St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-07-23
ARRAIGNS HIGH TAX.
Thompson MeCoSh, n Iowa
Manufacturer, Pleads the
Cause of Labor.
He Denounces the Tax on Raw
Materials as Pure Rob-
berry.
The Monopolist Laughs at the
Gullibility of the Ameri-
can People.
High Taxes Contrary to the
Genius Of Our Free Gov
eminent.


Thompson McCoSh, head of the Nc
Gosh Iron and Steel company" the lead
ing industry of the kind in Iowa, and
one of the most prosperous and widely
known citizens in the state, is not in
love with the present enormous tariff.
He thinks it, to large extent, deluS-
ion and snare and an outrage, and it is
time that the American people get it out
of politics and reduced to reasonable
bounds i'll the interest of business and
the business public, to say nothing about
the consumers, who in the end foot the
tariff bill.
One of the most thoroughly robber
features OF the tariff, as 1t stands, is the
high duty on steel rods from which wire
used for barbed fence wire, nails and
similar purposes. is manufactured. Mr..
McCosh is directly affected by this, as is
every man who uses foot of wire fence,
and as are all the consumers of wire in
its various forms. In recent letter to
friend in another state, MIR. McCosh
makes the. following vigorous arraign-
ment of the tariff as it affects one of the
largest industries in the city of Burling-
ton and the thousands of consumers of
its products:
Dear Sir: Referring to our CONVEX
bation regarding the excessive duty on
imported wire rods, / think you will
agree with me that the figures which |
give below will bear out the statement
that 1t Is an onerouS and eXOrbltant tax
upon large portion of our population,
the only nnrCnnC rpoajyInU hanatit
from it being some five or six manufac-
turerS of wire rods in this country. Now
taking the price. f. o. b., Liverpool or
foreign port of shipment, and adding to
that the duty, also ocean freight and in
surance, these three items added to-
gether make the market price for the
American rod manufacturer. 1t is to-
day S4l per ton.
Owing to improved machinery very
ilttle manual labor is used in a modern
-od mill, not even fifteen or twenty
skilled workmen are required to man.
age and perform all labor connected
with it. Modern machinery has been
brought to such state of perfection
that manual labor is almost entirely
done away with, and it is simply a mat
ter of machinery; so that the cost of
manufacturing rods in this country
does not need 10 per cent, even though
labor may be higher here than it is on
the other side. This, you will observe,
puts into the pockets of the manufac-
turerS here all the profits which are
made in the foreign market and from
40 to 80 per cent additional, so that those
who have possession of wire rod mill
make moderate fortune every year of
their lives.
Another fact to be taken into consid-
Grafton is that three-fOurthS of the wire
rods made in this country, amounting
from geo, 900 to go, 600 tons, are imported
from abroad. Now, who pays this diff
ference between the price of raw mate
rial on the other side of the ocean and
the market on this? OF course this is
added to the price of the finished pro-
duet and the consumer must pay the
bill, or in other words, pays the tax or
duty, indirectly, it is true, but never
theleSS the money comes out of the
pockets OF all the consumers of wire, in
whatever shape or form it may be, the
farmers paying the largest proportion
of this extraordinary duty, because
they are the largest consumers, the ma
JOrlty OF the product going into the
manufacture of barbed fence wire.
Now, when we come to consider its
effect upon the workingmen, about
Which our high protective friends prate
so much, that view is entirely fallacious
and misleading.
There are in all about 5000 working
men employed in the manufacture of
barbed fence wire, nails, telephone and
telegraph wire, and various other forms
into which wire is turned, such as
screws. hooks, ETC., where there are
perhaps less than 500 Workmen en-
1llnVad in rod mills. fl,ot ,-o,, will coz,
that the 5000 WOrkmen are working at a
disadvantage on account of the dear raw
material, fer the benefit of the few who
are rod producers. This is entirely con-
trary to the spirit and genius of our
American government, which is found
ed upon the principle of 1.-The greatest
good to the greatest number"
This is taxing the many for the benefit
OF the few.
it cannot be explained by the other
side why the few large producers in the
state OF Pennsylvania should require all
the balance of this vast nation, with its
millions of consumers, to pay tribute to
them. Ii is very unjust thing and,
like all other wrongs and fallacies. it
must eventually be done away with.
Our Republican friends may be able to
make political clap-trap and buncombe
out of it for the want of real issue be-
tween the two parties at the present
time in this great county, but truth and
right will eventually prevail.
This high protective tariff system
will, when properly understood by the
people Of this country, be done away
with, just as slavery and other great
evils, which have forced themselves on
the body polite, have been abolished.
Very truly yours, Il. MCCosH.