The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-04-26

in any large quantities or beared the
 tive could they have in helping to es-
 tablish a fair or comparatively low
 market value in pig iron which is use6
 so extensively by their competitors
 among the independent iron and stee
 mills. The higher the pig iron prices
 go on steel making pig naturally the
 higher goes the prices for foundry pig
 iron. and with the result that the
 whole cost of all hardware, machinery
 agricultural implements and kindred
 lines of manufactured products are
 advanced and the sales prices to the
 farmer and other consumers of neces-
 sity is relatively higher. The cost tc
 manufacturers of these and kindred
 lines creep up to the point that ex- portation ceases. There is less em-
 ployment for American labor and those
 manufacturers like the radiator com
 panies, the harvesting machine nranu- facturerS and others use their Ameri- can capital for investment in the es- tablishment of factories abroad to se- sure the lower cost of raw materials also labor in the production of their line of merchandise for shipment among the foreign countries.
 MANUFACTURERS SUFFER.
 The manufacturers. mills and foun- dry interests in New England, the Att lantic. Pacific. Gulf States and those along the Canadian border have suf- fered severely from the great increase In costs of their iron and steel scrap pig iron and steel and expected great relief from this new tariff when last November they cast their votes.
 Are they to be doomed to disappoint- ment, and if so will they and their employees not know in the future how to vote to more purpose.
 Take the tariff on iron and steel scrap again for illustration The Payne Bill first had it on the free list, but finally voted in the House a duty of 50 cents a ton, and now the Aldrich poses to make it five times as high or total of $2.50 ton, namely, identi- cal to the duty on new material in the form of pig iron.
 vestment and requires no productive labor, so in itself obviously needs no protection. However, the manager of both the Western Pig Iron Association ana the Eastern Pig Iron Association, scores of blast furnace com panies, and the big steel corporations the price of pig iron, are generally understood to be insisting that this iron and steel scrap or old should carry a duty the same as on pig iron and why if not in reality to the better extinguish the compost tion of the independent steel mills and stop their being a factor in establish ing a lower market price on finished
  large than those scheduled by the big 
 But is this wise and in the interests of the consumers of steel. If accom- plished will the country not pay dearly Tor its thoughtlessness and shortsight- edness in not encouraging and provfd- ing for continuance of fair competi- ton among domestic producers that the home market process may be kept right and on a fair level as compared with the prices which the big corpora tions establish for their export of ma terials to foreign countries and with out the necessity of throwing the Ann erican market wide open to the impor- tations of materials much more ad- vanced in manufacture.
 There was imported of scrap iron and steel, as reported to the House for the year 1906, but about 13.5oO tons, as compared with a production of pig iron in this country of some 25,0O0,0 GOO to 30, 000, 900 tons, or of scrap imported varsus pig iron produced here of only about one-twentieth part of one per cent, or one ton of scrap for 1000 tons of pig iron made, and from which the Government did derive at the $4:OO per ton Dingley bill duty only some E54, 900.
 If, with a 50 cent per ton duty there were only 100000 tons of scrap inn ported it would be less than four per cent of the pig producing capacity of his country, so why should the pig ron producers fear a low duty on scrap, for it is doubtful if foreign markets could supply anything like his country without their foreign mar zets prices per ton being enhanced to a value prohibiting further importa- ions to this country, but were there million tons of scrap thus imported on his duty basis this Government would ierive a revenue of about half a million dollars or some ten fold the 'evenue secured on scrap in 1906
 Broken pig iron could not be import d as scrap for the laws require it's aking the same duty as pig iron and .either could the direct products of he blast furnaces abroad be run into ome other form or shape than pig and shipped into this country as ubterfuge without iron identi- al in analysis with pig iron being lasSed as pig iron and subject to the | 'ig iron duty. The blast furnace in- | erests can safely trust the Custom | louse authorities and those in charge f the various ports of entry to en- l orce this condition, for scrap is al- | ways understood in the iron and steel l usiness to consist of only old and | 'rder.
 Much could be said along the same | inc in favor of free iron ore now al- | eady so closely held or cornered and | ontrolled by the big corporations and | heir allies, and by trade agreements, | nd even free coal has its place on the | ariff bill for the consideration of the ublic in deciding these rates of duty | or the general good and to the end hat the industrial pursuits may not | e too much centralized through grav- .ating to locations having special nat lral advantages. In keeping these va ious industries now still fairly well catered throughout the country from cling consolidated into a few immense entralized plants for the aggregate ! reduction needed it safeguards the interests of the laboring classes in many ways and protects those who wn their own homes in their present | istricts of employment.
 Cost of production in this country lust be got down and kept on a prop |. level so that this country can com etc in foreign markets on account of ne over-production in this country as ompared with it's normal consump- on, otherwise the labor of this coun- " will not find sufficient employment nd this labor in competing with itself ,r employment will experience greater uffering than would result from less