The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1909-11-22

II
~ iolc scheme; and when this the
DRY Of government ls sought 70 be
enforced. az Il was In the enact.
ment of the tariff law. and a. Il
Will be when any proposition 10
brought forward 10 make more sf.
ileens the government regulations
Of the great concerns which have
come under the jurisdiction Of con
greps. ! have been glad 20 be
known. and ! shall ever be glad 70
hs known. as an "lnsuraont."
All minor questions sink into
I trivial inaignificAncc when com
pared with the vital inquiry nov
Z gn, 10 the people Of the country.
VIII you take Aidrlch. Hale. Can
I non. Payne ard their like. for lead.
era IA legislation. for moldefa Of
pubilc policies. Tor dietaiors Ia 70.
form. OF viii sou stand b. the Ia.
tnrEenta"Y
The new tariff law was both
townward aud upward revision.
And II IL true that there were more
I krnaH decreased than increased
/ TO answer the question IN that
eAy. however. IL merely sticking
ln The bark. for the answer does
pos reach %. heart Of things.
Look al the Tariff.
For an example. to emphasize
the point make. viii take the
metal schedule. IN which the re
auctions we're more marked In de-
gree aud more general IN applica.
\ ton than III any other schedule Of
the bin The United States Steel
corporation. which manufactures
and sells a little more than one
half 81 the tonnage steel. made Ia
| 1905 1.-THE poorest year OF itn exist
cncel profit over maintenance
and operation OF sec 900 900
pcduetina per cent az a fair
profit upon the real value of It's
property, Including all forms OF In
vestnent. there remains something
like $4,000. 900 ef excessive or un.
reasonable profit. That 10 70 say,
the United States Steel corporation
could have sold its entire output Of
an average Of between - and 80
a ton lcss than II did actually sell
for, and stlit have given a fair re-
turn upon It's hones, capital.
/ have not reduced to precise
mathematical terms the average
duty upon its products. but am
not far out OF tho way when I say
that under the Dlngicy law the
average duty was from tis 10 SIC
per ton. Il Is obvious that In order
10 make q substantial rcviaion Of
the tariff downward. 80 far al the
steel business Ia concerned. II WAS
necessary that the duties be de.
creased 20 a point that would com.
pei this corporation TO reduce It's
prices greatly below the former
level or suffer foreign competition.
As a matter OF fact. we reduced
these duties upon an average OF
substantially 80 per cent. but so
snr as the effect upon the business
is concerned. we might just as well
have raised the duties 80 per cent.
The duties are still so high that
the United States steel corpora.
ton can raise the price Of every
product that u manufactures above
the price Of 1908 ana still be abso.
luteIy safe against importations.
u was a ridiculous performance,
and II the Peep o can be dupcd by
ouch farce. they deserve the fate
which Aldrleh and his crowd have
prepared for them.
The compliment leaders Of con.
Eress, believing that the common
run OF mankind would blindly ac.
cept these reductions as evidence
Of n disposition to help the con
sumer. increased the duty on a
most important steel product about
90 per cont Under the Dingley
law the duty on all kinds and forms
OF structural iron and steel was $40
per ton. This was great deal
more protection that the business
required. Five dollars per ton
would have been ample.
A Joke In steel.
But upon the flimsy pretensc
that In previous years the con
structor OF large building In New
York. being unable 10 get his struc.
tural steel from the home mills at
the time he needed II, bought some
abroad and imported It. Aldrich
worked into the paragraph which
relates 10 this subject q little
phrase that he may have
thought would pass unnotlced.
As the bill came from the house Il
read Beams. glrders, jolsts.
angles, together with
all other structural shapes of Iron
or steel. four-tenths OF l cent per
pound"
In The senate committee there
was inserted after the word 'steel"
Ga most fitting place., the phrase
mot assembled or mgnufaetured,
or advanced beyond hammerlng,
rolling or casting" by these
words all the commercial structural
iron and steel was ounnlngly taken
out of the paragraph. The COM