The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-01-17

trust, the cordage trust and the bicycle
trust and the starch trust in short. the
whole breed of vampires which rob the
poor people through the agency of the
government by means of the tariff, are
left free to pluck the tariff-bound Amer
lean consumer. He has no lobby to rep
resent him; he has only congressman"
Steel Rails.
Mr.. Johnson spoke of steel rails. of
which he is one of the largest manufac-
turers in the country. He said the pres
ent duty of slS.44 ton is equal to so
per cent The reduction Of the commit
tee is % per cent. 1t seemed like a
large reduction, he declared. but it left
all the steel rail trust needed.
1t Is as'good to them as 1000 per cent,
for it is practically a prohibitory duty.
Steel can be made here as cheaply as
anywhere else in the world and would
not now be imported, save in exceptional
cases, even If there were no duty, while
the tendency of invention and improve
ment is in favor of the United States as
against Europe. The steel made into
rails in this country is from native ore.
What pig metal billets and blooms are
imported are used entirely I'm other iron
and steel manufactures. Now 1t costs
less than 81 a ton to make steel rails
NUN bApOAlAot 1AiNAuutli5 NNAatSitNCAAlAS anu
punching. In tOday's market steel
blooms are selling less than $l7. Steel
rails should therefore not bring over S19
They did fall nearly to that price few
weeks ago during a temporary break in
the steel rail pool, but that pool was
quickly reorganized and the price of rails
was put up and is now maintained at
S24 a ton, so that by virtue Of the duty
which keeps out foreign rails the pool is
compelling buyers of steel rails to pay
them 25 per cent more than fair price.
Mr.. Johnson continued;
Scares Carnegie.
This new steel rail pool is composed
Of seven manufacturers, headed by Mr.
Carnegie, who absolutely controls the
product of more than one-half of the
rolled steel produced in the United
States, and who have combined TO pay
other large manufacturers heavy an
nual sums to close their works, dis
charging their men and make no steel.
Do employers pay larger wages than
when they get larger profits2 I do not,
and even philanthrOpists do not Take
Mr.. Andrew Carnegie who gives like a
prince out of the millions the tariff
has enabled him to take from his fell
low citizens. lie gives like prince from
his more than princely income, but he
does not raise wages unless he has to.
Before he started for Jerusalem q few
days ago, he utilized the tariff to re-
establish the steel rail pool and pay
other manufacturers to shut up their
works and throw their men out Of en-
ployment; then a general cut in wages
was made in all his great establish
ments, and then he announced himself
ready to give as much as $1,000 day to
feed the unemployed in PittsbUrg-a
place, that if there were any truth in
the theory that protection is good for
labor ought TO be a very paradise for
wOrkingmen. Now. which is best for Ia
Dor, plenty of charity soup-houses or
plenty Of employment?
There is the question between pTotec-
ton and free trade. What is true of
steel is true Of all industries. If we
could abolish the whole tariff on the LIST
of February 1 do not believe there is a
single manufactured industry that would
close. On the contrary, all that were not
purely eXOtics, kept alive by taxes would
be greatly stimulated. foreigners would
want more of our products, and foreign
markets would be open to our goods.
Wheat would bring more to the grower
and labor would bring more to the Ia
bOrer. and the masses of our people
would want and could pay for more
manufacturing goods. You cannot de-
press industry and impoverish labor by
renting taxes; that is done by inn
posing taxes
me IFopOSeu Btli
The bill he would pass, Mr. Johnston
said, would consist of but three sections,
viz:
Section l. All import duties and cor
responding internal revenue duties are
hereby abolished, and all officials en-
gagged in collecting such duties are here
by discharged.
Sec. >. The secretary of the treasury
is hereby directed soil all
houses and revenue cutters. and pay
the proceeds into the treasury.
See. 3. This act shall take effect i'm
mediately."
Such a bill. said Mr.. Johnston. would
excite no more protectionist opposition
than this poor little timid Wilson bin
will. 1t would not be sneered at and it
would arouse a mighty support that this
bill cannot get.
While Mr.. Johnson was condcmning
the alleged steel rail pool he became
engaged in a heated controversy with
Mr.. Dalzell of Pennsylvania
You deny the present existence of a
pOOl?' asked Mr.. Johnson.
Yes. sir"
well. here is the proof Of it." said
Mr.. Johnson, fiourishing aloft a docu-
ment. Here is the agreement i'm the
iron act. A certain B. +. Kennedy
contracted to receive 25,000 tons of rails
at what / considered an exorbitant
price and to forfeit $1,000 a day if he
did not take them. | looked into the
matter to see who such a large buyer
could be. I found that he was a stock
holder in the Cambria works, a rival
concern, and now secretary Of the new
pool formed last November. That pool
agreed to give the manufacturers of
Sparrows Point. Md, $1,000 a day to
close their works and discharge their
men. That is the sort of trust the VIII
son bills % per cent. duty perpetuates.
Democratic applause) 1t gives a con-
Germ in Pennsylvania $4,000 a year TO
close down. The old pool Of eight or
nine companies agreed to maintain the
price Of rails at 500 One of the mem
hers secretly undeIsold the nonl Car