Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-01-18
How Some Smart Mer-
chants Got Their
Tin
Company Sold it to Victoria
Merchants for $ll a
Ton Less Than
ChargedAmeticanS

COubIeSS rum IlS mllHSdpOllS us
trict, made a speech the other day of
interest to our own people
The subject under consideration
was Tariff Revision and Canadian
Reciprocity''-and during the argu-
ment Mr.. Lind told the following
story:
81 was out on the Pacific Coast Tor
a couple of weeks just before came
down here, and learned of an occur
renee that impressed the situation
with reference to our iron and steel
schedule on my mind in a greater de-
gree than anything that has yet come
to my notice.
AS you all know there is an i'm
mense packing industry on the Pa
cifc Coast. A great deal Of tin plate
is used in that industry. There Is
also a large demand for sheet steel
and sheet iron for Alaska On the
trip referred to | learned what / am
now about to state | am not going to
give names, but what I shall say is
capable Of verifcation by anyone who
is curious. The Northern Pacific
Railroad company, to which I shall
refer will give you the data and the
facts
"A firm in Portland, Ore dealing
in hardware and handling large guam.
ties Of tin plate and sheet steel found
that they needed some six or seven
carloads Of such material. This was
about a year ago last summer. They
wrote TO Pittsburg, the only place
where those commodities could be
bought, to one of the subsidiary com.
panies Of the steel trust, and received
quotations. These people at Portland
found that the price made by the
PittGburg company was exorbitant,
that 1t left no prifit to them on the
basis Of the contracts that they had
entered into, so they sent UP to Van.
couver, thriving town just over the
Canadian line, think within IS miles
of the United States boundary, and
they procured a firm of Canadian
brokers to write to the same concern
a letter similar TO that which they
had sent, to ascertain at what price
they could buy these seven carloads
Of tin plate and sheet steel.
"The Canadians were given quota.
tions ranging from eight to eleven
dollars per ton less than the quota
tions to the American applicants At
the instance OF the Portland firm the
Canadian brokers Immediately order
ed the tin plate and the sheet steel.
In due course OF time the orders were
filled and the bills of lading, with
drafts annexed, were sent to the bank
at Vancouver. Those OF you who are
at all familiar with dealings in that
kind of commodities know that the
manufacturer usually advances the
freight, directs the route of shipment
and sends draft with bill of lading
These cars had been routed from
Pittsburg to Chicago from Chicago
to ST. Paul via the Burlington road
and from st. Paul to the Pacific via
the Northern Pacific railroad.
I'm due time, as 1 say, the bills OF
lading, with drafts attached, arrived
in Vancouver and the Vancouver
brokers promptly paid the drafts, in.
dorsed the bills OF lading, and sent
them TO their Portland customers.
They Immediately put themselves
in Communication with the Northern
Pacific railroad and found that the
cars were in transit somewhere in
North Dakota. They demanded that
the cars should be diverted, so as to
be sent-three to Portland, two &c
Seattle, one 10 Tacoma, and one TO
another point, think, instead Of be,
Ing carried through to Vancouver
They had the title papers-the bills
Of lading-indorsed; the drafts duly
receipted The railroad company
could do nothing else than comply
with the demand, and the cars we're
diverted, and this clever Portland
firm saved about $4,000 by the trans
action.
Now, gentlemen. speaking to you
IS American citizens, what do you
.hink of a condition of AFFAIRS that
,ompels our own citizens to resort 10
ying and subterfuge to get that de
cent treatment that they ought to be
entitled 10 as a matter or right un'
Ter our own laws? And still you
r,.r sa ..ts u..f,y ,oIicv