Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-01-18
Pittsburgh Manu- ufactures on
Tariff Revision.
rCorrespondence of Titusville Herald ]

| The Pittsburgh Iron ana Steel man.
ufacturers are, as stated in my first
letter, almost unanimously in favor Of
tariff revision but they look forward
| with dread to the uncertainty which
must necessarily attend the formation
of new tariff law.
1t is such a delicate matter to ham,
ble,' said w. D. Wood, of the McKees-
port works of W. D. Wood Il Co.,
yesterday, that Pennsylvanisns may
we'll have fear of the results Of any
tinkering with the tariff l am satisf-
: ed, however, that there will be new
tariff bill presented to Congress very
soon after the holidays, and the sonner
we have revision the better. Judge
Kelley is fully competent to draft
satisfactory bid. Grave Inequalities
exist in the present law and they
should be remedied. The omnibus
clauses in the present tarif give the
most trouble. The treasury officials
regulate the rates of duty on manufac-
lures not otherwise provided for, while
the law should make The duty unalter-
able. We favor the Mckinley bill.
That proposes to fix the duty on ar
ticles unclassifed at a rate not less
than that charged upon the material
from which the unclassiied goods are
made. Such a law would do away
with the cotton-tie trouble for example
Under the McKialev hill cotton
ties would be requested 10 pay the
same duty as hoop iron, from which
they are made The damage clauses
which allow rebate of duty for goods
damaged during the voyage, should
also be repealed Russia sheet iron
which may have been stained en- route
from the pral Aounpalns TO ". He
tersburg, or by sweating while In the
holds of vessels, secures rebate in |
proportion to the damage sustained |
from the regular rate of 3 cents per
pound. The stained iron can be bright
bned in this oqu4lgy, ana 1t is tLen !
sold as hrst-class article
THE WISDOM OF SECRECY.
Il don't think continued Mr.. Wood,
that it is good idea tor the tariff |
people to say what they do or do not
want in respect to either az increase or
reduction of duties. If | went to
Washington to tr, and accomplish
some change in the tariff that would |
be beneficial to our manufactures and |
made it known in advance, would |
ind half dozen importers there trys
ing 20 defeat nay Puepoee. We are
tariff men here OF principle. We don't
believe in the degradation of labor,
and as long as this country is prosper
ing and its people are contented and
happy, | don't think new policy will
be advocated
Mr. Wood and his partners in their
works at McKeesport and Wellsville
employ about 700 men. At the for
mer place the only mandatory of
planpished or Russia sheet iron in this
country exists Mr. W. D. Woods
grandfather obtained the secret of the
manufacture of this iron in Russia
nearly half a century ago, and in l845
established his works in Philadelphia
The process has been kept in the Wood
family ever since, and has been greatly
improved. Some of the most valuable
patents for the process were issued
not more than year ago. The mills
at McKeesport are not, it is perhaps
needlessto say, open to the inspection
of the public The tariff has undoubt-
edly been of great advantage to Mr..
Wood, but has also been beneficial TO |
the consumer, for he now gives the
public plannished iron at from ii cents !
to II cents per pound that used to cost
20 cents per pound.
HOW GLASS MEN REGARD THE TARIFF.
There are in Pittsburgh fifty glass
making establishments Of all KINDS,
with an aggregate capital Of S5,49l 600 |
Sixthousand men are employed in these
works. The industry has hourished
under the protection given it by
the tariff There are used in
the United States 100000 gross
of beer bottles annually. ST. Louis
consumes 100000 annually, Chicago
very near the same number, and Mil
waukee $4,000 gross. In Pittsburgh
glass of every description is made. II.
b. Atterbury, & Co., of the South side,
are large and we'll established manu-
facturers. Mr.. Atterbury, after giving
us the figures quoted ABOVE in respect
to the consumption of beer bottles, said:
Glass manufacturers in Germany are
laying down these bottles in Chicago
to-day for $3.50 per gross, and in st.
Louis for $6-paying the duty of 35 per
cent, ad valorem, too. 1t is only
question of time when ST. Louis will get
the bottles as cheap as Chicago. We
consider Sc per gross about ss cheap
as we can handle the bottles There
are over one hundred firms engaged in
the manufacture of these bottles near
Brussels, and American naufacturers
can scarcely compete with them. The
reason is that labor costs almost nothing
there. Here we must pay for it. A
good blower in the United States wants
SIS per day. In Germany he is well
paid if he receives $40 per week. The
great difficulty with the tariff in the es-
timation of the glass manufacturers is
the low rate of duty on soda ash.
This article, made of lime, salt and sui
pilates, all of which can be obtained in
abundance in the United States, is essen
tial to the manufacture of glass. In
1880, 2Os, 425, 700 pounds of soda ash
were imported, paying duty Of 4 cent
per pound The'revenue obtained from
these importations was 1921 ,064,29.
The value of the Importation was $3,-
12S,772.25. Foreign manufacturers
lave a monopoly of the manufacture
of soda ash, and every attempt to break
down the monopoly has failed. They
charge us p cents per pound for the ash.
'Lennox, of Philadelphia, started in
sometime ago to make soda ash. He
built his works and began the manufac-