The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-23
views Of Our Foreign visitors.

]
/ Interviexed concerning the various cur
rent affairs that are at present eagrcssing
attention both here and abroad, some of the
members Of the British iron and steel
/ congress, now guests Of the Amer
/ lean Institute Of Mining Engineers, have
/ expressed views that are particularly inter
| estiag Just at this time. Mary Of them are
| large capitalists engaged in manufacturing
and mining enterprises IN England. Scot
/ land and Wales. and quite number are
/ widely known for their conspicuous
/ scientific attainments. All may be
/ considered experts in their several
callings As respects the English
/ syndicstes for acquiring productive Ameri-
can properties, of which we hear so much
| from time to time, the rather surprising
| information is given that they represent
mainly the small investors, not the large
capitalists Of Great B-,tain. Men having
| from $50 t. $500 have been induced by pro-
rnoters OF such schemes 70 90 in for the
| large profits TO be had in certain established
industries here. 1t is not the big investors,
as a rule, that are tempted by these vent
ures. Syndicate schemes are foated
chiefly in London. where the supply of gull
lible people is almost inexhaustible.
Englishmen of large capital are pushing
various enterprises in the south and other
parts of the country, but they should not
be confused with those who merely act as
agents Of syndicates and invest other peo-
ple's money rather than their own.
These visitors express the opinion that
! English trade will not be affected by the
high tariff TO anything like the extent that
some have supposed. Inasmuch IS the
exports to this country have recently been
very small they think that the British
iron and steel trade will not be materially
affected.
Questioned on the subject Mr.. Fry, NJ.
P, said: "Our iron and steel are finding
other outlets; we have no market in the
United States-at least not directly" Mr..
| Arthur McKeen of Birmingham is Of opin-
ion that our high duties will affect
seriously the tin plate industry of Wales,
but will not materially influence the iron
trade generally. Mr.. Williamson, ship
builder of Workington, sees no reason to re-
greet the passage of the Mckinley bill from
his point Of view as a shipbuilder. There
can be little doubt" he said, that free
trade in this country would injure
| shipbuilding in England. Protective
tariffs that have made the price of Ameri-
can iron so high have driven ship
building to England, 50 that the greater
part of American foreign trade is now car
ried in ships under the English flag" Sir
James Balm, a large owner of iron and steel
1 \
fident that in passing the Mckinley bill "the
states have made a mistake, and it will not
be long before they will be anxious to
remedy the error" "We have not" he
added, "been sending much iron to America
of late, and possibly the Mckinley revision
may not hurt u.s." Sir Lowthian Bell, on
the other hand. expresses the view that "the
Mckinley bill will affect England seriously.
as it will cut down her market in this coun-
try at once"
That hackneyed story our protectionists
tell of the overworked condition of English
miners Sir James Balm pronounces "all
fairy tale" LET me tell you" he said, THAT
our Golfers go down at o'clock in the
morning and come up at IL o'clock a. M
1t is all piece work, and the men work just
as long as they please, never to exceed
eight hours day. Afternoons are spent in
flying pigeons and in various sports and
amusements. Such is the life OF the Door
collier They have the power by combin-
ing In their well-organized union to restrict
the product and thus keep up the prices.
Small production creates brisk demand
and sustains high prices. This gives them
bigger wages, and they are happy and con-
tented under this condition of things" So
far has the thing gone, according to Sir
James, that, owing to high prices for labor,
English iron is being displaced even in
England itself by the iron of France, Bel
GUM aud Germany.
Differences of wages are to be satisfac-
torily adjusted next spring, it is hoped.
when an international congress of working
men will be held in Belgium to adopt an
equitable scale of wages for all countries.
Labor is at present a serious question.
Combinations of employees are being met by
combinations of employers. A notable in
stance of the latter is the Shippers Fedora
ton, which, at present, by levying one
penny a ton on the tonnage registered in its
books, can raiss $3.50. 900 to fight recall
citrant employees. As only about 10 per
cent. of the tonnage is in port at any one
time it can be seen that the federation is
likely to prove q formidable opponent in
future conflicts.
Despite their preconceived notions of the
vast extent OF our Industrial enterprises
our visitors express no little amusement at
what they see on every hand.
Oysters are said to be rank failure in
the Chesapeake bay this season. All the
dredgers bring in gloomy reports. Though
the season has just begun they say that the