Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1880-04-24
THE sTEEL-RAIL ROBBERY.
from tn. Louisville Courier-Jo.rnal.

from the Louisville Courier-Journal.l
The steel-raii ring charge American
$50 . ton for rails. Equal
ly good rails, if not better. can be
bought III Liverpool for $43 Is to
$47 so. The tariff levies q duty of
$2s Q ton on the English rails, and
that goes int the American steel-rail
rings pocket-not into the federal
treasury. The tax is levied to enrich
. monopoly at the expense OF the
railroad companies, the people whe
travel gu railroads and the. people
who ship freight on railroads. Such
asystsn should be speedily abolished.
The railroad men have very prop
erly called the attention of congress
to this state of affairs. They say:
"Ths total extent of railroad mileage
in operation in the United States on
the lst day of January, 1879. equaled
61.841 miles. Assuming $3.50 miles
to have been opened since January
1, the total mileage in the United
States at the present time equals, in
round numbers, $1,000 miles. The
amount of double track and sidinss
will equal, say % 5000 miles, making a
total length of track now laid of
AAVJVVV A4AaOos ou VI "
tons to the mile, the total number Of
tons Of rails now laid on our roads
equals 100000. OF this mileage,
$4,000 miles r laid with steel aud
5000 with iron. The latter will have
to be relaid at the rate Of at least
twelve per cent. annually. At least
100000 tons annually will be re-
quired for new lines. The quantity
of new rails, consequently, annually
required for new aud old roads will
equal at least !. 800, 900 tons-a quantl-
ty twice greater than the capacity of
our domestic steel rail mills. With
the preseut duties, therefore, a very
large extent Of line must continue to
be laid with iron, unless our COM
panies are prepared to pay in duties
a sum considerably greater than the
first cost of steel rails."-
The present tariff rate on steel rails
10 therefore al obstruction to rail-
road expansion and An obstruction
to railroad companies in their efforts
to make irst-class, safe aud durable
roads, and q heavy tax, as we have
shown, on farmers aud all shippers.
as we'll rs passengers, who use the
railroads. Steel rails, the steel rail
men themselves admit, can now be
made as cheaply, or almost as cheap
ly. a. they can be made in England,
but they still clamer. for the reten-
ton Of the ouerous duty, which is,
after all. only paid into their own
pockets and not into the federal
treasury by the consumers. Thus our
tariff discriminates in favor of Il few
special Industries to enrich them at
the expense of consumers. 1t is
grossly unjust, because it %unconsti-
tu~tionally involves special legislation
in behalf of selected branches of mau-
u%factures, and makes the people pay
tribute to rings. Look at the selfish
dog-in-the-mangsr-po'Icy. The steel
rail combination can't supply the de-
mand for rails in this country, yet
insists upon preventing the railroad
companies from buying such rails in
England, by imposing a tax equal to
l20 per cent. OH the purchaser.
The duty on steel rails should be
reduced at once to $40 u ton. The
result would be not only the cheaper.
ing of the article In this country ut a
time when railroad building is in
great activity, but the federal treas
Of millions Of revenue from impor-
tations. The present tariff rate OIL
steel rails 10 nothing more than
robbery. 1t is iii obstruction to
American enterprise. Yet eleven stee
rail-makers in the United States are
allowed to combine t. rob the people
and deprive the government of rev
snue. That 10 what ''protection t.
American industry" means. 1t is the
policy of barefaced robbery.