The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1890-08-14
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CtilotbOl NtOi man, vi iolitf AhsbhAheo
The principal speech. In his argument
ne contended for free foreign ores of
Bessemer quality, in order to establish
the steel works near Baltimore, never
portion of the Union, or how industries
IN other sections would be affected. 1t
is entirely possible that it would be to
the interest of the steel makers near the
of duty So pronounced a Republican
as Senator Blair, of New Hampshire, not
only intimated that New England want
free ores, but free wool, for he knows
that New England manufactures cannot
with the South, where the raw
materials are native to the soil. But
how about the vast industrial establish
ments in the interior of New York and
Pennsylvania and through the West?
Must they all be sacrificed in order that
few capitalists on the sea coast may
augment their profits at the expense OF
the development of the mineral resour-
ces of our own country, the employment
of our own labor, and the establishment
of home industries? 1t is a blind policy,
that would sacrifice the interests of the
many for the benefit of the few. 1t would
be making paramount the welfare OF a
few capitalists, who may be interested in
steel making on the sea coast, regardless
of the interests of the balance of the
country, and especially the South.
Bessemer ores, equal to the Lake or
the Cuban ores, are found in Virginia.
At this time gentleman who has spent
the most of his life in the mines of Mich
igan, is now locating fifty miles of Bes-
semer ores in Virginia and Tennessee,
and he informs us that they are as good,
if not better, more accessible and cheaply
mined as the Lake ores. Northwestern
capital is at the back of his work, and
Northwestern experts are the men who
are engineering the investigation and
location. To admit Cuban ores free of
duty would operate against the develop
ment and utilization of the Bessemer
ores in Virginia, North Carolina and
Tennessee, and render them practically
useless.
1t is not surprising that New England
statesmen, protesting to be Republicans
and to favor the principle of protective
tariff, are patting Mr.. German on the
back, and asserting that free raw ma
terials are necessary to the profitable
operation of their industries. After
having exhausted the resources of their
own section and reaped all the benefit
they could out of the protective policy,
thew now come forward to renOunce
this policy, for the simple reason that
the South is coming to the front with
its raw material and it's industries, to
take advantage of the protection policy.
New England is at standstill, if not
retrograding. She has reached the point
where there is no more development or
progress; while the South is just enter
ing upon the first stage of her growth
and prosperity. Her iron ores, her coal,
her cotton, her wool, her timber, and
numerous other articles classed as raw
material, are just becoming known.
! Their extent and the richness of the
wealth they represent are attracting at
tention and capital from every part OF
the Union. The South, indeed, is en-
tering upon new industrial life. Her
time has come to open up the vast ma
terial resources she possesses, and which
4 Il -, @1,.ax oct
section in the Union. Iron and steel and
cotton and wooden fabrics can be made
in the South cheaper sthan in any other
portion of the country, and under the
fostering care of the Legislative policy
which enriched the North and East, she
will outstrip them both i'll material .ac-
cumuIations and political power.
The views advanced by Senator Cor
Senator Blair-the one afree trade Dem
ocrat and the other professedly pro
tective Republican, are significant. They
are foreign to craftsmanship, which
takes in the whole country and strives
for that policy which assures the great
est good to the greatest number. Cor
man would place the steel plant near
Baltimore against the whole country,
and legislate in that direction. Blair
would thrust New Hampshire to the
front, and arrest the progress of every
other st ste in the Ullion-derange our
whole industrial system, if not ruin it,
that he rock ribbed territory he calls
his State might be benefited.
There is nothing American in this
There is nothing that COMFORTS with the
duties and obligations of Senators whose
mission is to legislate for all portions of
the Union alike, and promote the wei
fare of the great mass of the people.
Even Plumb and Sherman, claiming to
be Republicans, apologized for the tariff
of rs cents a ton on foreign ores, in that
the increase from 80 cents to 70, was the
result of Il compromise in 1888, in order
to pass the tariff bill of that year.
1t was compromise, it is true, but it
recognized the right policy by which the
South. and especially Virginia, has been
benefited and to which we ought to ad
here. 1t was a compromise pressed upon
the Conference Committee by Gen. Ma
hone Peryerse as we believe him to be,
in the stubborn demand he made for an
increase of the tariff ON ores from so to
rs cents per ton, he effected a good for
his State and the whole country, for
which credit ought to be given him. He
held the key to the situation, and plainly
told the committee that there could be
no tariff bill reported unless this demand
was conceded. 1t was granted, and now
we see that the men who We're then com
PEELED to support the increase, under the
circumstances and in the dilemma then
existing, are trying to apologize out of
it. We give Gen. Malone the honor,
for it is justly his, of having effected an
increase in the tariff duty On foreign
ores from so to rs cents, while the pre-
tended apostles of protection would not
have allowed it if they could have help
ed it.
The surest way in the world to break
the Solid South and disintegrate the
Democratic party would be for Congress
to remove the duty on foreign ores as sug-