The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-12
"a TUB TO THE WHALE

"Seamen have a custom when they
meet a whale to fling him out an empty
u by way of amusement, to divert
him from laying violent hands upon
the ship."-Tale Of a Tub.
steel rails are TO come in at greatly
reduced rates. The present duty is
equivalent to 1874 a ton, and the new
rates will be about 81 a ton."-Dingley's
Schedule.
During all these years Of agitation Of
the abuse OF. the taxing power Of the
federal government the tax on steel
rails imported has been a feature Of the
schedules quite as prominently dis
cussed, made a target of n put for
ward as an object lesson as any In the
long list Of fostered articles. Probably
the public has read as much of the
steel rail trust as of any, and, in the
effect Of its prices upon rail freights,
has felt it's weight as much as it
has that Of any of the other pam
pered favorites. 1t was n Of the
three prominent factors in the cam
paign of 1892, with tin plate and sugar
bounty, and, as out of it came the
famous Homestead strike, 1t was the
most influential in causing the whale
to ''lay violent hands" Upon the Re-
publican craft that year.
Having repaired the damages caused
by that assault, the old craft has set
out upon another cruise among the
~-bolou ooJ 1~i.If-I 80 ,oo+ oxoor;oooo
remembering what happened in '92,
wiser for the terrific humping they
got then, they permit the public to
learn that steel rails are to come in
at greatly reduced rates." nearly so
per cent less. Possibly they underesti-
mate the intelligence of the public and
imagine the latter will see in this a
formidable blow at the rail trust, a
smashing of its monopoly Of the home
market, an illustration of the mod
crate" protection Mr.. Mckinley is said
to favor.
But this is only an empty tub flung
to the whale to divert him from laying
violent hands again on the leaky old
craft, with its cargo of special privileges
consigned to the Consolidated Trusts
Nimited). Four dollar a ton is Just as
protective to the rail trust as was the
$13.H Of the Mckinley act, or the 1874
Of the German act, of which, under
the former, but COS tons were imported
in 1894, us tons under the latter in 1896
and LOSS tons in 1896. The Birming-
ham, England, Post makes this clear
A recent editorial comments on the sale
there of 1000 tons of American steel
billets, delivered in Birmingham. for
fl los, "or fully los under the English
minimum" That this is a profitable
price is shown by the Pittsburg Quota
ton of billets at $15.75 to SIG On the
Sd inst. The actual difference in the
cost Of billets and rails is 81 a ton. This
would price rails in Pittsburg, under
free competition, at SIT a ton. Sales
= to japanese companies a few months
ago were made at $3.50 a ton. The
trust price Of rails to domestic rail.
ways up to the recent "gentlemen,s
disagreement" in the past, has been s2}
a ton.
The price of English rails in Septem.
Der was "A los a ton, or about S22. so
1t is apparent, both from the japanese
sales and from the domestic price OF
billets, that no English rails could be
proftably imported were there no dut,
whatever on imports and if freightage
were free. The Post quotes the Iror
Age as asserting that steel billets car
be proftably made in Pittsburg for 55s
or $13.75 a ton, and Bessemer pig iror
at Bis Sd, or $7.75 a ton. This makes
profitable the manufacture there 0,
steel rails at SIS a ton. and shows The
emptiness of the tub which is flung out
to aTnuse the whale and prevent VIC.
lence to the ship. The Post mirrors
the apprehension Of English manufac-
turers over this invasion and saws
'If English manufacturers could see
their way to cheaper production, there
would be little to apprehend in the fu.
ture from American competition. Fol
the moment, however, it must be ad.
mitted hat in certain lines we are
beaten by our American competitors
Meanwhile the steel rail trust, and al
the other trusts. find nothing in thu
schedules to give them any u-neasiness