New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-29
THE SOUTH AND THE TARIFF.
INTERVIEWS WITH BUSINESS MEN ON
THE WILSON BILL.

SOUTHERN IRON AND COAL MEN CONDEMN IT'S
pRov1sroNs-NEITHER DEMOCRATS NOR
REPUBLICANS SATISFIED.
Louisville Ky Jan % (SpecaD-"The Louis
vile Commercial" will tomorrow publish a long
.pecial from a staff correspondent who has been
Aetailed to investigate the attitude OF the south
IN iron men and business men generalY toward
me iron and coal provisions of the W iison DILL
Writing from Birmingham. Ala, the correspond
ent says:
T. T IIiman built the first blast furnace IN
birmingham. THE Alice" and is one OF the most
thorough iron men III the South. Ills ia'he'
and his grandfather were ironmasters' ana nave
been making iron in the South slNce long De-
fore the war. Mr. Hillman is intense south
erner'' in the broadcast and best sense of the
term. That Mr. Himan is a protectionist is due
10 his love Of his own country and the knowledge
O. business requirements that mas come 10 MN
nv inheritance and from lifetime OF practical
experience He IL large stakeholder in the
Tennessee Coal ard Iron Company. was for
wears its vice president. and Is now president OF
the street railway system.
In all Of the local issues in which the South
crn sentiment and ideas involved Mr.. HILL
man votes and works with the straight, true
blue Democracy. In short, Mr.. Hillman Is a
fair representative of the best social. INTEL
lsctual and progressive element of the New
South.
BELIEVED IN PROTECTION
"AIr Hillman. what is your opinion of the Will
son bill?' asked the correspondent
well" said Mr.. Hillman. II am straiGht-out
protectionist and l would put prohibitory
tariff on all things that can be produced in THIS
country am not influenced to this conclusion
bv the present condition Of the iron business; the
fact Is the Alabama furnaces will not remain
idle They are getting ready 10 start, but the
~eason is that they are getting labor down to
the trade prices and the resumption OF bust
ness will only be delayed by the hesitation of
labor to accept the reduced scale. Here in Ma
bama we have been paying fair wages III the
Pratt mines we have been paying - cents ton
for mining coal. This will have to be cut to %
cents For mining ore we have been paying
from 30 cents to so cents ton. This scale will
have to be reduced about 40 per cent.
Before the war" continued Mr. Hillman I'VE
could get labor at % cents day. And another
reduction will have to be made by the railroads
In their freight charges. I don't know how they
will stand this: most of the Southern roads are
now in the hands Of receivers and believe that
they will all have to go that way. When invest
ments are scaled down and wages cut then iron
making can 60 on in competition with free-trade
countries. But the people who are in debt VIII
have their liabilities to meet in fuI and with
assets and resources scaled down.
"Mr. Himan. is 1t your deliberate opinion. as
an experienced ironmaster. that a protective
duty on iron, ore and coal is necessary II these
industries in the South?
There is no question" was the reply, mat
the Southern iron men cannot compete with the
East and foreign cheap iron free ore and free
mai oil
..-rhe trouble is Professor Wilson knows nothing
about the iron business any other msnufac;-
uring business except that Of turning out the
oretical free-traders from our colleges. What
Is needed in dealing with the tariff is little
practical knowledge
THREATENS SOUTHERN INDUSTRIES.
r H. Aldrich the general manager OF the
Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, is the prac-
teal man Of the largest manufacturing and
mining enterprise in the South. and devotes his
whole time and attention TO the business. Mr..
Aldrich is an extremely conservative man. ana
was rather indsposed TO discuss the subject Of
tariff expressing the opinion that hardly any
thing that could be sad would have any effect
upon the tariff makers. Pressed for an opinion
as TO the probable effect Of the Wilson bill on
Southern industries Mr. Adrich said:
We'll the people in the Southern iron indus
try think that the wilson Dill MUS them iIttt
too hard 1t Is too abrrpt. too violent They
feel that some experimenting was TO be done,
and they were willing TO bear their share Of the
experiment, but the Wilson bill is too sectional.
1t is not free-trade bill. and it leaves a large
part of the protection of the old system. but 1t
deprives the South of all protection TO every
thing that 1t has TO depend on.
What has the South? It has cotton. That
is exported, and the Constitution fOrbids An ex-
port duty. Iron and coal all else that the
people have TO make living out of. Both OF
these wholly deprived Of tariff protection.
The Ways and Means Committee did not dare
take off all the protection OF the sugar bounty.
but they wanted to reduce it gradually. Why
not treat iron and coal that way and reduce the
duty gradually?
NO. the South will not quit manufacturing
iron and mining coal and ore. but it will have
TO come to the free-trade basis. The wages VIII
have To be reduced about 40 per cent"
rs this a threat Of the manufacturers, Mr.
Aldrich?" was asked
why no." he said. 1T is simply matter
of business We must curtail production and re-
duce wages. We cannot avail ourselves OF free
ore-we too far from the Cuban ore II can
be taken 10 Baltimore or Sparrow's Point as
cheaply to the Southern seaboard. and 1t can
be run right into the Eastern furnaces, and the
pig iron is right wher- il Is to be used. Say II
costs 81 ton for freight to distribute the iron;
1t costs "a ton for freight on the Alabama
pig iron to the Eastern market. But the fact
Is. IL will cost the Eastern seabOa I'd 80 cents
ton less for from Cuba than It will cost
Birmingham
THE ad valorem duty opens the way for
swndling. A ton Of pig iron can be billed at Sc;
1t comes as ballast. and the duty would amount
to 81 10 Say II was billed honestly at IS 50
ton, and suppOsing the freight 81 a ton. which
is higher than steam rates. the duty Of 81 81
added makes the cost in New-York Of British pig
iron 81 81. The Alabama iron costs at the fur
mace g. the freight to New-York is 81 36, making
the cost 81 SO, barely meeting the outside cost
Of foreign iron. and leaving no profit to the
furnace"
NEWSPAPER OPPOSITION TO THE BILL.