Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-02-19


State makes them Z present Of say .
so per cent. tarif on their goods. Not
to be outdone by the State in gener-
csity they forthwith proceed to give
themselves another so per cent. in en-
HANGED prices, like the enterprising
gentleman mentioned by Artemus
Ward in nj of his humorous sketches,
who cancelled the debt owing by him
to his employer in the same fashion.
British Subsidies Benent Foreigners.
Mr.. e. r. williams. in his interest
ing little book entitled Marching
Backwards" published a couple Of
years ago. shows how the Shipping
Ring keeps up freights. The PENN
snlar and Oriental Steamship Company
is subsidized by the British govern
ment, and it reciprocates the kindness
shown to it by charging much higher
freights to English shippers than to
their Belgian and German competitors.
The difference or discrimination" in
favor Of the foreigner was remarkable.
1t ran to about so per cent. on several
classes Of goods. At Hong Kong the
success of non-British as against Brit
ish competition in trade became SO pro
nounced that the Governor appointed
a committee to investigate the cause.
The report Of that committee was to
the effect that the lower freights from
foreign as compared with British
ports was due to the action OF the
Shipping Conference, consisting chief
ly of British steamship owners which,
while maintaining freights from Brit
ish ports, carried cargo at a much
lower rate from continental and Amer
lean ports. The report went on to sug-
gest whether the Imperial Government
would not be justified in requiring
from the conference a modification of
their freight rates before continuing
a subsidy or support to any shipping
company which is a party to a COM
pact that places British manufactur-
ers at a disadvantage as compared
with foreign rivals.
Mr.. Williams gives another illustra-
ton of what he regards as the unpa-
triotic action of British ship-owners
trading with Cape Colony. The col
lector Of customs there attributes the
growth of the sale and use of German
cement in South Africa to the cheaper
freights from Hamburg as compared
with London. The reason alleged for
the difference in trade is the combina-
ton of ship-brokers in London which
keeps rates from the United Kingdom
at a higher level than the German. 1t
was nc use to beat them down by COM
petition. Sometimes" he adds, "the
opposing companies are bought off
with money furnished by the British
State); sometimes by methods less
agreeable to the opposing company"
Such is the experience of the British
transport service. The protection or
favor shown to it has become. or
tends to become a whip wherewith to
beat the country that gives it.
Trusts Harmless Under Free Trade.
Leaving the region Of the transport
traffic and surveying the wide area of
British industry in general, 1t cannot
be said that we suffer in any appre-
ciable degree from combinations of
producers to keep up prices. That
trusts" exist in free trade countries
as well as in -protectionist countries
is undeniable; but while in the for
mer, the economy in production which
results from their promotion goes to
benefit the consumer in the shape of
reduced prices, in the latter they are
identified with high prices to the con-
sumers and large profits to the pro-
ducers. Our American friends are
just now receiving a short lesson in
the principles of free trade. They have
built up high tariff walls in the inter
ests of high prices. If the American
workingmen want high prices, by all
means let them have them, but surely
it is a little illogical for them to COM
plain when the trusts and combines
have raised the prices to the limit al
lowed by the tariff. The trust in itself
is a harmless institution; it is the
tariff-the element of monopoly-that
makes it harmful. If they want to
cripple the power of the trusts they
must attack them through the tariffs.
British Not Ashamed of Cheapness.
We Britishers believe in cheapness.
If we could get goods for nothing we
would not be ashamed to take them.
We are not ashamed to swallow the
bounty-helped sugar of France and
Germany which we can buy at Sd
(6 cents) per pound cheaper than the
retail price in the country where it is
produced. British sugar refners have
suffered thereby, but the CONNECTION
cry, biscuit, jam, marmalade and sweet
drink industries have received an i'm
mense stimulus owing to the cheaper
ing of sugar. With the sugar which