The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-09-01
THIN AS GAUzE.

Smelling company, Mr.. ]. E. Schwartz,
has directed the superintendent of the
company at Sandy to close down the
works as soon as practicable. Whether
the smelter shall be closed or contin-
ued IN operation is matter entirely
within the discretion Of the president
and directors of the company, and they
are under no obligation to give any
reason for their action, but when a
reason is given for closing the smelter
it should be a. reasonable one, one that
will be accepted by all. Mr.. Schwartz
has given reasons which are not in the
slightest degree reasonable. It is best
that these reasons be given in his own
language.
After two years experience under the
Democratic Wilson tariff law, which
reduced the duty on lead from &c. to lie.
per pound, the directors of this COM
pany have decided that they are I'M
willing TO assume the risk of the cleo
ton of Mr.. Bryan. who is a free-trader,
openly procla5ming his opposition to
any protection whatever; consequently
they have ordered the closing down of
the works at Sandy as soon as prac-
ticable. The. free coinage of silver
would afford us no relief; it would re-
duce our cost Of labor, but that saving
would not be sufficient to offset the re-
moval of the present low tariff on lead.
The purchasing Of ores has been or
dered discontinued, and you will work
up the present stock on hand as speed
lily as possible.
How does it come that the discovery
of the bad effects of the Wilson Cor
man tariff upon the smelling business
is not made until the presidential cam
paign is under full Roadway?
Mr.. Bryan is not running on a free
trade platform nor is he proclaiming
his opposition to protection; protection
is not the issue this year, and Mr..
Schwartz could not make it the issue
though he were to close a hundred
smelters. Major Mckinley and his
managers tried to do it but gave up
the task as hopeless. as McKinley's
letter of acceptance shows. That which
he failed to do Mr.. Schwartz will hard
" succeed in accomplishing.
A more absurd proposition was never
made than that the reduction of the
duty on lead hurts the smelling indus
try. The smelters are not producers of
lead; they are reducers of ores. The
cheaper they can get their ores the less
are their expenses. The greatest advo-
Gates of free lead in the country have
been the smelters. The fight for it was
led by the Consolidated Kansas City
Smelling company. The interests of
the lead ore producer and the smelter
have always been antagonistic on this
very point. A manufacturer of wooden
goods might as we'll say that free wool
was an injury to him as a smelter to
say that on which the duty has been
reduced is an injury to the smelling in
dustry. Mr. Schwartz must know that
the dry ores of this country are much
ratio is about to y, and that fact was
the great argument for making the
duty on lead ores and lead dross, lead
in pigs, bars and the like less in the
bill than in the Nc
Kinley bill.
When he says that free silver would
afford no relief. although It would re-
luce the cost of labor, he no doubt de-
sires it to be understood that laborers,
Under free silver would receive fifty
-hree-cent dollars in place of one-hun-
1red-cent dollars. That is q stock gold
Dug argument against free silver
The reasons assigned for the closing
If the Pennsylvania smelter by the
president of the company are so much
'ustian, and nothing else And there
sn't a man in the employ of the COM
oany in Utah who doesn't know they
ire fustian. The reason for the whole
is political and nothing else.
t is the old dodge of closing down
works for the purpose of coercing or in (
imidating employees into voting that
presidential ticket which the employers
lesire to see elected. This order to
lose down the Pennsylvania smelter
S political move on the part of the /
managers of the company to give the /
people of Utah an object lesson in be-
lalf of the gold standard It will sig
tally fail of its purpose. The miners
f the west have not been educated to /
hat docility of character which tamely
ubmits to dictation by would-be polit-
cal bosses. They are not imported
Iuns or Poles; they sell their labor
lot their souls.
Mr. Schwartz and his board of direct
rs will not be required to assume the
isk or responsibility of the election of
lr. Bryan; the American people will
o that. They seem to be overwhelmed
" their responsibility. They should
AXE a rest for a while and relieve
themselves of their great responsibility.
'erhaps Hercules would spell them for
while from carrying the United
tates upon their shoulders.
PUBLIC sPEECH-MAnING