New-York tribune., 1893-12-24
Inv TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.] ]
MAN WILSON,

,i,,o ted revenue from customs under the WILSON
I'm as compared with the revenues under exist
ing law from duable imports during the year
'Soa Irne 20 1892. which statement made
,,,hc to-day the total amount of revenue from
SM,,es ON imported merchandise In 1892 was
s,72 0aS All and the same amounts and KINDS or
,mnorts under the Wilson bill would yield a total
.orua of s107 $50, or s65407. 900 less. In
,,or words the deficit would be about $3OOOOO0
80 than has been heretofore estimated by
,,oora,ic members of the Ways and Means
Con,u,ittee II may have been remarked that
tho ma ioritv fought shy Of this question In its
report on the Dill.
In conversation with Tribune correspondent
TO-DAY. Judge Montgomery. of Kentucky, VINO
,s q member Of the Committee on ways ana
Means. remarked that he had been greatly
amused while reading so much or the views OF
the minority of the committee as had been pup
lished in the newspapers, and that he antici-
mated further enjoyment from perusal or the
entire document. 1t was published IN 1ul TO-
dav and the chances are that after dlgesuns
a. and before the Wilson bill passes the House
NJ REPRESENTATIVES.. Judge Montgomery and other
members of the majority of the committee Will
10 stirred by something else besides feelings Of
"an,usement" That will certainly be the case
with Chairman Wilson. the author Of the report
himself floundering in the bogs and sloughs
,vhich he has so Intellectually attempted TO
bridge When for example, he reads the scath-
ing review of the proposed iron and steel sched-
ue bv the minority. Mr. Wilson Will undoubt-
edly discover that something more than the
mere ipse dixit of free trade doctrinaire' now
ever eminent he may be. Is necessary 10 recon-
cile the crudites inconsistencies. absurdites and
fat contradictions of this schedule which Is IN
fnitely worse and more illogical than the one
offered bv Mr. Mills In 1883 and rejected on an
appeal to the country.
MR.. WILSON'S STATEMENTS pISPRoVED
Mr.. Wilson asserts. without offering scintilia
of proof that 'the discovery Of the immense
beds of Bessemer in the lake region ana
of foundry ores in several of the Southern
S,atss their convenience for transportation and
for the assemblage of materials. the use OF the
steam shovel for mining-all these have so
cbeapened the production Of pig iron ana steel
as to take away all possibility and danger OF
foreign competition in almost every part OF 'he
country" Now every one of these assertions
was not only fatty contradcted. but competeN
refuted by the representatives OF the IRON ore
PRODUCERS Of the lake region and OF the southern
States to which Mr.. Wilson refers. They SUD-
rnitted an impregnable array Of facts In support
Of their contention. Chairman wilson ana MS
colleagues have chosen to ignore all 'hese
facts. but they can hardly attempt to ignore
the statements Of the minority on TINS SUBJECT
when 1t says: go
..The bill proposes to put into competition with
American ores foreign ores some or which are
nroduced at a labor cost one-tenth and none Of
them at a labor cost greater than one-fourth vi
ours. 1t proposes to bring our laborers' who get
from 81 60 TO 81 a day, and who work from
ffty-fve TO sixty hours a week. into coinpeuuon
with laborers who work seventy-two hours
week and get Sc to GO cents a day; our miners
who get frcm 81 25 to 81 20 day. into compeu-
tion with those who get GO to 72 cents a day
1t proposes to condemn to temporary idleness'
and ultimately TO divert into new channels after
an immense loss. If not the whole. at least
part of an invested capital Of over thirty-three
and one-third millions Of dollars TO deprive our
transportation lines Of large proportion OF their
profits from the carriage Of the ore product, ana
TO leave undeveloped treasures hidden under the
soil Of twenty-sx States and two Territories
Foreign ore will take the place OF our domestic
ore to a great extent. and this Will cripple II II
does not destroy home industry. Ocean
freights are so low to afford no protection
Ore is frequently carried across the ocean as
ballast and when freight is paid at all II aver
ages rot to exceed shillings ton on IRON ore
from Bilbao. Spain. Under these circumstances
there is no question that foreign ores VIII take
the place of domestic IN all furnaces dI'HS an"
within easy reach of the coast. and It's low price
because Of cheaper labor cost Will enable IL 10
bear freight charges for long distances even INTO
the interior. In the last analysis the placing or
iron ere on the free list means either the aband-
onnoent Of that industry with us or the mining
of ore TO be sold IN cor petition with the cheap
labor OF Cuba, Africa and Spain.
CRUSHING BLOW AT a GREAT INDUSTRY
The minority then proceeds to describe the
deadly blow that the majority proposes to deal
10 the pig iron industry, which produced 9lo1,-
900 tons In 1892 valued sl3l. 1G1 .039. and sold
AT the lowest prices ever known In the United
States The majority proposes TO reduce the
duty from Sc ~ ton to 221s per cent ad
valoren which would be equivalent to sl6o TO
81 90 a ton. This ad valorem rate IS ~ per cent
lower than that oe the Walker tariff of 1886, and
is a reduction Of about s. a ton. and about
one-third the rate proposed by the Mills bill of
lSss The rate now proposed would cause a
heavy increase Of importations and probab bly,
considerable loss Of revenue. Indeed the Treas
ury experts estimate that the loss would eh-
ceed s4OO 900 the first year on the basis OF the
importations Of 1892 The mihori,y ... ucscrioes
the probable effect Of the proposed reduction as
follows:
England furnaces and all east OF the Ale
phanies as well as those of the South. the
market for Southern pig iron is necessarily
found in the North owing to the lack OF de-
mand at the place OF production Inc cohse
quence is that the competition Of Southern pig
iron which OF all pig iron Is made at the
cheapest cost in this country. fixes the price IN
Northern markets. That price is con,ro.icu 10
a large extent by freight rates. Interior iTeiSht
rates are very heavy. as compared with ocean
rates In many cases pig iron comes from
England and Belgium as ballast, subject 10 40
freight charges at all. In other cases IL oea,s
a burden not 10 exceed shillings Ton a,
this figure II can be carried TO the Atlantic ana
Gulf ports. and even to those OF the racine; c,
Assuming that our pig iron made NJ the ieds,'
cost is made as cheaply as that made abroad
which is not true. 1t amounts TO demonstration t
that all OF our blast furnaces save those III l'le
interior must succumb TO forcigh co"p'''''''