The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-02-14
IRON AND IRON ORE.
Common Sense and Practical Ideas
of Tariff Reform.
Letter From Congressman Hewitt Pre-
sented to the House Of
Representatives.

that his colleague, Hon. Abraham ..
Hewitt was unable to attend the session
of the House on account OF sickness, OBJ
tanned leave to have printed In the Rec
ord the following letter received from
that gentleman:
NEW YORK, Feb. 8. 1883.
Hon. 8. 8. Cox, House Of Representatives,
Washington, ID. c.:
DEAR SIR-Your favor of the 4th inst.
il received. From some furtive inqui-
ries which have come to my notice In
fer that an attempt will be made in the
House to assail the position which took
before the Tariff Commission in favor of
free iron ore and free scrap iron ON the
ground that l am looking out for my
own personal interests in advocating
the removal of duties upon these Rrti
eles. | observe in the Senate that two
Senators, who ought to have known bet
ter in view of what l distinctly stated
to the Tariff Commission as to my per-
sOnal interests, made this charge against
me, and they have not since had the
manliness to retract 1t. Let me say
then that If there be any man in this
country who would be injured by the
removal of duty from iron ore or from
scrRp iron, am that man. L am very
largely engaged in mining iron ore i'll
var GUS parts of the United States, but
more particularly in New Jersey, where
l. luLtTbbLbu III lulubb VI
iron ore nearer the seabOard than any
other in the country. am, therefore,
more directly in competition with for
eign iron ore than any one else, and the
removal Of the duty would injure me if
it would injure anybody. But the fact
is that no foreign iron Is sold here for
less than So a ton, while 1 am selling
my ore, equally rich, for 81 per ton.
The removal of the duty will not, there
OF nrfaa nf M
is a margin of 50 per ton in my favor
now, and il ore be made free shall still
have a margin of $1.5O a ton.
WHY FOREIGN ORE COMES IN.
The reason why foreign ore comes in
IL because we do not produce enough ore
low in phOsphates for the manufacture
Of pig iron required for the Bessemer
steel process. Last year, because the
country did not produce this ore, and
did not produce enough Bessemer pig,
we imported over six hundred thousand
tons Of foreign ore and nearly an equal
Quantity OF foreign pig iron. IL the ore
had been free the pig iron which we i'm
ported would have been manufactured
here out Of foreign ore, which would
have given a Jorge additional opening
for American labor and would not have
reduced the output of American ore one
ton. 1t Is plain, therefore, that free ore
would be benefit to the whole cOun-
try as we'll as TO the iron industry in
which l am engaged. SO in regard to
scrap iron. Its free introduction is Op
posed on the ground that it will inter
fere with the manufacture of pig iron.
Ii this be so / would be greatly injured,
az am large producer of pig iron, but
as a matter OF fact the cheap scrap and
pig iron are friends and not enemies.
They can be most advantageOusly and
al. Ia ~ fr.u NfArt n
each other, and the cheaper the scrap
can be had the better price the buyer
can afford to pay for pig iron and the
larger will be the demand when the
business has adjusted itself to the more
favorable conditions thus produced.
VIEW OF IUoN MASTERS.
am aware that the iron masters as a
body do not agree with me in my views,
but they and the gentlemen who repre-
sent them In Congress are making
mistake. They think that we are suf-
fering from foreign competition, where
as the depression in the iron business Is
due solely to domestic competition, Lo-
calitiea in which iron cannot be pro-
duced cheaply are yielding to the supe-
rior advantages Of other regions in this
country where the conditions Of prOduc-
tiOn are more favorable. HOaiditiOn to
the tariff can prevent this competition
of driving inferior concerns out Of ex-
istence. The process Is diaagreeable,
but is necessary and healthy. Cheap
food, cheap fuel and cheap iron are the
essential elements Of growth and pros
perity in any nation, and without them
no nation can be great and free. The
Interest Of the American iron master,
therefore, is not to devise. methods by
which iron may be made dear, but to
find out how it may be made cheap, and
II there be anywhere an unnecessary i'm
pediment to economy and reduction of
cost 1t should be promptly removed. The
duties on iron ore and scrap iron are a
purely obstructive and unnecessary inn
pediment to the cheapening Of the cost
Of iron, and they should be at once abol-
ished.
PERSONAL INTERESTS.
do not think that 1 have any right to
advocate my personal interests on the
door Of Congress except 80 far as they
are cOincident with the interests Of my
constituents and the whole people. ]
represent a district teeming with in
duatries, the basis and raw material OF
which is iron in some form OF other
Ny constituents want cheap iron, there,
fore, and in this respect their interests
are in harmony with the wants Of the
whole people. The experiences which
have gained as an iron master should
therefore, be devoted to pointing out
how iron may be made cheap. If the
people think. that there is an honest
effort on the part OF the iron interest to
respond to just demands and to advocate
obvious reforms they will not be dis.
posed to press for reductions Of duty
which would involve embarrassment tO
the business or cutting down of the
wages of labor. The people understand
that the iron business cannot exist In
this country with wages at their present
level without eountervailing duties suf-
deient TO make up for the difference In
the wages paid here and abroad. But
they will sObject, and very properly, tO
the imposition Of duties which are
simply prohibitOry and which have nc
effect whatever in putting up the wages
OF labor, but simply add to the cost OF
iron to the consumer, and produce loss
to the community for which there is nc
compensation whatever. therefore
urge upon the representatives of the iron
interests upon the floor of the House moi
to seek to raise duties, but diligently tC
find out every item which can be made
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