The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-26
SENATOR WASHBURN IS
IN.FAVOR OF REVISION
He Declares Stand Pat Policy Will Be Fatal Repub
lican Party Protection No Longer Needed or
Can Be Greatly Modified.

ts eas 1T sns q the an tariff a3Pe viii
speedily become the foremost public
topic. This readjustment, together
with an open door to reciprocity,
should be accomplished before the next
presidential election, In order to save
the industrial interests Of the. country
turbance and possible peril.
AS TO Steel Rails.
+ Concrete examples stare us In the
face to prove that protection has
ceased to be necessary either to sustain
certain great industries or to maintain
our standard Of wages against foreign
competition have cited as long as
two years ago the instance Of steel
rails. That is product that once
needed protection, but it needs no pro
this country, with a fair profit to the
manufacturers, at cost Of about SIG
"a ton; yet the steel trust charges 1928
ton. This is making an unreasonable
profit and is the basis of the capital
ization of the great steel corporation.
Somebody must pay for this ex-
eegSys profit IT, Does Does it r. TO the the
to the owners Of the securitiess These
whence does it. comes This extra
charge is paid primarily, Of course, by
the railway corporations that buy the
rails. But they have to pay their divi-
dedns and meet their interest charges
and provide for their sinking funds.
So in order to meet the unnecessary
necessary tariff, the railroads must
charge higher freight rates, and thus
ultimately the difference between the
natural price of SIG ton and 1923 a
ton for the track is extracted from the
consumer of the freight that is hauled
That is only one of the elements that
enter I'M to the higher cost of living in
this land of prosperity. =.
cas- railroad president I am famil.
lar with the fact that the Canadian Pa
eiic railway bought steel rails from
the United States, delivered aat their
terminals, st. John, n. B., at $21 a. ton
while at the same time American rail
ways were paying $50 at correspond
ing point on our road.
Lumber and Wheat.
.HHere in the northwest we are es
| pecially interested in lumber and in
| wheat. Why should there be any duty
! whatever on lumber7 We have nearly
denuded the forest lands Of the great
| STATES OF Wisconsin ana M1ch1gan, anC
we are reaching the same stage In
| Minnesota. Ought we not, for the pro
lection Of our own forests, for future
generations, to throw open our markets
to the output Of the Canadian forests
! This would save our forest crop anC
our, water sources for our posterity
[ do not know that the removal of the
tax Of So thousand feet on imported
lumber would reduce at once the cost
Of building material. But it would re-
duce the cost in the long run.
"Nothing was ever more absurd thar
the duty Of 25 cents a bushel on wheat
This duty was put into the tariff act
as a SOP to the farmers Of the north
west. But the duty does not affect thu
price Of wheat in the world s market
which is made in Liverpool in ordinary
years. If =. there were no duty OF
wheat, large portion Of the Cana
dian crop would be milled in transit
in the United States, thus enabling tn,
American people to receive the benef
Of its manufacture and the America,
railway to secure the profit Of trans
portation Of flour from the northwes
to Boston, Philadelphia or New York. ,