The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1888-08-31
INDIANA MANUFACTURER's
VIEWS ON THE TARIFF.

INDIANA MANUFACTURER,
! VIEWS ON THE TARIFF.
John II. Bass, OF Fl. Wayne.
The Largest Manufacturer In In
diana.
Mr.. J. n. Bass, OF Fort Wayne,
probably the largest employer OF hand
liz Indiana. On Friday last he was vi,
tied BY an Indianapolis Sentinel CORES
pondent, and prevailed upon 10 answer
few business questions, which the cor
)lrespondent has put in the form an inter
view, and from which wc make som
extracts. Bass has large capital invest
led In various enterprises, employing Il
his car wheel shops alone 1850 men, an
making more car wheels than In any
lOther single establishment in the world
As many more are made ia the Bass shop
lat St. Louis and Chicago. Mr.. Bass |
also very largely engaged ia mining iroI
ore In Alabama and in the production o
lpig iron. He is also . manufacturer o
engines, boilers and machinery lie one o
1.-THE heaviest stockholders in the For
Wayne organ company, which employ
several hundred men and ships organ,
all over the world has large interes
In the Fort Wayne electric light works
which make electric light plants; Il
president OF the Fort Wayne city rail
way company, and Is stockholder in q
number Of banking, railroad and manu-
featuring institutions.
| Question - suppose, Mr.. Bass. you
have given some attention to the Mills
bill, about which something is said now.
la-days!'
Answer--"Yes, ! have given some At
ltention TO it,
What effect. If any, would the
passage OF the Mills bill have upon the
In which you are engaged?n
Al do not think 1t would have any
bad effects"
Q.-"Would you mind giving US some
lof your reasons for this z"
Al do not see how the manufac.
lture Of castings or car wheels could be
affected in any way by tariff. We
make tie price for the man
lufactured article at q certain per cent.
above the cost OF the material that goes
into IL, and whether that material is
high or low, do not see that it would
affect materially the production of that
Q.-T believe, Mr.. Bass, you are inter-
lested to some extent in furnaces and 4
few big iron mines 10 the Alabama dis
|trict"
AYES. We make some charcoal
Ipig iron IN Alabama adapted 10 EE(
Imanufacture Of car Wheels
Q-"Would you mind stating some oi
1.-The advantages. II there are any, that thai
|region possesses in the production 0I
|such iron as that?'
Ain some parts Of Alabama there
|are some very superior ores that posse ss
10 great deal Of strength when manufac-
|tured into pig iron, aud that also possess
1.-THE qualities necessary to produce deep
land good wearing chill in . car wheel.
III can also be produced in that region
very cheaply, % the ores are very easily
mined, and the timber out OF which char
coal IL made is abundant"
| Q.--"IIow does the cost of the produc-
ton Of iron in Alabama compare with
i the cost Of producing II In England, TEX
ling into consideration the cost Of labor,
| location Of ores, and all the elements that
|enter into the cost 2"
A.--"They can mine ores In this coun-
TRY, and particularly in the region
spoken Of, much cheaper than they can
he mined anywhere in Europe at the
same cost OF labor. ! think we can
mine ores Ia this country, at the price Of
labor here, owing TO the ease with which
THE ore can be obtained, ss cheaply as
they can mine It in almost any other
lcountry with lower grades of labor.
This grows ont Of the TACT thai. .elsew here
they have to delve deep into the earth,
las in England and Wales, ia order to ex-
tract their ores, as well as their coal, out
|of which they manufacture iron. In
those countries they make very little
charcoal iron, owing to the scarcity Of
timber In proximity to the iron ores. In
Alabama both the ore and the coal lie
nearer the surface Of the earth, and are
very accessible, while the same lands are
covered with timber out Of which to
make charcoal"
Q.-"What has been the result Of your
Of the effect Of the tariff up
on the iron and steel interests Of the
A.-"For many years the tariff on iron
has been comparatively low. On steel
it has been much higher. think the
tariff on steel rails has been for years
very much higher than was necessary or
profitable TO the producers OF steel in
this country. For instance, In 1879-60
there was q very active demand for steel
rails. The result Of this was the estab-
|lishment Of number Of large steel mills