Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-09-05
INJURIES BUSINESS
Implement Makers Do Not
Profit by the High Protec-
tive Tariff Now in Force.
THE EFFECT OF THE SYSTEM
Handicaps Industry by Erecting Bar
rier Against Raw Materials
Some Pertinent Facts.

Every dealer must study how ne
may buy cheap and sell DEAR" and
the tariff comes handsomely to our aid
In selling dear. 1t holds our custom
ers fast-those in our own country
SO that escape is impracticable. All
that the manufacturers need do is TO
leach some gentlemanly understand
ing among themselves, and selling
dear. to our fellow citizens is easy
enough. This understanding should
not be of the nature of trust" of
course, for the law at present makes
that fnconvenient, and it is also quite
unnecessary, our common interest be-
Ing a sufficiently strong bond. There
would be no motive for forcing or
Wheedling or buying a tariff through
congress if it did not work along these
lines Yet, even in dealing with our
appointed victims, enterprising and
broad minded manufacturers are feel
ing the force of another mercantile
maxim, Small profits and quick re-
turns" and have learned to prefer
ready sales to a high percentage of
profit. They have considerably re-
duced prices without waiting TO be
driven by the pressure of competitions
They would he glad 10 make further
reductions. but are stopped by the
tariff barrier-by the cost of raw ma
terials.
The materials most essential in the
implement manufacturing business are
iron. steel. coa{ and wood With regard
TO wood the pre-eminence of the Unit
ed States was uncontested half a cen
tury ago Now our supply is so far ex-
hausted that producers are at decid-
ed disadvantage as compared with
those TO whom the rich stores of Can
ada are open. Our manufacturers de
serve as good a chance as their COM
petitors at the best timber supply in
the world, and they ought to have it.
whatever reduction it may make in the
profitS of the stumpage baronS of the
northwest. With regard to coal, there
Is little likelihood that Pennsylvania
ans will ever draw much upon a for
eign supply. but If our laws are so
modified as to leave New England
manufacturers at liberty to buy where
they can buy best not. only will they
receive better treatment from the cor
porations controlling the Appalachian
coal product. but we in other sections
may share in their good fortune.
The question with regard to iron and
steel is briefly and simply. Shall the
enormous profits of those who furnish
these necessaries of manufacture con-
tinue to flow into the same pockets. or
shall some part be diverted to the
pockets of consumers realized by them
in the form of cheaper machinery? 1t
Is well known to those who have in
quired and not denied by the corpora
tons own officers that it can make pig
iron at a cost of from Sc to 81 ton
and can convert this into steel and roll
the ingots into steel rails at total
charge of So to $13 ton. so that a
price of S14 would bring it a moderate
profit. whereas the price ii asks is SIS.
Other costs and prices for its steel and
iron products are in similar proportion.
with large profits on all firmly secured
by our import duty of 81 a ton on pig
iron and Sc to S25 on different forms of
steel
Less Than In England.
1t Is well known also that the cost
of iron and steel making by concerns
like this great corporation or Jones
& Laughlin. owning their own coal
and iron mines and controlling the
transportation lines that carry their
freight TO Pittsburg. is far less than
the least that any English works can