Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-09-14
MACBETH ON TARIFF
One Glass Manufacturer Who Does Not
Expect an EYil Day Under Tariff
Revision.

in the world is an out and out free
trader.
He is known in every civilized coun-
try on the globe, where he has pushed
his way by business enterprise. He
says tariff had nothing to do with his
success aud his convictions along that
line are not the result of party prejudice,
but the judgment OF years, as it has
been forced upon him. When inter-
viewed by the Pittsburg Leader on the
financial situation and asked partlcu-
larly for his opinion Of the claims of
iron and steel manufacturers that tariff
uncertainty has much to do with the
present depression, he said:
"That claim is the biggest piece Of
nonsense that was ever conceived and
the situation reminds me OF Abraham
Lincoln's famous expression, You eau
fool some of the people all the time,
and all the people some of the time,
but you cannot fool all the people all
the time.' It is ridiculous and all the
more so because the logic of present
conditions is all 20 solid againsti
"The iron and steel manufacturers
have had over twenty-five years of the
highest of high tariffs ever known, and
there you are. Iron sells In Pittsburg
as low as In Liverpool; the number Of
unemployed could scarcely be greater
and the country is depressed in the
midst Of abundant wealth. The latest
monstrosity that they have given US Is
the Mckinley bill. The high tariffites
have had their 'whack' at it and have
failed. 1t was time an exhorbitant
high tariff tax was laid for the express
purpose Of raising an immense revenue
to meet the enormous drain on the
government. Its strongest advocates
claimed nothing else. 1t was tax
pure and simple, and when the sudden
need was over what happened Instead
of taking off the tax it was retained.
Under such conditions crisis was
bound to come and it Is now actually
arriving. The Mckinley bill has prov
ed a failure. Senator Allison, Governor
Mckinley and it's other advocates, even
cannot explain it,"
"Then what Is the remedy?n
"There are certain principles under
lying the question, and the sooner We
get to them the better. What right
has congress to regulate my business or
anybody else's so that I can make
money" The great trouble is that 25
years of tariff decentralization has cul-
tivated socialistic and paternal idea
of government. The absurd cry is,
What Is congress going to do? Peop'o .
walk the street and point to figures
that show 80 many men out of work.
They ring their hands aud talk of hard
times, and again call on congress for
help, just as though that body could
create wealth ifit wanted to. If there
is any uncertainty among iron men it
Is the result of their own doing. They
have huilt structure of patches and
expect II to stand.
"During all these years they have
bent their energies to seeing how high
prices they could get instead of work
ing on the problem of cheaper produc-
tion. Tariff is bound to come down tn
worlds basis and a few of the shrewd-
est already read it in the signs of the
times. One of the greatest and
wealthiest iron and steel manufacture
ers himself told me some time ago that
he forsaw it and then began to prepare
he Is now ready to produce against the
world, no matter how low tariff may
drop. He does this by cheapening pro-
duction. The iron business of the fu-
ture Is bound to be done on a large
scale, for 1t can thus be produced most
cheaply. AS result of the manufac-
turer's shrewdness his mills are now
running when most others are closed
ITO what point in tariff tax can q
descent be made without injury tO
Pittsburg iron, steel and glass trades?''
"CIear down. 1t will adjust itself
Ii let alone. 1t might force few out
OF business, but the gain would be
greater in proportion. If o man can't
produce iron and steel he can go and
dig In the ground. With free raw ma
terial and the material which we pro.
duce right at home, we can always com.
pete with the world and wages will not
drop below living basis nor lower
comparatively than now. In one par
ticular line that think of, a tariff was
maintained until $650,000 duty had
been collected. Somebody paid the
tax and it did not increase the pro.
lection for there is now but the one
establishment. Consequently we have
paid $3.50, 900 for the plant, price that
no sensible man would pay for it, Let
other nations manufacture their own
peculiar products that they can make
most cheaply. We will do the same
and 1t will not drive US out of the iron
business, either.
"Take the single item Of beams,
used so much in construction. C0al
costs only one-fifth as much as in Eng
land, and coke is equally as low. Con.
tractors order steel and iron for con.
struction, and with cheapness the use
of iron in small buildings will increase
enormously. It has increased and will
continue to do 80. This sort of iron
and steel cannot be kept in stock. I,
must be made to order and without de.
lay. Do you suppose for an instant
that we are going to send over to Eng.
land for it? Not by any means. Our
vast country and cheaper transporta.
tion gives US an advantage over the
world"
"What do you hope or expect from
the Democratic administration ?'
"What they ought to do is to begin
to get back where we ought to be. Un.
less some wild scheme of initiation gets
possession of congress there should
come relief. Stop buying silver at a
fictitious price. Gold is the only basis
We might as well buy and store iron OF
copper as silver. To increase the pur-
chase of silver is the same as though
was selling to my merchants all they
can handle and yet Immediately force
on them 20 times MS much and still ex-
pect them to get rid of it.
"Begin tariffrevision at once. Even
the idea of revenue tariff is only an
expedient ofsmal and poor republics.
We would get into the new state OF
things as easily as we resume specie
payments. We resumed before we
knew 1t. There are many ways In
which the expenses of government
could be raised. Edward Atkinsons
ideas, Just published by the Reform