The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1891-09-24


and the average difference IN price Of
o ton; multiply VIC mum 6rfV OF Zoos pro
duced by the average difference In prfcs
occasioDed by She duty, and you have
the enormous sum Of e23, Gel, 100 TO.
eeived above Che English pItce by tho
American rail makers By means OF the
duty collected from the pcople-s2S &91,.
F6O--on the pretenso that IL
was needed 10 cover the dif
ference between tho wages paid
by them and their English COM
petitors But the whole wages paid by
the American makers 20 their workmen
IN this same year, amounted TO only
"a, o34329 That h tc say, they collect
ed from the people, by reason OF
the auty, s1s, ,4s7, as more In that
year than they paid TO their latorers.
And yet we expected to believe thet
this duty was paid by the people, not
at all for the benefit OF the manufact.
urers bat solely for the benefit of tho
labo1erS Had the people paid tho la
borers employed double the amount Of
wages they actually received, and al.
lowed them TO live life Of idleness and
ease, and paid the manufacturers per
cent interest on the capital invested
they would have saved in that year by
the operation 91S, $50 002, and would have
been able 20 have bought their rails at
eS7. 80 per ton cheaper
ltow, who Is Il that hos paid the In.
croase IN price of sl63, S22, ,2192 OF
course the railroad companies paid II IN
the first instance But ON persuaded
to believe that If the companies were
relieved from this tribute they are now
compelled to pay, they would give such
rates as even the Farmers clliapce peo.
pie never dreamed Of. The duty on
rails increases the cost Of railroad build
ing about So, 900 per mile, and the divi-
dend ON this, of course has TO be paid,
In the second instance by merchants,
farmers and others, who are compelled
to pay high rates OF freight for the
transportation of their merchandise and
crops This being a wheat growing
and manufacturing state, the farmers
and manufacturers are especially In
jured by this class Of duties
Gov. Gear, of Iowa, O repU blican rev.
enue reformer, in his inaugural address,
In speaking Of the question, said: ITO
a state whose products are Ia tho main
agricultural, as are those OF Iowa, any
thing which enhances the coss0oiR rail-
waya thereby even incidentalS SFfh the
least degree, increasing the expense of
transportation of her products TO the
seaboard, which is a great market, Is q
question of interest to all In view of
their greater strength and durability,
which lessons the cost OF replacement
all the great trunk railway lines of the
country are adopting Bessemer steel
rails. The manufacture of this class of
rails IN the United States IL controlled
by o combination OF not exceeding,
think, ten firms In number. This com
bination is protected by high spe-
ciflc torif, which prevents the inporta-
tion of foreign rails to any extent
thereby increasing the cost Of railways
of the country. Without discussing the
tariff question in all It's bearings, il
may be considered whether II 10 wise
legislation, by tariff exceptional in its
character, to put immense profits into
the pockets of q monopoly, composed of
but few persons, at the expense, indi-
rectly, not only of the Iowa farmers,
but of the whole west"
Senator Grimes Iowa's greatest re-
publican senator, and once governor of
that state, said:
at is enough TO make the devil laugh
with glee. to see the farmers voting 10
support a high tariff, which doubles the
cost of RAILROAD iron, spikes, chairs, To-
comotiVes tenders, cars, etc, the effect
of which ia 70 double the cost of trans
portation Of all the produce, and what
they consume. and then hear them
growl about the high rates Of passage
and freight, not for a moment reflect
ing that they, by their votes, impose
these high rates of freight OF them-
selves" f.
Second So far as the laborers arc
concerned, whst has been the effect of
the duty? In 1870 the average annual
wages paid to the laborers in the iron
8 and steel industries of all kinds was
ss4542o During the year 1870 the tariff
On steel rails was doubled After ten
years Of this high tariff the average
wages, according to the census reports
of 1880, was only S3o8 81, decline OF
S6a 70, or 1875 per cent, and in 1854
according TO Bradstreet, there was a
further decline OF 80 per cent, making
total of declines since 1870 OF 93S per
cent And yet this steel rail monopoly,
this .association of eleven companiea
made a close corporation by paying so
much money per Ton into Jackpot,
and in 1s77-78 they paid one OF their
numbeS, the Vulcan steel rail rolling
mill, Of St Louis s7100O for stopping
work end discharging their hands 30
os TO restrict the production and thus
keep up prices, while the tariff bad
been growing al thh time moro and
more protective.
In 1880 che whole wages paid by tho
American railmakeIs amounted to S. S3
per ton fos every ton of rails produced
in that year. And, as have said be.
fore, rails were ceiling for S97 per ton
IN 1885, when the railmakers combined
and forced prices up TO $40 per ton at
the beginning of 1887, an advance Of
Sla per ton, claiming that 1t was for the
benefit of their worlrmep- But did the
eotnbination Increase the wages of
their workmenP After having ad.
vanced the price of rails Sl8 per ton
did they increase their wages penny
No they did not If they did anything
at all they gave them further reduc
ton In wages Bnt the combination
increased their profits to the amount
OF $1S per ton under the pretense that
she prices were raised for the benefit
of their laborers while the Edgar
Thomson Steel works, of Pittsburgh,
one of the largest establishments OF
this kind In the United States, paid
Sheir laborers during the year 1887 only