New-York tribune., 1901-06-20
STEEL DUTIES DEFENDED
SENATOR BURROWS STRONGLY AGAINST
MIR. BABCOCK's PROPOSITION
REPEAL OF TARIFF WOULD DESTROY THE
STEEL INDUSTRY. HE sAYs-A FALSE
REMEDY FOR TRUST EVILS
iBY TELEGRAPH TO THE rRrnrxr.l

lhS TELEGRAPH TO THE TMBUNE.l
Washington. June Ex-senator Burrows. of
Michigan, favored The Tribune TODAY with a
free and frank talk the proposition of Repre-
sentative Babcock. of Wisconsin to repeal the
tarin on all the products manufactured by the
United States Steel Corporation as means of
correcting the so-called trust evil Senator
Burrows is a member of the Senate Finance
Committee. which deals with all bills affecting
the tariff, and in his long service in the House
he was a leading member Of the Ways and
Mears Committee. He has thus taken promi-
nent part in tariff legislation for more than
twenty years. and regards protection as the chief
tenet or the Republican economic doctrine. Like
many other well informed members of Congress-
Senator Burrows fears that Representative Bah
cocks prominence in the House where he is
member of the Ways and Means Committee and
the further fact that he is now holding for the
fourth time the Craftsmanship of the Republi-
can National Congressional Committee may in
vest in the public mind the Wisconsin mans
proposition with Importance which II does
not in reality possess. For this reason. Senator
Burrows thinks that every friend of protection
in Congress should speak out plainly at this
time against the bin introduced by Mr.. Bah
cock the last session of Congress to remove
protection from the products of the Steel Trust
At the outset the Senator wants it understood
that he regards trusts as A growing evil which
must be and will he corrected by the Republi-
can party: but he is convinced that the Babcock
remedy is false nostrum.
no DANGER OF TARIFF CHANGES.
The Babcock treatment" said Senator Bur
rows TO The Tribune correspondent would de-
stroy the industry without killing the disease.
A physician might as we'll talk Of putting an
effectual check TO the bubonic plague by killing
off all its victims enemy of the trusts TO
baad off he Is
destroying the industries OF a nation. However.
the virus of free trade has yet poisoned the
minds Of any considerable number of Republi-
cans so that there is absolutely no danger OF
the present tariff law being disturbed by the
Babcock proposition any other similar agita-
tion If by any possibility his bin should be re-
ported by the Ways and Means Committee next
winter and pass the House. ii would never see
daylight again after II reached the Senate FL
nance Committee AT the time, since Mr.
Babcock's proposition has aroused a lively dis
cussion throughout the country, which has even
followed him to Europe, il behooves Republicans
TO talk about il plainly and thus quiet all fears
Of the slightest modification of the existing fis
cal policy Of the United States This policy has
brought too great degree Of prosperity 10 the
nation for Republicans even to entertain a
thought OF interfering with IL. II is noteworthy
in this connection TO call attention TO the sig
nilcant fact that every attempt in the past to
shunt the Republican party off from its protec-
tion policy has failed ignominiously, and that
those Republicans in Congress who have led in
these efforts have been retired private life by
their constituents
NOW" Senator Burrows Went on to say. Il
stated a while ago that the Babcock proposition
would destroy the Industry to which it lis APP
piled without correcting the trust evil. To prove
the truth of this assertion. it is only necessary
call attention TO the fact that trusts orig
mated in free trade countries and thrive in
them quite well they do in the United
States. This fact Of itself disproves the Demo-
cratic contention expressed in the catchy but
untruthful phrase that protection is the mother
OF trusts.
GREAT DAMAGE AND NO BENEFIT.
ITO illustrate my meaning 1 have merely to
state that if the Dingley rates were removed
from the products of the Steel Trust that con-
Germ gigantic il is, would sooner or later go
TO the wall, because il could not survive against
the combined competition of the world The
first thing il would be compelled 10 do in order
to keep running would be 10 cut the wages OF
ali aronloves This would mean immediate dis
tress in thousands Of American homes. Iheh,
af.er a while il would have TO cut wages again.
In order 10 bring the cost OF its products down
"a the level of the cost OF European steel ana
iron wares in the production OF which labor oces
not enter such a big item OF cost as, as IN thls @
roTp+rv Then we would have labor strikes and
disturbances which soon would involve al! or
the Industries of the United States; ana Wheh
il was all over, Europe woulo coi.iol oul non
an6 steel market and there would he tens OF
thousands of Americans out or WORK: lot ne IL
rnr,enobered that following a law of business.
The European manufacturers, IN order 10 capt
lra our market. would andersen US even az an
ec-uaI loss after the tariff walls were torn down.
and then having captured our riiarAets ioiio"-
- ,,,ot nor natural law Of business, would slap
+be ,,ricas up 10 as high figure as possible
,Ds,.ba higher than is now being charged
,be original and elemental principle or American
.a.9o, which is the protection of American
itr srd the guaranteeing 10 II of steady en-
plOyment.
EAvoRs A CHECK ON TRUSTS.
For the reasons thus briefly stated. do not
believe the Babcock bin will get any sympathy
o. s,,,nor+ among Republicans in the next Con-
gress But do not mean by this that the Re-
publican party will not put check to trusts
and rnonopolies as speedily as possible 1t is
merely a question Of finding the surest and saf-
es, rar,esv II all trusts evil, then the rem
eds, ybAn discovered will be applied 10 all alike.
7 s,sroiss from nv mind the thought that the
r.e,oocratic marty can or will find remedy for
the tr,Ist evil and apply IL. The trust question
IS q strictly economic question: ana therefore,
belongs to the domain OF nafional aHalfs over
which the genius Of the Republican party pre-
cs6ae O,,r Marty has never yet failed in any
economic undertaking. and II VIII NOT ran In
grannling with this trust question. III may be
that we shall discover after careful and thor
ough investigation that state ana not feueral
legslstion only can the evils OF the trust
II SO we shall not hesitate to resort TO that
method and thus in measure the question VIII
be removed from national politics