The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-10-12

is already practically eNpausteu' ianu
for that reason twenty years ago the
lumberman turned his attention 10 adie
South. Our supply is also being RAPID
ly consumed, and III less than fWeh,s
five years will be exhausted. oiuer
these conditions. the price OF l'linoei
will continue rof rise, and VIII eNen'u
ally be as costly for building as prlcA
or sheet iuon. Our COTTON and our lulli-
her manufactures constitute our TWO
most important industries. Their com
bined output represents nearly one,halI
of our entire manufactured product,
I and neither of them is benented pS
protection. \ * q
NORTH CAROLINA AND THE FREE
RAW MATERIAL ARGUMENTE1Aal
We are told that we need protectlo3f
on account of our immense supply OF
raw material. 1t is said that New
| England has exhausted her raw mate
rial and is now in favor of free trace
in raw material. If free raw material
is Il Democratic doctrine and New ENG
1 land is in favor of free raw materGil.
4 is it not little remarkable that 1t
I should remain, dis B. has been for TWO
generations, a stronghold of Repubil-
cansm? What does North Carolina
4 raw material consist of?
DINGLEY BILL DID NO GOOD.
We only mined So, 800 worth of coal
during the year 1900. barely enough 70
supply the engines of the Seaboard AIR
Line Railroad. We only mined ST.
eco worth of iron during the year 1900;
We mined some mica. but, in view of all
we have heard about mica during this
| campaign, the people of the State Will
doubtless be astonished to know that
we only produced in 1901 S101, 462 worth
OF mica. | know two cotton farmers in
/ North Carolina whose cotton crop last
year sold for more than all the mica
mined in the State. The entire mineral
output for the State OF North Carolina
during the year 1900, exclusive of gold
silver. and stone, was only S420,0OO.
little more than 20 cents per capita
This includes copper. iron. mica, tale,
kaolin. coal. and all the other minerals
| that we produce. And this production
| has made no progress under the DING
| ley tariff. | have not the statistics
! before me. but ! am sure that the aver
age consumption of the products of these
/ minerals in this State Is twenty or thlr-
! ty times greater than our production.
| While | am unwilling. in levying tariff,
| that there should be the slightest dis
elimination against any North Carolina
| industry, | cannot see that the people
| of North Carolina will he benefited by
a law which increases the price of
product of which they buy from twenty
TO thirty times as much as they make.
! Our chief raw materials are cotton,
corn. wheat and the other products OF
! the farm which cannot be benehted
! by protection. because we export them
in large quantities.
TWO HUNDRED TARIFF PROTECTED
COMBINATIONS.
| During the last few years there has
| sprung up in this country over two hun
lred great tariff-protected combinations.
| They regulate production and nix the
price of their products. They control
| the legislation of the country and the
markets Of the country, ~, Ihey controi
! the Republican party. These comblna-
lions have two sets of customers, one
the home customer and one the foreign
customer. The prices which they charge
the home consumer for their products
are from twenty-five to forty per cent
higher than the prices which they charge
their foreign customers. They control
| a. per cent of the output of the manu-
featured products Of the country They
make a profit of from % to % per
cent The farmer is doing better than
he has done. but his profits will not eX-
coed per cent. The Republican party
claims to be able to regulate prosperity
and prices by legislation. If so. it
ought to distribute its prosperity more
equally. 1t ought not to give the farm
er 6 per cent prosperity and the
trusts a 30 per cent prosperity. If 1t
can regulate prices by law, it ought TO
raise the farmers profits up to the
trusts profits or bring the trusts prohts
down to the farmers profits. "A SIN
ont NrnfI 1s
thing. 1t is not unfair to the consumer.
But Il 80 per cent profit is a bad thing.
1t is ruinous to the consumer. 1t will
not do for the Republican party to con-
tend that ii is entitled to credit for the
increase in farm prices and to deny
that it is responsible for the increase III
trust prices The farmer has practl1.
calIy no protection under the Dingley]
law. The trusts have from 30 to 100
per cent protection. To make that argu-
ment would he to argue that protection
does not raise the prices of what it
protects. but does raise the price of
what it does not protect.
SENATOR PRITCHARD CONTRADICTS
SENATOR HANNA.
Senator Pritchard claims that the
trusts ONLY control II per cent of the
manufactured products of the country.
He saws he gets his figures from the
Census Reports. Ii that is so. 1T has
been officially determined that there are
trusts. In view of the fact that Mr..
Hanna. the head of the Republican par
tv, SAYS there are no trusts, this md
ing of the Census Office is quite i'm
portant. If the Census furnishes amy
such figures as Senator Pritchald
claims. it refers to those combinations
which admit themselves to be trusts.
That. we all know. is but IA small part
of them. for the last thing that these
Illegal combinations would do is to adj
nit that they are trusts.
SWORN TESTIMONY OF TRUST MAG
Mates CONTRADICT PRITCHARD.
Against Senator Pritchard's figures,
wherever he got them, | place the sworn
&c stimony of the trusts themselves. Let
me read You what the managers OF Il
dozen Of the biggest trust magnates
swore before the Industrial Commission:
On page 107 of Volume ! of the records
Henry o. Havemeyer, president of the
Sugar Trust, testifies that the output OF
the trusts is about 30 per cent of the
entire output of the country. p
On page $50 of the same volume,
President Reid, Of the American Tin
Plate Company. testfies that the Ameri-
can Tin Plate Company controls about
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