Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-05-24
MlNE-owNERs GROWING RlcA.

Men-Like the Daughter. Of the Horse
 Ieech They Cry, "Give, Give!''
 It is always instructive to compare the condition of any industry as brought out in the trade journal and daily papers with it's condition as represented before the Ways and Means Committee at Washington.
 The latest case in point is that Of the iron mining industry. Facts have lately come to light which show that the own CTS of iron mines are piling up immense fortunes. The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, which is paper in full sympa- thy with the high protectionists, printed recently the following piece of news: "The earnings of some of the Lake Su- perior iron ore companies have been something phenomenal during the past few months. One company with capi- tai stock of $500, 900 is reported to have cleared in fifteen months over $7OO,OOO, or considerable more than the entire capital. Stock at the par value of S25 has gone up until it is held at S175 share, which is not at all strange when the earning capacity of the company is considered"
 Here is an increase of 600 per cent | in the value of the property of men who
 
 infant industry, and that they can not compete with the ores of far-away Spain. What cost them one dollar to | buy is now worth seven dollars; and every dollar they put into the property now yields $1 12 year.
 One would think that men who reap | such profits would be able to protect | the own labor instead of asking Con- gross to pass laws to protect it. They patio ntly gather up the statistics of the wages paid to miners in Spa n and carry | these figures to Mir. Mckinleys commit l tee to prove that the American miner | needs protection from the distant Span l iard. The men who make these great profits out of their iron miners told Mir. Mckinley that they were "decidedly in l favor of building up our own country" Of course they are! Who would not be in favor of building up his own coun- | try when that country yes him laws | which enable him to make more than one hundred per cent. on his money? | But these iron mines in the North west are not entirely domestic indus | tries" It is said that about one fourth | of their product is taken from mines owned by a body of capital sts in Ber- | lin. Germany, called the Schlesingcr syndicate. These shrewd Germans have ] seen that the Americans are a peculiar | people who tax themselves in order that l ther mine owners may have a soft snap | and grow rich, and so they determined | to have finger in the pie too and get some of the good things that we are passing around every year under the de- | fusion that it all goes to "American | labor" The Germans saw their chance, formed a syndicate and bought up number of these mines; and they. too, are growing rich under the beautiful system of protection to infant indus | tries.
 Another company which is reaping enormous profits out of iron mines is the Metropolitan Iron and Land Com pany of Mich gan. a large part of the stock of which is owned in Massachu- sctts. In January dividend of twenty six per cent was paid by this company; on April 20 further dividend of twelve per cent was paid; and in addition to this stock dividend of twenty-five per cent was declared at the same time.
 That is to say, instead of paying out the full dividend in money, the stock of each stockholder was increased by twenty-five per cont Future dividends
 will. of course, be calculated upon the
 basis of the stock thus watered: and the div dends which are paid will, by this
 watering process be disguised in such way that the people will, not be able to see at once what vast
 profits they are helping these mine-
 owners to make. The stockholders pay
 in not one cent of eXtra money. and yet
 they will receive dividends hereafter
 upon ono c-fourth more of stock than they
 paid for That is one way to diguise
 from the people the effect of the high
 protection they continue to vote to these
 mine-owners.
 If we sum up now the dividends paid
 out by this company, including the stock
 dividend, we get total of thirteen per cent. The shares of the company com mand an enormous premiRm. The par
 value is S25, and the last sale which is
 known was for $S5. But so far as is
 known there have been no recent sales.
 People who have such good thing, and
 public so ready to tax itself for their
 benefit, do not readily part with their property. They have the best Bessemer
 ore in the country-this ore being what is used in producing steel. The demand
 for the ores of tnis company is so great
 that the larger part of the product for
 this year is already sold in advance. And who is it that is paying the money
 to enrich these ore companies?
 The consumer, of course.
 The steel manufacturer buys the ore
 and when he sells the finished steel the
 cost for the ore must be covered, and a handsome profit must be kept by him for manufacturing the steel. The steel i, is then made into a thousand forms ot machinery, many of which find their way to the farm, many to the workshop; but 7 wherever they go they carry with them the increased price originally put on the : ore at the mines by the work ng of oul tariff laws. It is the same old story over again of the enrichment of the few
 at the expense of the many. The bless