National Republican., 1883-03-09
Abrnm Hewitt s,,ll Rampant.

When Abram S. Hewitt, the ironsmaster
and bourbon democratic dcmagoguc, rushes
in to the New York Sun to cry out against a
tariff ON the raw materials he uses in his iron
works, he means to say that he cannot make
as much money If raw materials are taxed as
he could if they were free and when he says
that If raw materials are taxed he must get
even by cutting down the wages Of
his workmen, he means that he will not
allow them to make $400 year unless
he can make for himself, clear of all
expenses, a hundred times that amount
But Abram says that if the raw material can
come to this country free of duty so as to
shut up our own iron mines, or still further
to degrade the miners, then out of the misery
of the injured class he will coin enough to
keep the wages of his men up to $i00 year
There has not been such a philanthropist
since Josiah Bounderby, Of Coketown. This
is the samo Mr.. Hewitt who on the twenty
seventh of January, 1870, wrote the following
letter:
JAY GOULD, ESQ, PRESIDENT ERIE RAILWAY
CoMPANY-Dedr Sir! beg leave to acknowledge
the receipt Of your favor of twenty-sixth instant
and to state that not only fully concur in the
views which you express in regard TO the duties
on steel and iron rails, but am at loss to add
anything which will make them more forciblc ;
md venture to suggest that you will allow me
to send copy of your letter TO the committee Of
ways and means.
The factis that steel and iron ranscan be made
in suitable localities in this country-and notably
on the line OF the Erie railway-wih as little
labor as in any part of the world; aud the only
reason why we pay more for American rails Is
because we pny higher rate for the labor which
Is required for their manufacture but for
no greater quantity of labor. Free trade
will simply reduce the wages of labor to
the foreign standard, which will enable us to sell
our rails i'll competition with foreign rails but as
matter of course, the ability of the laborer to
consume will be reduced, and serious loss be in-
hcted on commerce, general industry. and the
business Of the railways especially. The only
reason why tariff is necessary is to supply the Ia
borer with such wages as will enable him 10 trdvel
and consume, not merely the necessaries, but
some of he iuIuries of modern civilization.
Besides we have free trade, we can not ex-
pect to procure our supplies from abroad by in
creased shipments of grain, for already the Euro.
pean markets take from us all that they require,
and no amount of purchases of goods from them
will induce them to buy more food than they need,
and which they now take as a matter of necessity.
Faithfully, yours, ABRAM s. HEWITT.
If Mr.. Hewitt operated iron mines he
would be found as ready to talk about high
wages for miners to enable them "to travel
and consume not merely the necessaries, but
some of the luxuries of modern civilization" !"
as he now is to demand that iron mining be
shut down to make room for free iron pro-
duced in Africa without wages. His bab-
bling about the tariff act is simply that of a
man with forty axes to be ground. Hees for
free trade on everything except what is man
ufactured by Abram S. Hewitt. The public
will soon tire of him.