Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-09-03
INJURY TO BUSINESS.
implement Makers Do Not Profit
by the Tariff.
THE EFFECT OF PROTECTION.
Handicaps Industry by Erecting a
Tariff Barrier Against Raw Ma
teriais - Pennsylvania Manufactures
States Some Pertinent Facts.

IarITf Barrier Against Raw ma
teriais Pennsylvania Manufactures
States Some Pertinent Facts.
Every dealer must study how he
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
reach 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 a trust" of
course, for the law at present makes
that inconvenient, 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, "SmalI 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 competition.
They would be glad to 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, coal 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 a decid-
ed disadvantage as compared with
those to whom the rich stores of Can
ada are open. Our manufacturers de-
serve as good q 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 supplyy 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? It
Is we'll 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 a ton
and can convert this into steel and roll
the ingots into steel rails at a total
charge Of $12 to $13 a ton, so that a
price of $14 would bring it a moderate
profit, whereas the price it asks is $2S.
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 q ton on pig
iron and Sc to $25 on different forms Of
steel.
It 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
! show, for when the matter was inves-
| tigated some years ago by a commits
sion from that country the cost of
making a ton Of pig iron in Pittsburg
was reported at $3.50, while the best
report for marlborough pig iron was
| S12.T0 ton. In this report the labor
| cost at q furnace was set at shil-
| lings per ton in Pittsburg, 8 shillings
! in marlborough. Though the daily
! wage scale Is fully 40 per cent higher
| In Pittsburg they seem to manage
! there to produce double the number of
! tons with the same number of work
men, so that the labor charge per ton
| is considerably lower. If British pro-
! ducers cannot compete with Pennsyl-
| vania we may rest assured that no.
! body can. 1t would be possible to con-
tinue in the same line, telling the eff
! feet Of protecting vegetable oils on
! the cost of our paints, of protecting
the beef trusts hides on the cost Of
! betting for our machinery, of copper
protection on the cost OF brasswork,
and so on But there is no need to
! speak of minor matters.
! As exporters our interest in a lower
tariff is powerfully intensified. Prices
are lower in foreign markets, where
we must meet manufacturers the
world over on equal terms or even
sometimes at a disadvantage; hence
every item of cost becomes vitality sig
nifcant, and the higher cost of ma
terial, enforced against us by legisla-
tive wisdom in Washington, proves
most serious handicap Seventeen
years ago I publicly advocated placing
agricultural implements on the free
list because their protection" was
less help than injury to the business.
With other protection" our account
shows only a dead loss
A B FARQUHAR-