Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1909-05-01

these people the right to say when
our duties shall come off, or how
long they shall remain on. Not while
have voice and vote"
Speaking of the lumber industry of
West Virginia, Mr.. Scott said that
even under a protective tariff. such
as provided by the Dingley law, Cana
da expected to bring into the United
States four times as much lumber as
the United States exported to Canada
Forty-eight per cent. of all the lumber
manufactured in the United States. he
added, is produced in the South, so
that the South is affected to the ex-
tent Of one-half of the cut made in
lumber If this tariff is reduced or
if lumber is placed on the free list,
Mr.. Scott asserted, there is nothing
left for the American lumbermen to
do but to cut wages.
Lower wages also, he said, would
follow cuts of the tariff rates in the
iron and steel industries. There would
be no other way in which to get down
the costs of such products. He said
that only few furnaces would be
benefited by having free iron ore,
while the great majority would suf-
fer. He said his state was interested
in the iron industry because II fur
nishes coal to the furnaces that re-
duced the ore.
SO long as the tariff on leather
shoes and articles manufactured of
leather is retained, said MIR. Scott, no
benefit would accrue to the consum-
ing public by placing hides ON the
free list Such action would result
he said, in reducing the cost of
pair of shoes just three cents. Such
action would result in a loss OF from
two to four dollars on every beef the
farmers and cattle raisers in West
Virginia put on the market.
Since the Dingley bill became a
law, West Virginia had grown in wool
raising by leaps and bounds. He
wanted the wool schedule to remain
as it now is, and in which event he
declared that West Virginia would
become one Of the great wool produc-
ing states. The people of West Vir-
ginia also demand that there shall be
a duty on petroleum, said Mr.. Scott
"They do not hold that the Standard
Oil Company is great monster de-
vouring alike the living and the
dead" he said They see the devel-
opment this corporation has brought
to the State of West Virginia and they
desire that | shall be fairly treated
Today there are 1900 oil wells in
West Virginia They are producing
25 900 barrels of oil oday worth
$17S a barrel Nine thousand men
are employed in this business. These
men know that the Standard Oil
Company buys their oil, There the
transaction begins and ends. They
know that the Standard is in the mar
ket to buy the best grade OF oil at the
cheapest price. They know that it
makes but little, II any, difference to
the Standard whether there is a duty
on oil or not. These Independent oil
operators know that the placing OF
crude oil on the free list means death
and destruction to their business"
That the Standard Oil Company pro-
duces less than ten percent OF the
crude oil of this country was asserted
by Mr.. Scott who added that Con-
gress should pause before passing a
law that would bring widespread de-
struction to the oil producers.
Il do not propose to let any popu-
Hstic howlings influence me in what
| can see to be my duty in regard to
taking care of the independent oil
producers in my state" he said.
Mr.. Scott emphasized the import
ance OF tariff for the pottery indus
try of his state and concluded by pic
turing the prosperity that had existed
under the Dingley law and appealed
to the Senate to maintain the true
principals OF a protective tariff,
which he said, in the end lowers the
cost to the ultimate consumers and