The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-04-26
Its Tariffs on Raw Materi- als, of Steel Manufacture, and Especially on Scrap
 Iron, Are Boosted Sky
 High, ,and Will Help | the Trust.
Bridgeport Industries Elm ploying Hundreds of Hands Are Threatened by Aldric h Committee Changes of Payne Tariff Bil-W ashington Core spondent Makes Situation Plain.
Special to, the Farmer.)

washington, April 26-The proposed tariff changes as they are exemplified in the Senate changes to the Payne bill are an object of serious concern to the large group of independent manufacturers of steel of the coun- try.
 Some of the questions that arise in the minds of the voters are: Is it to be substantially the original Payne bill-the nearest approach as yet to Ia tariff for the people, or the AL drieh Finance committee bill submit ted and now being read to and voted upon by the Senate. prior to it's being referred to the joint committee for comprorndse s'thestariff for the trusts" as 1t is now often called even on the floor of the Senate.
 No general substantial downward re- vision at all of the essentials of the Dingfey bill in the way the people ex- pected when they voted the present administration into power, can now be expected by the people without an eff fort, and a strong one, to let their wants be heard and in no uncertain tones. Their friends in the Senate and the press should now give that profninence to@their wants that have been given to the hearings of the rep resentatfves of the big corporations before the committees and their repre-
 
 Only by a downward revision, and a very substantial tariff reduction at that, especially as affecting products and raw materials controlled by over grown infant industries protected as they have been until they have grown to the proportions of great trusts, can the cost Of living be materially lessen ed and the cost of many commodities used by the smaller manufacturers of the greatly diversified industries of this country be so reduced that they can produce their goods cheap enough for not only the home market, but enough cheaper to reach out and se- cure a much larger portion of the worlds markets. and so thereby find employment for more labor in this rapidly growing country which is al- ready suffering from an over-produc- ton of many p1pducts, or capacity for output greatly in excess of normal home consumption in ordinary times.
 STEEL MAKERS APPARENTLY
 SATISFIED.
 ~ Take for example, the metal sched- ule by the proposed tariff. The prac- tfcally prohibitive duties on the fin fering from an over-protection under the Dirgley prohibitive tariff bill, while the duties thereon have been cut or reduced about a third to a half by the Aldrfch tariff amendments they still afford ample protection and will probably yield in consequence. little if any more revenue to the Government (and largely because of their continued pro3libitdve character) than the Ding ley bill itself yielded, else why should there be no general public present op- position through the press to these rates of duty on the part of either the big. steel corporations or the small CT and independent producers.
 Are they not all too well satisfied at heart to remonstrate about these rates being too low.
 The relief to the consumer there under is apparently to be found only in sfboom years, when the runaway markets as in the past, may encour- age importations on a larger scale and a little sonner than heretofore
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