Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-03-29

I11cAsT11 nAeCH, ., ~.


1no Nort1 o. UouSn Con0ltlon1s
Abnm s. Hewitt, % the result Of Oh
oorvations on his late visit 70 the South,
Wriss 10 the editor Of the Philadelphia
Record that ''if the railroad companies Of
ths North win only give 10 the Northern
lEon-masters the same rates Of freight as
~ Southern give 10 their customers
thwo VIII never b any occasion to con-
e'dr the question Of removing iron works
either North or South, and the Southern
lron, which now demoralizes the Northern
market, viii no longer be able to make
N entrance into IT," and this, q we have
already aid, h the decided conclusion to
which everyone must come who observes
The conditions under which Southern pig
Iron 10 taking possession Of the market Of
che Pennsylvania furnaces. 1t Is caused
solely BY the readiness OF the Southern
railroads to carry for Southern furnaces
at any price that is needed to enable them
70 market their product. There Is COM
bination Of the Southern railroad and
iron manufacturing business, for
mutual protection. And 1t can only
b met BY q like disposition on
She part Of the Northern railroads to
give Northern furnaces as low rates, or
nearly as low, as the Southern furnaces
get. Then the natural protection af-
fected by thousand miles Of greater
proximity to tht market, will be all that
the Northern furnaces will need to
enable them to successfully hold
it. Tho talk Of the greater cheap
ness OF iron manufacturing in the
South Is founded chiefly upon artiH.
cial differences OF condition and not alto
gether upon the natural superiority Of
that region.
1t isa newly developed country, with
comparatively cheap railroads, cheap
lands, and cheap minerals; but they will
be all getting desrer as time rolls on,
and those North will be getting cheaper,
till the conditions readjust themselves 80
that neither section will have supreme
advantage over the other In manufacture
ing.
Mr.. Hewitt notes also that the i'm.
position OF duty OF rs cents
per ton upon foreign iron ore
% not needed for the protection
OF any interest whatever, but its abolition
would give new life to many iron works
IN the East which are now Improbable
because they are deprived Of the privilege
OF getting the kind of ore from abroad
which is necessary for mixture with the
native ores In order to produce steel OF q
satisfactory ORDER" and this is un-
doubtedly true. The Atlantic seaboard
interests demand free ores and free oal;
ana there is no reason why they
should not have them. 1t may
result In putting iron plants directly
on the seaboard, where the new Penn
sylvAnia steel company's furnaces are
being placed; but 1t ought to serve to
eheapen their ore supply to interior fur
naces, TO which the interest of the railroads 8
would Induce the offer OF a low freight
20 prevent their removal to the seaboar d
A. Andrew Carnegie says, no one can
understand why the Pennsylvania rail.
road company did not stop the Sparrow
Point project OF the Pennsylvania steel
company, by agreeing to carry their ore
., Harrisburg at cost, instead of charg.
lag them as they probably did, over cent
. ton per mile. 1t was q stupidity which
cannot long pervade that management.