The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-12-19

the great millions of consumers beyond
them, and for the scores of thousands of
laborers to whom they may this give steady
and wei! paid employment, 1t is no less a
narrow and short-sighted view that sup
poses that a removal Of che tariff duties on
such necessities of industry will intict any
real loss upon those who produce them in
our country The enlargement of markets
for our products in ether countries, the in
crease in the internal commerce and in the
carrying trade of our country will insure a
growing home market for all these things
that will quickly outstrip anything they
could have under the protective system.
NO POSSIBILITY OF COMPETITION.
Iron and coal are the basis of modern in
dustry. The abundance and cheapness of
their supply offers us in many lines of pro-
ductions the manufacturing supremacy OF
the world, while the mines of other countries
are becoming exhausted and the cost OF
mining in consequence is increasing, we are
constantly discovering and developing new
sources of supply. The discovery of the i'm
mense beds of Bessemer ores in the Lake re-
gion and of foundry ores in several of the
! Southern States their convenience for trans
| portation and for the assemblage of mater
| ials, the use of the steam shovel in mining
| all these have so cheapened the cost OF pro-
ducing pig iron and steel as to take away all
| possibility and danger of foreign competition
in almost every part of the country.
COAL PRODUCTION.
| Not less rapid has been the growth of our
coal production. The coal area of the United
| States as stated by Mr.. Saward in the coal
| trade for 1898, is estimated at 1872, 900 square
miles, of which 100000 can be comfortably
worked at present. This coal area is over
three times larger than that OF the rest of
the world combined. The existing duty of
seventy-five cents ton on iron ore and on
| bituminous coal cannot be justified either as
| q protective or a revenue duty. The impor-
| tations into this country are too small TO add
materially to our revenue, while no one con-
tends that the cost of mining is higher in the
| United States than in the countries that
| might seek our market 1t could never have
| been intended that constitution which es-
tablishes perfect freedom of internal trade
among states should countenance laws that
hold one section of the Union, however re-
| mote, tributary to other sections for the sup
| plies of these necessary materials whose To-
| cation is ordained by natural law and not by
| human choice.
WOOL ON THE FREE LIST.
'This House in two congresses in recent
| years having after full debate passed laws
putting wool upon the free list, it is not
deemed necessary in this report to attempt
restatement of the reasons for doing so. 1t
| is enough to say that the tariff upon wool,
| while bringing no real benefit to the Ameri-
| can wool growers, least of all to the Ameri-
can farmer who, in any balancing of ac-
| counts, must see that he yearly pays out
good dollar for every doubtful dime he may
| receive under its operation, has disastrously
hampered our manufacturing industry and
made cruel and relentless war upon the
health, the comfort, and the productive
energy of the American people.
UNDRESSED LUMBER FREE.
Logs are already on the free list We
have gone a step farther and put undressed
lumber generally on that list. This may
| serve to cheaper and improve the dwelling
houses of some of our people, but it is
than to delay the rapid destruction of
American forests We have also placed
hemp and fax unhackled ON the free list for
the persons stated above, that we give to the
American workingman untaxed material to
work with and that we may give the
finished product, as far as possible to the
consumer with but single tax and that
moderate one, instead of medley and
emulation of taxes gathered during the
process of production. In addition to the
so-called raw materials we have released
| from tariff duties certain important articles
and manufactures which we have shown our
capacity to produce cheaper than any other
| country, such as pig copper and the more
important agricultural implements
| Any article or manufacture which can
sustain the competition of like foreign
articles in other markets can defy such COM
petition in the home market, and is not pro-
tected by the duty, but by its own intrinsic
| superior cheapness and quality. The only
effect of duty on such articles is to enable
those who make them to charge higher
prices to the citizens of their own country
| than they charge to foreigners and this has
been notoriously the case with both copper
and many agricultural implements. In adj
| justing duties upon what may be called the
finished products, we have tried to impose
such rates as will not destroy or distress any
of our home industries, on the one hand, nor,
on the other, secure them an oppressive
monopoly of the home market. For this
rule we have the recognized authority both
of well known and leading tariff reformers
and of those who in days past were consid-
cred moderate protectionists."
The report here quotes from speeches of
the late Senator Beck, Mr.. Carlisle, the late
President Garfield and Senator Sherman,
and continues
A FEW CHANGES ENUMERATED.
at is neither necessary nor practicable in
this report to specify the particular reduc-
tionS we have made upon the long list of
articles that still remain in the dutiable list.
The tables, which have been prepared for
use of members of the House, give full and
minute information as to these changes.
"a few only of the most important need
need be here enumerated. In the earthen-
ware schedule, we have made Substatial re-
ductions still leaving rates as high as were
deemed necessary i'll one war tariff. In
common window glass where close combina-
tions have kept up the prices to consumers
under a scale of duties averaging more than
100 per cent, we have made reduction of
about one-half.
PIG IRON AND STEEL RAILS.
Upon the larger sizes of plate glass
where the duties were even higher. we have
made reduction of about one third. In
the iron and steel schedule, beginning with
free ore and duty of 221 per cent. on pig
iron, we have reported a scale Of duties CON
siderably below those of the existing law
graduated according to the degree of manu-
facture, which should bring benefit to the con-
sumer, without calling for any halt in the
imperial progress of that great industry
in our country. The duty upon steel rails
has been put at % per cent, which, accord
ing to the reports of our department of la
Dor, quite compensstes for all difference in
the cost of production in this country
and abroad There seems ~ be an authentic
report that the pool of American rail makers,
which, under the shelter of the present duty
OF S13.44 per ton, has kept up prices to the
American consumer far beyond the cost of
production and legitimate profits, has been
reorganized to continue the regulation of
their prices above the proper market rates.
'As all shippers, and especially American
farmers, are vitaliy interested in cheapeuing
the cost of transportation, rates of duty
upon steel rails should be adjusted so as to
protect them from monopoly prices and
monopoly combinations.
TO DISCOURAGE A BOGUS INDUSTRY
upon tin plate the duty has been gauged
with reference fothe revenue it will bring IN
= - 81 a. 4