, 1870-03-17

constitute the profits which thsy mako by buY-
Ing limestone ~ limestone dealers, and selling
Il to themselves a. iron makszs, precisely a
Il cannot bo pretended that the difference in
these items is due to anY change arising IN tho
fereut dates Of tho two communications for
tho Himrod Furnace Company distinctly s.,ta
that the cost Of tho raw materials OF their
manufacture il no higher now than they were
Il would seem, therefore, rmdcniayle tb,t
from the direct admission Of the 11iurod Fur
nAce Company, and from the fair and lezit-
mnta deduction from thei. admissions. ut lea.t
$9.48 Of the difference betWeon tho cost Of thu
raw material in the tWo statements Is roleIy.
the Hitnrod Furnace Company Claim TO m1ko
On the separate processes Of the business in
which they are really engaged, and which csn-
not by any reasoning ba admitted to
enter into the Legitimate cost Of shs
article itself. The still larges dir
titles Of raw material used by the two p..ties.
tho Commissioner must 1aave To themselves to
e1pInin, al also tho reasou Why the one can
make good iron out Of mixture Of high
priced Lako Superior orc, and . low-pricpl
native ore, while tho other requires tha: tbs
whole should consist Of the hiSh-priced Like
Superior ore, making in the latter case ~ in-
creased cost Of 1926 per ton, without alTgua:a
reasou or explanation
Bat there Is further admission iu tho letst-
Of tho Treasurer of the Hinrod Furnace Co:a-
pany which is especially worthy Of attention,
and reads as follows: - Three years ago ti.y
price Chat il, Of pig iron) was about 80
above tho present prieo, wLilc the Cos. Of
manufacture was no greater than nuw-"
Attention ia especially asked to this atlra;s-
zion for the reason that it u q direct positive
and unmistakable confirmation OF tho trltA u
the following statement E.ado by the Comm
eiouer in Lis report for 1867 and 1868, pa - Il;
| but which has ever since been constantly rc2-
| resented as wholly untrue and without fos,nds-
| tion. The statement was 1s follows: "Cnles
these circumstances the manufacturers of ri.
iron have, to the detEiment OF the rnliing rai.i
! interest, and to the expense OF evesv consumer
Of iron from nail to rlow-sllare, and from
boiieE-plate to ten-penny nail, realized Goa
| tinued profits which lave ilArtly any parallel il
the history Of legitimate industry; thu returns
| OF one set of furnaces in ono Of the Middle
| States, communicated TO tho Commissioner,
showing yearly product of j, 0a0 tons, IN
capital OF &i5v, ,O0G, sold 1t profit Of from al0
TO S13 Per ton (or at the rate OF Il 20 to
1G3 Per cent uf tho annual prot. On capital IN
| yested-)
As further evidence to the same effect. tho
| Commissioner refers to the following extract
Of letter addressed. during the last month,
to the editor of the Cincinnati Gdzetk,, by W.
Il. Powell, Grnetal Superintendent of ths Clif-
ton Iron Works Of Ohio, in which tho writer,
aftcr discussing the recent market prices of
pig Hcn. says: -. 1t Is very tue, as hss beea
claimed, that at the present prices Of pig iron
in the West, tho ontirs rolling mil. nail fac
tory, snl foundry Interests are eompletely pa5-
alyzed and rendered unrcnlunerative, whiln
the furnace interests have, beyond all possible
contradiction, paid enorrlous dividends"
In commenting on the aboTe, the editor Of
tho Gazct1c remarks:
Wo may state that several Of the leading
! Hysf Is hn1. tAfa fs,,+ $1,n+n
| reduction Of the duty on Pig iron from 80 to
S. per ton would be satisfactory; yet waen
they meet in convention, these samo men r.
sulTo that s9 per ton il necessary, and de-
ndunce those in favor Of Is Or IS tariff.
The Commissioner would further ask atten-
ton to the following statement, published Il
the Chattanooga (Tenn-) Times of Thursd1y,
TebrGaIy Il, 1870, entitled "ri3 lEuu-Whst
It's Manufacture Costa IN North Georgia" Thia
statement reads Is follows:
nessce fiyc1 Valley, and the country adjacent
thereto, must become tho great seat of iron
manufacture in this country, we hare prb-
lished, at yntious tine#, statements Of the cost
PER ton Of pig iron made from hitnMlncus coal.
The letter Of George T. Lewia, which We
L.vo heretofore published, mxkes tha cost al
tho furnace Of nne ton Of pig metal, made with
bituminous coal, at 516.95, under the rnoat IA
voEablo oci1LuInstAnces-such, for instance, y
those possessed by the lockwood Furnace, it
Y IGaE6 NpuELs. 4E114GrEet. III. AohlS SAsEs
70 estimate ot tho cast Of making cha1roa;
iron, which, for certain purposes, cannot bs
replaced by iruu made with bitunninous coal
Mo arc glad to bo ahlo to supplement- tht
. information contained in Sir. Lewis letter b.
an exact statement OF tho coet Of making cha-
coal iron, taken from the bookB Of Major L
L. Ihomsaaon, Of this city, who has boen il
the iron business twenty rears- The Rtatc
+ | mont Is taken from his booEB while Supeu1
tende1t Of the Cornwall furnace, in C1eroke,
County, Georgia THIS furnace, it should b
stated, is a elnsll charcoal furnace, only thirty
four feet high, with S-feet boahes cold blast
The following Is statement Of the workiut
Of tie iurnace for tho week ending Octobe
II, 1860: