The Colorado statesman., 1908-03-28
CONGRESSMAN COOK TALKS.
Urges His Bill Placing Duty on Man-
qanese Ore

Washington. = Representative Cook
made his first formal speech in the
House Tuesday, his subject being his
bill to place duty on shipments into
the United States Of manganese iron
ore. Although the address was upon
an economic subject, it was listened to
with attention by the House and Mr..
Cook was the recipient of many con
gratulations on the manner in which he
handled the question at issue.
Mr.. Cook said THE Republican
party in its national platform for the
past forty-five years has proclaimed
the doctrine of the protective tariff
principle for American labor and cap
ital, against the pauper labor and cum
ming capital of foreign monarchy.
From the great Morrill, tariff bin to
the Dingley bill, in a measure the
House of Representatives and the Sen
ate of the United States have protected
the American miner and manufacturer
of raw material of iron, ore, steel, coal,
coke, gold, copper, lead, zinc, lumber
and a thousand of other things, orig
inally produced in the Uniteo States.
That Congress should discriminate
against manganese ore, that must be
used in the manufacture of steel rails
and all other steel structural forma-
tions, and put it on the free list, is
a glaring inconsistency and smacks
strongly of special legislation for spe-
cial manufacturers.
IF iron ore is favored by high pro-
tective tax and 35,000,000 tons were
mined and shipped in the United States
during the year of 1907, to exclude for
eign competition, it is certainly rea-
sonable that 40 cents, or even 81 per
ton as duty passed by the Senate,
should be placed on the peculiar metal
manganese that is absolutely necessary
to make a durable and perfect steel
rail, as well as all other manufactured
steel products, owing to the fact that
manganese gives iron a greater ten
sile strength, elasticity and elongation.
Before manganese ore was placed
on the free list by the conferees of the
House, l was the largest shipper OF
manganese ore in the United States;
have shipped from Leadville, Colorado,
more than 1876 900 tons of manganese
ore for steel manufacturing purposes.
mined by American labor, the wage
| being So per day for miners, and S4
per day for engineers and pumpmen,
precisely the same wage as paid by
mine operators in Colorado for mining
gold, silver lead and copper-bearing
ores. in competition with a wage of 60
to rs cents per day, paid for mining
manganese ore in Russia, Chill, Brazil J
Japan and Cuba, to the absolute injury
of intelligent American labor. From
these countries the supply is now com
ing in ballast to the United States and
used by all the steel mills in our coun-
try except the Colorado Fuel &c Iron
Company of Pueblo, Colorado, (the
! only steel works west of Chicago) and
since the establishment of the Colorado
Steel works in 1880, have used more
than 100000 tons of Leadville man
ganese ore for making spiegeleisen,
the mixture with pig iron for reasons
hereinbefore stated, mixed in covert
ing furnaces producing steel ingots
from which merchantable steel is
rolled into shapes.
Millions of tons of iron (hematite)
ore in the Mesaba, Hoegebec and
Menominee ranges of Michigan and
Minnesota are mined in open cuts with
steam shovels and placed on cars at
cost of 26A cents per ton; this ore
is protected by duty as it should be-
Now Mr.. Speaker, any practical
chemist or metallurgist in the United
l DldltS Will say uotS llOl CA
ist in it's pure state in any part of the
world, where deposits are known to
exist, but metallic iron is found in
variably in combination with the man
ganese, which is manganiferous iron
ore. The 07,06S tons of manganifer-
Gus iron ore that was received for
the fiscal year, ending June 80, 1907,
should have paid duty to the govern
ment of 40 cents per ton, or the sum
of $4,000 for the year, for the good
and sufficient reason each and every
ton of this foreign ore was manganifer-
ous iron ore, but a departmental rul-
ing by the assistant secretary of the
treasury, arrogated within himself the
powers only granted under the law to
the Congress of the United States, the
Treasury Department has, and still
maintains this manifestly unfair rul-
ing, resulting in great loss OF revenue
TO the government.
"ln the presentation of these indis-
putable facts of the great injustice by
the conferees of the House of the Fifty
fifth session of Congress, favorable con
sideration and cooperation is earnestly
requested to restore the duty on man
ganese ore thereby carrying out the
protective principles and pledges of
the Republican party, in the interests
of American capital and labor"