
fasturers secure in regard to market for seye-
raj reasons. e..
1st- The demand for iron, already very great,
is constantly increasing, The region OF
which Chicago is, and must forever remain
the metropolis, contains four millions peo-
pie The consumption of iron In the conn
try is at the rate Of $50 lbs. per head annual
y. ECO, 900 tons are required each year to
supply this vast demand. 1t would require
forty-one furnaces, yielding twenty tons each
daily to create this amount Of iron. The de-
nand also is increasing. First, with the In
crease Of population. Our Western popu1a-
tion made mp as 1t is Of young families aud
receiving constant acceseions by emigration,
increases very rapidly, and this increase must
prcportionably augment The consumption
Of iron.
Cd. The applications of iron In the arts,
tends constantly to increase It's consumption
per capita, 50 that its use outstrips the
growth of population. During the last
hundred years the consumption of
iron hns increased sixteen fold through
out the world. This increase Is
most rapid, where civilization advances
most, and where progress in science and the
industrial arts is most conspicuous. Those
nations that are most mature in their social
growth, use the largest quantity Of iron,
while 1t fades off into nearly nothing as we
approach the great outlying regions Of bar
barism. Indeed, the use Of iron may be IT,
garded as social barometer, indicating by
its amount the place each occupies in the
scale Of civilization. For that people, In q
practical sense, are most civilized who have
carried to the greatest perfection the appli-
anccs Of art to human needs, nearly all of
which Involve largely the use OF iron. We
need but look earonnd MS at the mighty enter
prises projected, and in process Of compile
ton, to satisfy our minds, TINT Of all staples,
iron:Win be needed more and more from year
to year.- In the Great West, II 900 miles Of
railway are in running order, yet this gigantic
system of railways, added to the natural f.
cilities Of communication, scarcely suffices to
to remove the products Of these immense
grain fields Of the world. Not more than
one-thisd Of the arable lard is now under cul-
tvation. As population comes In, and the
land Is improved; these roads are to be
double-tracked, and new ones arc to be buflt.
These tracks, too. must be renewed every
ten year,, with large addition Of new mate
rial Not less than million tons of iron will
be needed during the ne1t ten years to lay
new track and replace the old. The State Of
Minnesota alone has 52s miles Of railway
graded, requiring 15s, 900 tons Of iron.
In the construction of bridges, water
works, fre-proof buildings, and all archttect-
ure where permanence ia required, iron must
be used largely. We have passed that period
Of growth when our necessities compelled Us
to put mp with the ephemeral creations of a
new country. We build now for the remote
future Already we point with pride to the
noble edifices which rise along our streets.
To the magnificent bridges which span our
nEcrs. and to thousand evidences Of pe1ma-
ncnce. We build no longer Of wood, but Of
stone, brick, and iron, and the latest genera
ton will look with pride upon works, which
to-day receive the finishing stroke of the
builder.
Everything points to an Immense future
consumption of iron, and we usy safely CON
clude, that In ten years 1t will be doubled.
Second, there isn nc ground to fear competi-
uon.
As to furnaces in the older States, we have
the advantage Of cheaper ones, and the mr.
gin Of transportation which is decisive one
In our favor, with other elements of mann-
faetnre on equal terms. We stand on better
footing than the iron makers or the East al,
regards foreign iron, because our inland posi-
ton is eqnal to duty Of six dollars per ton,
But the danger from foreign importation to
the iron interests Of this country, ie now
nearly past.
LIST. The high price Of gold which must
continue for some years to come, constitute
an efectud bar to the introduction of foreign
iron. -.
ID. The present tariff on iron, which Is not
likely soon to be disturbed, Affords adequate
protection Our vast debt necessitates high
duties, and iron will receive It's fair share Of
the incidental protection thus afforded to
American Manufacturing. The public mind
has undergone great change upon this SUBJ
ject, and practical sense Is supplantiue the
beautiful but baseless theories ofultra f,ee
trade. One Of the many compensationa Of
tbls great war is that 1t has taught ma The
necessity, as measure of self preserYation-
Of being Independent in regard to the great