New-York tribune., 1872-01-31
wisdom of excepting these two articles prove
still moro conolusiyely tho folly of the proposed

still more conolusvely the folly of the proposed
reduction. Thus, it is well known that, Dy
accident, the duty ON Cotton and wooden
Machinery was made lower than that on the
materials of which it was composed; thus
giving bonus to the foreign manufacturer
whose machinery has largely supplanted the
superior products of our own shops. But, IN
stead of remedying this, the bill proposes 70
make the injustice just ten per cent. greater
There is no branch of American manufac-
ture which has vindicated Its claim 10 ITO,
lection more fully than Steel-making In al,
its departments. Requiring far more mahuai
labor than the manufacture OF rig IRON or
Bcsscmer metal and that Of the most costly
and skilful class, it is absolutely dependent
on Protection for existence. But, inasihuch
as it has been specially convenient ana proh'-
able for England to make our steel, our own
manufacturers have never had adequate rro-
lection; and the little afforded by the tariI
has been seriously diminished by fraud. Inc
accidental Protection afforded by the war mas,
however. enabled them to make for them
selves a brilliant record and to prove that
Protection gives us both cheaper and better
goods than Free Trade. Meeting recently one
of the best Steel-wOrkers of the West ne
stated that, prior to the war, he always used
Sandersons best Tool Steel, which cost MN
never less than IS cents per pound, and often
30 cents occasionally finding bad bar, when
was his loss Now, he buys of Park Bros,
Pittsburgh. better article for 1G cents currency,
of which he has never lost pound. ANY
man who proposes a reduction OF the duties
on Cast Steel while penny OF duty Is levied on
such products as we cannot make, seems 10
us ignorant of the facts.
This Tariff scheme aims blow at one de-
partment of Steel manufacture which can III
afford the loss, and which the country would
by no means consent to spare if the facts were
known. We refer to the manufacture of Cast
Steel Tires for locomotives. Prior to 1861
English LOWmOOr iron was used for this pur-
pose almost exclusively; the best selling for
IS cents pound. About this time, Krupp OF
Germany introduced the use of cast-stecl in
making tires but, as is always the case
when the foreigners have the monopoly OF
valuable manufacture, he sold them at tie
exorbitant price of "a cents per pound.
When the war began, his agents, taking ad-
vantage of our misfortunes, and knowing we
could not make them here, refused to fix any
price, or even to give any guaranty OF excel
lence. Many were imported by our manutac-
turers who of course paid, in addition to the
unnecessarily high price abroad, all charges,
such AZ freight, duty, &c. The English
makers now entered the field, and, although
our duty was raised from 20 to 25 per cent,
the price declined because of this competition.
In 1868, the William Butcher Steel Company
of Philadelphia, having invested nearly
81 900 900 i'm their works in that city, COM
menced the manufacture of Locomotive Ilres'
and other forms of cast-steel, to the amount
of some 20 tuns per day; and, in little more
than one year, instead of adding the duty to
their profits, as the Free Trade theory as
sumes, they had lowered the price to 12t
cents. gold, or more than the whole
| amount of the duty. The foreigners
in their desire to retain our market
and crush out competition, have since re-
duced prices to 111o cents per pound, duty
paid Another establishment, with an
investment of 100000, has recently COM
menced the same branch of manufacture at
Lewistown, Penn. These works have proved
their capacity to mako the best tires but,
while they are enabling our railroads to pur-
chase their locomotives fully 100000, in gold,
cheaper eaCn year ludu lH'J Coiiu h"'C Wv"
made under Free Trade, it is needless to add
that thus far they have not made dollar for
themselves While it causes the Member of
Congress- who probably does not know that
such an article as steel tire is made In the
country, no suffering to propose to lower by
one tenth the already insufficient barrier
which alone stands between these mills and
ruin, it is q more serious question to the
honorable men who have conducted this
difficult experiment to such grand success,
and to the two hundred and fifty wOrkmen
who are earning from 50 to So per day.
When these manufacturers have compelled
their competitors to pay all the duty and
more, as q tribute to American skill and
contribution toward the liquidation of our
National Debt, when they have furnished us
tires of steel worth four-fOld more than those
of iron, and for 25 per cent less money, and
this while paying three-fold higher wages
than their competitOrs-whe they have fairly
achieved success, and are about to reap
some small reward for their labOrs-it must
be specially encouraging to them to read the
terms of this bill, which has about as much
reason in its proposed reductions as an ar
bitrary cdict to shorten the boots of the ma
ton by just ten per cent. because the Free
Traders have made loud ado over the high
price of leather.