The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-08-03

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Mn. rnfsiDfsri-l do not expect 10 dif |
cdsa NJ nll the little bill with It's numerous
amendments except for u short time on two
poihts. Upon these points desire 10 place
my views on record NO conolsely as ! oan
put them.
had intended 10 say something with re-
spcct to the merits or more accurately, the
dem erits, Of this bill, but IL Is apparent to
my mind that there IL breaking up Of the
camp preparatory to q retreat, and / sim
ply propose now to place upon record some
facts IN respect to two amendments which
are quite important to the people Of the
state | in pa rt represent.
The bill itself as it came from the house.
affords, as believe, no relief to the great
army of oyerburdened Taxpayers. 1t is a
delus.on in those who think SO, but / shall
not now uriher refer to that, because tor
the reason stated, do not think it neces.
sary.
One section of the bill proposes reduc-
ton of the duty on Bessemer steel rails
from $2S to $40 per ton. That affects very
LARGELY the state of Texas, which, begin
ming in 1865 with 331 miles of railway, went
yer 5000 miles OF completed and equipped
railroad, and we have since increased thai
700 miles up to the present time, and a
large portion of these roads is laid with the
Bessemer steel rail We are, therefore, di.
rectly and Immediately and largely inter
ested in that question, because the cheaper
the roads are built the cheaper is transpor-
tation.
In reply to the structures made by the
senator from Delaware (Mr. Bayard) the
other day upon the excessive tariff on Bes-
semer steel rails the senator from Massa'
chusetts (Mr. Hoar) said that notwithstand-
ing this tax of S2S on Bessemer steel rails
they wero imported. want to address my
self a moment to that, so far as the interest
of my state is concerned, and | can explain
it, think, conclusiyely and satisfactorily
to any one.
/ have Just stated the amazing increse in
mileage of railroads in Texas. You VIII
find very accurate statement prepared at
my request under the auspices of the cot
ton exchange at Galveston, in the annual
report of the chief of engineers, in volume
2. page 1881 from which it appears that tor
the year ending December 81, 1879 iron and
steel rails and fastenings to the extent of
$40, 900 were imported into the port of Gal
weston, and for the year ending December
81, 1880. there were imported $3,776,916, an
extraordinary increase of over 1000 per
cent.,and you will find that the percentage
of increase for the year 1880 over that OF
1879 of importation of iron and steel rails is |
very much greater than the percentage OF
increase of i'm portation of any other article. |
Why was it? Was it because the i'm |
porters believed that $2S per ton was a just |
and reasonable tariff Let us see the rea- |
son. There are some eight Bessemer steel |
factories in the United States. Every one
o. those factories, as | am informed, was
crowded with orders beyond what they
could fill for months. The state of Texas
gave to every company which compl oted |
and equipped mile of railroad
1920 acres of land per mile
The amount of land which belonged |
to the state and which went to these rail
sorbed in the building of the roads. Hence
to secure the land those companies which |
could not get orders filed at the mills IN
this country found it to their interest to g,t
rails by speedy importation rom Liver
pool
l have stated and placed on record that
the amount of iron and steel rails and fast
enings imported into the port of Galveston
for the year ending Deem Der 81, 1879, was
$40, %, and that that was increased to
S3,776, 916 for the year ending December 81. |
1880, or over 600 per cent.
Now what is the reason for it? The rea-
son, in my judgment, is conclusive and I'M
answerable, so far at leastas my state is
concerned The state had given 1920 |
which would complete and equip mile Of
railroad. There were but eight Bessemer
steel companies, constituting q syndicate,
in the entire United States, and the orders
in those mills were far beyond their power
to rapidly fill. The company which had its
order in first was served first. The lands of
the state were becoming rapidly absorbed,
n ha nft rai
road companies which wanted to secure
this laud to import their steel rails from
England and pay the difference between
the imported ton and the ton manufactured
here, whatever difference that might be,
bee .use they would make more money by
securing these 10, Y0 acres of land per mile
than the difference between the American
steel and the British steel. That is the
ocson why they imported it there. And
in my judgment the imperative necessity
for steel rails to supply the immense rail-
road building within the last two years, far
beyond the capacity of the eight Bossemer
mills in this country, will account for the
importation at all the ports.
Then pass to the other point. This bill
under review processes on its face to be a
bill for relief and for the reduction of the
taxes of the people, and il is q remarkable
fact that the only people in all this country
whose taxes are increased by this bill are
the people whom in part represent. You
may look to the fifth section of the bill, and
the increase which the people OF the south
paw on cotton-ties is $50 per cent. / will
show that.
Hoops cut to lengths, splayed and
punched. are worth per ton, free on board
vessel at Liverpool, 81 los. 3D., equal to
36G0-that Is. all charges paid ready 10
come to the United States. The present
duty is 80 per cent. ad valorem, which is
80. lla IF Sl.I
finance committee will make the duty u
cents per pound, or $500 per ton. The
duty is now IS per cent. ad valorem. 1t is
proposed 10 be increased TO u cents a
pound. Let us see the effect of that.
The general average Of the annual cotton
crop made in the sonth is 6,000,000 bales. |
OF that 60OO,0C0 bales the state ofTexas
raised little over oDe-ffth, or 10000
bales last year. As have said the average
crop in the south is 0000,000 bales. Now
there are six ties to each bale, and the ag-
gregate weight of these six ties is III
pounds 20 the bale, equal to 81, 10000
pounds of iron used in baling the 6,0o0,CJ0
bales Of cotton, OF 3O,l34 tons at 22i0
pounds per ton. The present tax is Sl2H
Der ton, equal to $685. l654. The proposed
tax Of u cents a pound is equal 10 tar on
a ton OF 2, 2l0 pounds Of $3.50. The tax on
30 134 tons Of iron at $500 IL Si,Ol2. 502. 40.
The tax which we now pay is $3S6,0l854
The increase therefor by this amendment
on the single item Of cotton-ties to the peo-
pie of the south is S696, SO, or over 10
per cent increase, and this is called a bill
Tor the relief Of the people,
Mr. President. that six million bales Of
cotton is raised by the labor Of the black /
man as well as the white man. When you |
increase the expense Of that over $4,000
you take out Of the hard earnings Of
the black man as well as Of the white man
that much OF the earnings Of the sweat Of
his brow and put Il In the pockets Of the I
PENNSYLVANIA irOnmOneers or some other
iron manufacturer, and you call that
Just.
Those who pretend to be such friends 70
the lnboring man, and especially 20 the
colored man. shonld bear IN mind that a