Saint Mary's beacon., 1873-09-18
SCORE BY INNINGS.
(From the Ner I,ork World }

QuININE AND CALoMEL.-Among the
mouopolies which ought to be broken up
are two upon medicines, of which one im-
poses tax upon the recovery Of every
fever patient in the country. These are
the monopolies in quinine aud calomel. -
The quinine of the country is supplied
from the laboratories Of Powers & Weight
man and Of Rosengar,en & Son, in PhiIa-
delphia. These two firms now enjoy a
monopoly in the article by reason Of the
ad valorem duty of 20 per cent on i'm
ported qu;uinc; but the quinine monop-
oily antedates the present tariff. In 1857.
when the duty on quinine was Is per cent.
Pelletier. Paris chemist, came to New
York and established quinine factory
As soon as be commenced operations Pow
ers 4 Weightman and the Rosengartens
combined to break dotn the newly estab-
lished competition. BY selling quinine
90 ceats bottle lower than the Paris
price. and BY spending in all something
like $500, 900 in the contest, the Phila-
de'phia firms finally carried their point
When this was accomplished and the
Frenchman driven out. they turned their
attention to Congress. aud had the duty
on quiuine gradually raised to 45 per cent
ad valorem. But while putting up the
tariff on quiuine they took care to see
that the raw material should be uutaxed :,
and accordingly in 1870 the bitter bark of
Peru. out Of which quinine is mauutac-
tured. was made free of duty. Here are
two firms who for n time regulated the
quinine tariff to suit themselves, aud the
manner in which they regulated it is very
well worth considering. In order to have
cheap production they caused the duty on
the raw material Of quinine to be removed.
In order to have dear consumption they
caused the duty on the finished product
to be placed SO high as to shut out all
competition. The one commendable thing
about this quinine tariff is that it really
does promote the interests of the quinine
manufacturer, whereas many other indus
tries are more injured BY the duty on the
raw materials which they use than bene-
fted by the protection extended to the
products which they turn out. But if
cheap Peruvian bark is a good thing for
the Philadelphia manufacturers. it does
seem that cheap quiuine Is equally desira-
bic for the sick people who need the med
icinc.
In 1872 quinine was placed upon the
free list by the House committee. but the
Philadelphia monopolists brought such q
pressure to bear upon the Finance Com
mittee Of the Senate that q compromise
was effected whereby the duty on quipine
was reduced from 10 per cent to 90 per
cent. With free Peruvian bark quinine
can be made here as cheaply rs abroad.
The duty of 90 per cent. ad valorem
amounts to 40 cents an ounce on all qui-
nine used in the hospitals and sick-rooms
Of the country. and this sum is simply .
bonus paid by the invalid to the monop-
olist.
The duty of 80 per cent. on calomel
makes that article monopoly in the hands
Of three Philadelphia firms. viz: Powers
& Weigh,man, the Rosengartens. aud
pfizcr. The importa.ions of cslomel
amount to about 81, 900 year. on which
The duty paid into the Treasury is $500.
The total consumption of calomel amounts
to about $50. 900, on which the iuvalids
II the country paya tax Of S45. 600 to
he three firms above mentioned.
These are fair specimens Of the monopo-
lies created By the tariff. No one not
specially interested in the fortunes Of the
Pfizers and the Rosengartens can adduce
my valid reason for taxing the whole
,ountry for their benefit.