The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1894-01-09

AS q matter OF fact, from 1896 to 1866
no duty was collected by the United
States on coal coming from Canada, as
the reciprocity treaty with that country
was in operation.
The official report Of the bureau Of
statistics, treasury department, places
the average value OF bituminous Goa
for 1892 at 1882 per ton. The duty of
seveEty-tiVe cents per ton makes an ad
valorom duty OF 223 per cent-not quito
half the average rate on all dutiable
articles.
From the beginning of the govern
ment to the present time no President,
no congress-, no national platform OF
any political party and none of the
great statesmen OF the past have favor
cd free bituminous coal. Neither the
Morrison or the Mills pill placed coal
on The free list, but the wayg and means
committee OF the present congress pro-
pose to overturn and reverse the long
line OF presidents and the uniform pol
icy Of the government IN this subject.
Great Britain, or all the foreign countries,
tSthe only nation that aVjU be benefited by free
coal. Canada eracts a duty of siTty cents a
Shor: ton, or about Sirty-seven cents a long
Ton, on United STATES coal. Wig should her
coal come into The United States free? The
removal of our duty WiU not increase q par
ticLe oJour trade NTH Canada.
The United States and Canada cover
large areas OF territory which are con-
tlguous and separated for thousands of
miles only by aland-line of waterways.
The proximity in some instances of our
mines to CANADA, particularly to the
Province OF Ontario, enables US, by q
short haul, to reach their markets and
send some of our coal into Canada,
paving a duty of 81 cents, long ton and
from like circumstances some OF their
coal comes to the United States, paying
70 cents per ton Remove our duty and
let theirs remain and we will be at q
great disadvantage. Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and
Alabama will lose much of their sea-
board trade and gain nothing.
Mr.. u. Gilpin, Jr., inspector OF Nova
Scotia mines, reports in 1890:
THE two principal shipping ports
arc Pictou and Sidney. They are about
the same distance from Boston, namely,
go miles. The mines are all located in
the immediate vicinity of harbors. The
distance from the mines to the loading
grounds Tor vessels is from one-half to
fifteen mics. Although the facilities
for the shipment of coal from these
ports are very imperfect, there would
be no difficulty III quickly making them
ample for all the coal that would be
raised from the mines.
Although the Spring Hill colliery.
produces more coal than any other coll
iIery in Nova Scotia, it has had no OUT
let by sea until recently Such an out
let was talked of more than forty years
ago. Railroad ouHets on the Bay of
tundy, at Parrsboro, thirty-three miles
from h mines, and at Pugwash, on
the Gull OF St Lawrence, have recently
been completed. Tho coal from this
mlno has heretofore found its market
IN Scotia, New Brunswick aud the
upper provinces. 1t is believed hat
there are no mining districts in the
world SO accessible to and within such
easy reaching distance of navigable
ioeWaters as are the mines of Nova
scotia, and especially those of Cape
breton. Ihere are safe harbors in
aoundanceaahG there would be no diff
uculty IN providing shipping facilities
to any required extent"
Inc following comparative statement
SHOWS the difference in the cost at Bos-
TOT OF United States and Canadian Goals:
AS4tTsIs cos- HrTU9I1Sous COAL AT boston.
hCSaitg. mining and loading railroad
United tateS-aYerag ailwayTrams
p.tGIion from mines TO Seaboard,
~ miles ut ! mills per mIie....... 40
Scodn--aTerage railway trans
n0ttation from mines 10 seaboCrd,
wsSSnty-tnre miles. o5
Pnscr trSlSat 10 Boqton, aYerage--... 90 1 90.
If e soal at is nSs5s9 {.l iaselgna!as qu.y-.- 3 . $ @
S S1SS o. Nova Scotia coal at Boston
..---.... 81 %
Z :b.-BQston is selected simply as a
q large receiving port for coal.
4Sitnwa 5S.E ,t NIa,oCa