Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-08-07
s.,nu,ng Iron to England.

II is MT long since u WAS oesieVeu
....t Spending Goals to Newcastle
.a.a probability SO remote rs to be
,nworthy Of serious thought. Yet
..,,, have, during the past year, been
shipped from the United States, on
,na orders Of British dealers, not on
j, "a England but in large quanti-
,;e. to other sections Of the globe on
p,itisb account. And, now, a tele-
ram from England informs us that
There is quite demand in Eng
,,,d for American irGn,n aud one OF
The largest iron manufacturers in
pennsylvania says the shipment Of
iron from this country 70 England
has i,ccon,e profitable branch Of
trade.
II we inquire for the cause Of this
remarkable change in the, usual
rourse of trade, it Will be found to
proceed directly from the system Of
protection to home industries.'
Bv this the importation Of iron was
checked, and the investment Of capi-
tai in our own iron industries made
nrofitable. Developments followed
with a rapidity never before known.
Millions of capital were employed in
building new furnaces ia Pennsylva-
mia, Michigan, Missouri, and other
States. The aggregate product of
iron was, in consequence, largely in
creased, while at the same time, pri-
ces we're reduced, until competition
in the English markets has been
made profitable.
Asa single, but at the same time
most forcible illustration Of the re-
suits of protection, take the article OF
steel-aced rails. Formerly the
tracks on our railroads were laid with
iron rails. In 1853 to 1860 the snpe-
riority and the economy Of steel
rails were established. Just then
Professor Bessemer had completed,
most successfully, his method Of con-
yerting iron into steel by new and
rapid process, and at a much less cost
than was formerly required. Eng
land reaped the benefit of the discov-
cry, and went largely into the man.
ufacture of steel rails, not only for
her own railroads, but for shipment
to the United States. But British
steel rails cost $500 per ton; yet one
Of the great railroad men of this coun-
try remarked that che would rather
pay that price for steel rails than use
iron rails if they cost him nothing"
In 1862 and 1863 capitalists in the
United States purchased the right Of
using the Bessemer patents, and inn
nediately commenced the erection
of establishments for tho manufac-
ture Of steel rails. Congress put a
duty of one cent pound on import
cd rails, and in 1863 rails Of American
manufacture were supplied in limi-
ted quantities at SITS per ton. The
price Of English rails was immedi-
ately reduced with the view of con-
tinuing the monopoly Of the American
markets. But our product of steel
rails had increased in 1864 and 1865
and the price was further reduced to
$50 per ton. The English competi-
tors fell even below that figure in
the price of their rails, and the COM
petition continued until our manufac-
turers reduced the cost Of rails to 500
per ton for large contracts, and SIP
for small lots.
Yet at that price they assert
that the business under the pres
snt tariff can be made entirely sue
cessfuI.
Without the cent pound duty, no
American capitalist could have been
found to invest in an enterprise that
could not possibly have succeeded in
its infancy against British competi-
tion.-Refubiic.
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