The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-14
How A FOREIGN MARKET Is Sc
CI-REn

Mr.. Charles NJ. Schwab, the president OF
the billion dollar steel trust. told the In
dustrial Commission on Saturday how the
trust secured foreign market for its
products. The fact that steel products
OF American manufacture are being sold
in pretty nearly every country in the
world is regarded with great satisfaction
by the American people. but it is doubt
ful if any considerable number of them
have noticed that foreign markets are Sc
cured for these products al their expense
In the course of his testimony Mr..
Schwab said that il was true that prices
obtained abroad We're lower than those
obtained in the United States. The reason
for this was, he said that in order to
keep the plants running steadily and on
fun time, it was necessary to ship the
surplus TO a foreign market, and in or
der to get this market and hold it prices
had to be reduced below those prevailing
in this country. He admitted that it
was not possible TO get our steel products
into foreign markets unless our prices
were below those obtained in this country.
dent that we are not supplying foreign
markets with steel products because we
are manufacturing those products at less
cost than they are being manufactured
in European countries, but because we
are selling them, in all probability, at
much less profit than they are being sold
by European manufacturers. II is also
evident that the American people are be-
ing taxed by the steel trust. and the
money thus obtained is used in getting
American steel products sold in foreign
markets.
We have pointed out more than once
that the American people are getting rest
less under this kind of taxation. They
see no good reason why they should pay
for steel products of American mills more
than the people of Europe have to pay for
them, 1t is certainly unjust to the manu-
facturers of locomotives, for instance
that they receive no help whatever in
putting their products on the markets of
Europe while the manufacturers of steel
rails and steel beams receive a very great
deal of help from the government
Mr.. Schwab says that the tariff as it
is suits him and the trust which he man
ages. He would be pretty hard to suit
if it didn't. 1t enables him to get very
much higher prices for about everything
sold by his trust than it would get if
the tariff on steel products were to be
repealed.
Let the tariff on steel products be re-
pealed and then we shall see if American
enterprise is sufficient to capture the
trade of other countries. If it can the
American people will rejoice, but they
have very little reason to rejoice as long
as they are being taxed enormously to
enable the trust to place its goods in for
eign markets. This matter is going to
be looked into thoroughly at the next ses-
sion of Congress. Even extreme protec-
tionists are beginning to admit that it is
unjust to the American people that they
should be compelled to pay more for
goods made in their own factories than
foreigners have to pay for them Dhe
outcome will be that trusts will have to
sell in the home market as cheaply as
they sell in foreign markets or the tariff
schedules from which they receive pro-
lection will be repealed.