The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-02-02
THE TARIFF AND TRUSTS.

The great consultations OF manu-
featuring enterprises, says the Balti-
more San, commonly called "trusts"
are aided in their efforts to eNtinguish
competition and put up prices by the
Dineley tariff and low tariff is the
only certain remedy. A trust open to
competition by all the world is CON-
palatively harmless.
The New England Free Trade
League, of Boston, Mass, is doing II
good work in describing seratim the
operations of the various protected
trusts-for nearly all our trusts pos
sess an artificial monopoly created by
high tariff rates. In recent paper
the league discusses the Salt Trust. a
sl2,OO0,OOO New Jersey corporation
formed in 1899, under the name of
1.-THE National Salt Company" This
protected" trust owns many of the
salt factories or furnaces in New York
and Ohio and leases other factories.
In addition, it has contracted for the
output of most of the factories which
1t docs not own or lease. In these
ways it has during the last few months
obtained monopoly Of the salt indus
try east of the Rocky Mountains, ex-
cept in a few coast States. 1t has
raised prices from 40 to 100 per cent.
above those of 1896, when salt was on
the free list.
The window glass trust, under cover
OF the tariff, has doubled prices and
has fixed prices higher inland than on
the coast, where foreign competition is
encountered. 1t has alliances with the
workers and restricts production by
working only six months in the year.
The borax trust sells borax here at II
cents per pound and g. cents per pound
in Europe. A like discrimination in
favor Of the foreigner who does not
pay the tariff tax is practiced 10y the
tlnplate trust, the iron ore trust, the
steel rail trust and the international
paper trust.
One Of the worst discrmnators
against the home market is the Steel
and Wire Trust, which las not only
raised prices of wire and nails more
than 100 per cent. in one year, but has
in four years raised them nearly 800
per cent, while at the same time ex-
porting and selling immense quaint
ties at foreign prices, which are now
nearly 40 per cent. below home prices.
The trust reduces prices in Canada
only one half as much as in Europe.
Its policy, in fact, is to sell for what it
can get in any market Of the world,
utilizing the tariff here to get more
than elsewhere. Our duty Of four
tenths OF cent per pound on wire and
wire nails shuts out British and Ger
man competition, and this much per
pound is added to the price good Amer
leans have to pay. One would sup
pose that in gratitude for the bonus SO
long paid by American consumers the
trust would now let them have their
nails as low as possible, but the trust
takes a sordid view of its opportuni-
ties. Details are given. Wire nails
are now sold to Americans at 1913
per keG, to foreigners at 2.l4 per keg.
Either figure is good advance on the
price five years ago, when they sold at
30 cents per key. Barbed wire is held
in our home market at Sl.l3 per 100
pounds, but Canadians can get it at
1926 and Europeans at 1920. Our
farmers and builders who use barbed
wire largely may see in these discrim-
nations the practical results of the
''protcctive' policy.