The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1870-03-11
THE PARsEE LETTERS.
No. 90.
To Horace Greeley:

SAuB My last letter left me in the
gallery of the House of Representa-
tives, listening to a speech made by q
q tall legislator, looking very fiercely
at least out of one eye, which when ex.
cited he brought especially to bear
l(maginatively) on the subject, who
was the cause of his speech. In fact
it resembled a gimlet, which by each
invective gave an additional turn, or a
dig into his opponents devoted exist
ence. / soon discovered that the gen
tleman was from Pennsylvania that
his name is the Hon. William Kelley,
one of your most devoted protectionist
children, and the subject an attack on
D. A. Wells, sahib's report. Need
say that I felt interested? What bet
ter or nearer subject to me could have
been touched to interest me than the
tariff? Let me, however, remark be-
fore I go into details, that your House
of Representatives reminded me of the
Church of England, where it is rule
to read written sermons, and your
churches invariably resemble the
House of Commons in England, where
speeches are spoken and not read. In
short you read your speeches and
speak your sermons, while England
reads her sermons and speaks her
speeches. The effect, assure you, is
not good.
listened attentively to the homily
read by the Kon. Kelley, sahib, and
noted down all he said. Let me, there
fore, to-day give you only the first
point, which to my thinking-nay to
my demonstration with figures-is a
great blunder in Kelley, sahib's, writ
ten speech. The honorable member,
after neatly belaboring Wells, sahib,
for not being the hired mouthpiece of
the iron monopolist, particularly COM
planned of him in the following terms
The most auiaeious of Mr.. Welis's assertions
and one thst Ie vadcs ttc whole report. is that
GU uston dut es are always n tax on the consumer.
increasing the price Of the imported article on
which they levied. and enabling the home
producer to realize undue Ir,fts By keeping pro-
duction steadily below tic current demand for the
commodity he produces.
What o Greeley, sahib, is it pos
sible there is aduacity in Wells,
sahib's, assertion? Much grieved as j
shall feel to hurt any of your monopo-
lists childrea, 1 cannot help showing
and proving from Kelley, sahib's own
assertion, that he actually bears out
the Commissioners laid down rule,
that the duty does not determine the
profit of the home maker, of which he
invariably takes the full advantage.
Kelley, sahib, brings forth the fol-
lowing to refute the Commissioner.
He says:
You, Mr.. Chairman, and many of our colaborcr.
on this floor, interested in the ex;eniion aud
improy enent of oar ma .niacent railroad system.
and propose to illustrate The ircacheTy Of the
Commissioner by bri fly referring the effect OF
high productive duties Bessemcr steel rails. In
Is65 there was establishment in the United
States for the manufacture such rails. The lowest
price at which American company could buy
them in England $50 per tnn cash. gold. in
Guiding freight To New York or Philadelphia No
English maker would sell them ut less. Agcnt.
OF the Pennayi Eauia Central and Philadelphia,
Wilmington, and Baltimore roads went abroad and
canvassed the market, aHi having b, en- assured
that such rails could not be produced aud sold at a
i:ing profit for lower price than thi-, purchased
u small quantity for each company. The duty
was then. as .now, al ratoresi duty Of furty-
five per cent, which at that price equivalent
to about three cents per pound. Gold was then
above 200, and each ton of rails had cost when on
length the Freedom Works. q: Harrisbury. Penn
sylvania, so-caIled in eommenoration OF our par
tial cnfranehiscment from the grasp Of foreign
lonopolists, ready to take orders, and anoth-
cr establishment for their production erecting
at Troy, New York, when loi the samc English
manufactures who had been unable to scll at les.
than 81 so per ton. canvasscd our market to find
buyers at $3.50. In less than three years compc-
tition has brought the price of Desscmcr rtiIs
down SO rapidly that orders are now taken in Eng
land at eleven pounds sterling, or about ffty-fyc
dollars del vcred at Liverpool or Hull.
In the first place, I am afraid Kel-
ley, sahib's speech was 1o,.in,a .facia
concocted in your Office. The utter
contempt you SO philosophically show
for figures in general pervades the
above on the very outset, viz, the
Hon. member says that the rails
cost, in 1865, In England $50 gold,
and stand in on the wharf at Philadel-
phia at $500 currency, gold being 200.
You see, o Greeley, sahib, that is
wrong; it should have been $500 cur
rency. If, on the other hand, Kelley
sahib, includes the As per cent. duty,
| it is still further from being correct
as the true figures would be-one ton
rails, $3.50 gold; duty, As per cent.
ad valorem SGT 80; premium on gold
200 per cent. $217.50 total, S425 cur
rency, nor can I admit the word
"above" 200 premium in gold to cor
rect this blunder of 800 currency. ]
believe, hover, for reasons no doubt
good, want of correctness in figures is
no great fault in the House, where
people come to count figures and not
calculate them. But the cool, and
may say audacious, assertion that the
American production of steel rails
brought down the price in England
from $3.50 to $55 is to merchants ear
to say the least, insulting.
Behold, o Greely sahib, petition
by one S. E. FELTON,, sahib, great
friend of yours, who wants the duty Oh
lsteel rails made higher.
To the Finance Committee offhe United States ant
the Committee of Ways and Neans of the Hous
i OF Representatives, u. s.
1 GENTLEMEN: invite your attention TO th
following facts connected with the manufacture 0
steel rails The importation of steel rails into tb
United States has increased from 25 tons in 1856
/ to about 40 600 tons 1869. The American manu-
facture has increased from 1000 tons in 1865 t
4 about $4,000 tonsin 1863.
| This, I think, would convince any
body that, if your boasted production
lis about one-third of your imports
fbot tho above cited oraot otao1 roi