The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-02-11
THEIR INraUITY CONFESSED.

In any other country of the world
and among any other people than those
of the United States the smash Of
prices consequent upon the bursting Of
the steel rail pool would make it i'm
possible for any voter ever again to
be fooled by the high tariff argument.
The steel rail infant has been one of
those that cried most Justify from the
beginning for its bottle, and that re-
ceived the amplest tribute from he peo-
pie. During the era when cur
great railway systems were built up,
when millions Of tons Of rails We're re-
quired every year for extensions, and
when freight rates were based upon
the cost Of construction, as governed
by these prices, a duty amounting to
from $40 10 $14 ton was placed upon
this commodity. The alleged purpose
OF this tax was to prevent the impor-
taton of steel rails produced abroad
by labor so poorly paid that the Amer
lean workingman could not compete
with it. This allegation was wilIfuI lie
from beginning to end. It may be
questioned whether there ever was a
time since steel rails came into general
use when they could not be produced
more cheaply in the United States than
anywhere else. 1t is certain that they
can be today. We have taken occa
sion elsewhere to expose the absurditv
Of the proposed reduction in the new
tariff act Of the rate on steel rails.
Now let us look at the confession made
by the railmen themselves Of their
ability to compete with any other man.
ufacturer in the world without one dol.
Lar Of government assistance.
AS we have seen, the price Of English
steel rails has ranged in the neighbor-
hood OF $3.50 per ton. With the disso-
luton of the steel rail pool In this coun~
try the price Is reduced to SIS a ton
in Chicago and S15.25 in Pittsburg.
These prices range from SIS to ST per
ton lower than the price Of English
rails in Birmingham. They are not,
we can fairly assume, below the cost
OF production at our own mills. The
Carnegie company, which made the
break, is not in business for it's
health. TIE head Of 1t has long de-
clared that he could make steel rails
as cheaply as anybody in the world
without one dollar OF protection. The
price that he has named fnc;udes we
may believe, a reasonable margin
of profit upon the capital that he
has Invested. What, then, are we to
say OF rate Of duty amounting to
nearly $14 a ton for years past and
OF q proposed rate IL the new bill Of
81 ton to protect" an industry that
can put its product on the home mar
ket at at least S. a ton less than the
English product at the point of pro-
duction, which must pay Transporter
tior charges before it can become orr
competitor IN any sense?
The only purpose Of such a tariff.
the only CLe that this tariff on steel
rails has ever served, the only purpose
served by more than nine-tenths of
the duties now levied on imports is
~ NO0NC- AAIO11OpOIyJ W up trusts
and to make milliopaires at the cost
OF tie common people. In all these
years when the Carnegies and the rest
OF the steel magnates were aecumuIat-
ing vast fortunes; when they were
building big plants, for whose output
there was as yet no demand; when
they were dividing enormous profits
and throwing in q public library here
and there as @ sop to the people who
made them; when they were uniting
In trusts and pools to regulate produc-
ton and keep up prices, they were
enabled to add to the price CT their
product the whole sum Of the duty.
and to take just that much, unjustly
from every workingman and working
woman in the country.
The history Of the steel rail tariff ia
the history Of all tariffs levied for pro-
tective purposes. They are plain and
simple robbery, and those who defend
them know it. If you get at the inside
facts Of any well-established American
industry, you will find that 1t can and
does send its wares abroad and sell
them in the foreigners own country
as an equal competitor. You will find,