Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-05-25
1T STIRS THEN UP.

the monopoly organs up to white heat.
It was one of th abIest speeches that has
been made on that subject. Mr.. Scott, or
Bill Scott, as he is everywhere known,
started ia life as page in the house of
representatives. He settled at Erie, Penn
syIvapia, in 184S, and was there employed
as a shipping clerk. He soon got to doing
for himself, owned vessels, and run them
on the lakes. He then became interested
in mining coal and manufacturing iron.
Success attended his efforts in whatever
he undertook. He became largely in
terested in railroads, and is now immense
ly rich. At one tins he was president or
director of over $4,000 miles of complet-
ed railroads, and has had the largest ex-
perience in business of any man in the
United States congress, either side,
or in either house. He owns numerous
farms, coal miues, iron mines, mills,
factories, aud controls entire systems of
railroads. His knowledge Is that OF
clear headed business man. He made
which las caused more dismay il pro
lection circles in PeDnsy lyania that any
utterance has ever caused. His intimate
knowledge of the costs of manufacture
has enabled hIm to strip off the whole
mask of deceit and false pretence, to ex-
pose the fraud and downright lying with
which the claims for existing high tariffs
have been kept up. He has struck blow
in favor of lower tariffs from which the
advocates of tariff robbery will scarcely
recover.
As an instance of the mastery handling
of his subject, the following points are
given: He takes up the subject of steel
rails, the present tariff on these rails is
now $17 per ton. The Mills bill proposes
to reduce this duty to $11 per ton. Mr..
Scott, by careful figures, shows
the actual cost of steel rails to be $2GH
per ton. OF this the labor cost is $4.O9;
the cost of material and waste is $22.70.
The selling price of rails is now $780,
or clean profit Of Sl07l per ton.
The present tariff OF $17 per ton is 50
per cent. ad valorem. 1t gives the steel
trust an opportunity to exact, at the
present prices, a profit of 40 per cent
The Mills bill proposes TO reduce the tar
if on steel rails to an equivalent of 30 per
cent nd valorem, which will still leave an
opportunity to charge prices almost as
high as at present, and not practically
affect their profits ut all tariff of $lI
per ton to cover labor cost of $i.O9
per ton is a high protective tariff
any way you look at it, and would scarce
ly compel the reduction of the present
prices of steel rails. At best it would
take off but 81 or So of tho present prc6t
of $40 or $ll per ton.
This demonstration IL but a sample of
tho exposures of this remarkable speech
lie shows how Carnegie. the great mil
lionaire bead of the steel trust had re-
fused to give Secretary Manning any in
formation as to the details Of cost of
steel rails. He takes up the cost of steel
beams, or structural iron, and proves that
the cost is $500 per ton. The labor cost
is $4.32 The tariff is $28.88 per ton, or
1925 per cent ad valorem, to protect the
steel trust monopolists for paying 1872
per ton for labor.
Mr.. SCOTS arrays of hard facts have
caused howl of dismRy TO go up from
tho protection organs. In the tariff dis
oussion the republicans have all along
had the worst of it. Their old, OBJ
non srquittos have only tended to dark
en- counsel by words without knowl-
edge. The plain, square, open speech |
of this practical, experienced business |
man telling things that ho knows in Il
plain way, has let in flood of light on
the subject of reduction of the tariff.
1t shows the republican party to be in
League with tho monOpolists who under
the protense of protecting labor are
grinding it to the earth; under the pre-
tense of developing American industry
are placing every possible obstacle in the
way of it's development. Closing his
able speech MIR. Scott says:
ave are here, sir,-we, OF the ma
iority of the ways aud means com
mittee, and OF this house de
tense of American industry. We
alone offer it protection; we seek alone
the independence and aggrandisement of
domestic labor by liberating it from un
natural restraints and allowing it the un
disturbed possession and com plete enjoy
ment of its own earnings. The other
side offer it-whatY A monopolized
market in which TO buy the necessurIes of
life on the one hand, and on the other
labor market jeot to the caprice of
trusts. In short, they promise it the in
sstimable boon OF working in the pro
teoted industries, where no share of the
bounty alleged protection affords is al
loted to labor, and Of bearing in common
with the rest of the people of the United
Statea the terrible eNactions of the pro
tective system to cnrich the privileged
classes"
DEFINITION OF RErUBILCANISM BY THE
ORGANS.
TuKRE are indications that this year will be a
dscouragng for Republican kickers Their
kicks viii be ike a head coming in contact with
stone wall GAINESVILLE Gazette.
"If they are kckers they won: bc rrpubli-
cans Evening Wisconsin
TuAr's it exactly. No maa hereafter