The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1903-12-25
Foreiun Prices and .Home Pres
perity

noise over lost chipmunk than our
hard siding champions of foreign
industries are making over the loss
by the Krupps to our steel rall mo-
nopoly of an order from the Mecca
Railway for 10000 tons of steel
rails. The price at which the or
der is said to have been taken is
SASS per ton at Beirut. This
probably gives the steel rail monop-
.oly about $40 yer ton in this coun-
1tfy. The hearts of Miss Krupp
and the other heirs of the great
German gunmaker are supposed to
bleed for the poor downtrodden
American railroads which are fore
ed to pay these same monopolists
$a8 per ton for all the rails they
put in their own tracks, that the
trust may sell rails abroad cheaper
thar Krupp.
This interference with the Krupp
profits has stirred Representative
Richardson, we'll known publish
er from Tennessee, to introduce a
billin Congressputt trust made
articles which we sell abroad more
cheaply than here on the free list.
No chipmunk ever eluded the farmers
dog with more energy than Repre-
sentative Richardson's in fleeing
from proposition to apply prohi-
bition or increase of duty to for
eigners who do to us what every
American manufacturer should do
to them, "and do it first" How.
ever hazy the motive of the Steel
Trust may have been, the action
will result in remunerative employ
ment for American labor; and Rep
resentative Richardson's bill is de-
signed to take bread out of our lab
orer's mouths and reduce the profit
table sale of farm produce in this
country, in order that the European
manufacturers may make more
mouey. The man who opposes
sales of our manufacturers to for
eigners seems working, either for
pay or through hate of his country,
for foreign interests.
Let us look at these sales to
Arabia. At 20 per ton they bring
$4oo. 900 into this country. Secre-
tary Shaw says with substantial &C
curacy: GA foreign market for
II, 90, 900 of manufactured products
means a domestic market for at
least $500, 900 of labor" On this
basis the sale means $500, 900 for
American labor or enough to keep
5000 men employed a month at
$40 each. And American laborers
who were fooled in 1902 into vot-
ing for Cleveland and the trim
mings of 'o3 are urged to believe
that they are injured by this money
not being expended in Germany.
AS much concern for railroad in
terests under the operations of the
Steel Trust is continually expressed
by openly and surreptiously Free
Trade papers, glance at the sta
tistics in "Poor's Manual of Rail
roads" will be instructive. Com
pairing 1896, the last full year be-
t Ee the Dingley bill, with 1905, we
ffd that In 1896 the average charge
on our railroads for carrying one
ton of freight one mile, or the ton
mile rate, was o,82I cents, or loss
to the companies of 81 1000 of a
mill. This, applied to the tonnage
of 1902, means that the railroads of
this country handled their freight
for $50, o,275,Sroo less than they
would have received at the rates of
1896. TIE fall in freight rates was
2 per cent, and in the passenger
rates the fall was 1 per cent. The
total difference between the rates
received en- the business of 1902
and the rates that were charged in
1896, applied to the same amount
of traffic, amoGAts to over so3, 900,
600. And that sum musthave gone
into the Dockets of Droducers and |