Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-10-19

SAW MILL SCARE.

SAW MILL SCARE.
Partisan schems 1t the Bottom Of it-rhe
Someone recently attempted to
pread abroad the report that the
Clinton saw mills had suspended be-
cause Of the new tariff. Whoever
sent out that dispatch to the news
papers at large that the mills of c..
Lamb & Sons had been forced to shut
down because the tariff of 81 per
thousand on lumber had been re-
| moved. was either ignorant of the
facts or he was willing to materially
injure that city for party purposes.
Here is what the Age says:
Now let Clinton people at least
look at this matter from a standpoint
of good sense and real facts. Clin-
ton people cannot afford to deceive
themselves nor be deceived. Meth
er can the lumbermen of this city
give any encouragement to the state
ment that has gone abroad.
There are three separate and dis
tinct causes for shutting down the
mills, and neither cause is the tariff.
First, The advantage the railroads
give the manufacturers Of lumber in
the regions of the white pine over
the manufacturers in this locality
second, the depressed condition of
business matters throughout the
country; and third, the low water
in the Mississippi river which pre-
vents the towing of logs. The two
causes last named may not exist an
other season. Whether the matter
of transportation can be arranged so
as TO enable Clinton to compete with
the upper river mills is something
we know but little about. The adj
vantage against Clinton is fraught
with serious consequences to the
lumber business. 1t is useless to
shut our eyes to that fact. Nor can
the people of Clinton be unmindful
of the other fact, that the log supply
is dwindling by degrees. though it is
the understanding that &. Lamb &
Sons and w. j. Young & Company
own large tracts of standing pine
which may be sawed by their mills
here if the market for the immense
stock on hand should be so reduced
by spring as to warrant the starting
up of the mills. But it is not the
tariff which is interfering with saw.
ing logs in Clinton. The tariff
was 81 per 1000 feet. The
Mckinley or some other law took on
81 and no one thought of the reduc.
ton having any effect on the lum Der
interests of Clinton. 1t did not. II
the tariff is shutting down saw mills
it must be because Canadian mills
are now, or propose to hereafter.
supply the western states with lum-
Der. If those Canadian mills can
really do this the American mills
nearest the British territory will suf-
fer the most. But how is this? The
Duluth mills, which are quite near
the line, are running night and day,
and have been ever since it was sure
that lumber would be put on the free
list. The great saw mill town of
this continent, Minneapolis, is run
ming its mills on full time, and many
of them are running extra time. The
|
pineries, and which are in operation,
are some four hundred and seventy
five miles nearer the border than
their mills at Clinton. The tariff is
not stopping any of those mills. Nor
is the tariff stopping the mills at La
Crosse. Winona, Dubuque, Daven-
port, Rock Island, Muscatine, Bur-
lington and Keokuk.
| Bought After the Wilson Bill.
After the Wilson bill, which put
lumber in the free list, passed the
house, and when it was believed and
understood by lumbermen every
where that free lumber was sure to
become the law, c. Lamb & Sons,
Fred Weyerhauser, Peter Musser. r.
S. Yeomans and William II. Laird.
all having large lumber interests on
the Mississippi river, and every one
of them lumber kings. bought stand
ing pine within few hundred miles
of'the border. Our advices are that in
some of the New England states,
which border on Canada, lumber has
taken q rise since the new tariff wen,
into operation.
That the lumber business at this
point is distressingly duh and mac.
tive must be admitted. The causes
are apparent. The chief cause is the
lack of confidence. That restored a.
it gradually must be as the bushes,
of the country improves, the demand
for lumber will grow, and we do no
know why the stock held by tn,
Clinton mills may not be SO reduced
as to warrant the starting up of thu
mill at the usual time in the spring
| COmInOn