Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-01-16

good seats in the gallery, and watch
the fun.
Muscatine Firm In Heard From.
The American Ammunition company
|of Muscatine, Iowa, has written the
ways and means committee that unless
the tariff is reduced on paper shotgun
shells the concern, along with other
manufacturers of the same article, vii.
have to close down its factory and go
out of business. The letter is interest
ing because it is precisely the view
taken by any number of small manu-
facturers-that high tariffs enable mo-
nopolies to exist, and in the majority
of cases are a detriment instead of
benefit to the consumer and workmen
who produce the commodity affected.
Paper shotgun shells are not speci-
fled in the Dingley BILL" reads the let
ter to the committee having the revision
of the tariff in hand, "and therefore
come in as manufactured articles, car
rying a duty of As per cent ad valorem,
Under this high tariff it is almost i'm
possible to import them and compete
with the American combine, known as
| the Ammunition association, and con-
sisting of the several factories in this
country manufacturing the goods in
question and who are associated to-
gether to keep prices up where they
want them and cut out ali competition
by regulating the sale of the paper
shells as they see fit Just as soon as
any loading company gets to doing too
much business and encroaching on
their trade in the least, they either
charge so much for empties that it
makes them improbable to load, or
they discontinue to furnish them alto
gether.
| Will Sell No More.
"This is the state of affairs we are
i up against at the present time, as four
of the five concerns manufacturing
paper shells in this country have re-
fused to sell us any further supply of
empties for loading purposes and the
other factory is charging us such an
exorbitant price that unless we get
relief by importing shortly, we shall be
forced to shut down our plant, which
will throw our workmen out of en-
ployment and cause our machinery to
be worthless.
Before the agreement between the
paper shell manufacture it was easy
to buy empty paper shells. and for
fully 20 per cent below their, present
lprices. With a lower tariff allowing
us to import, would soon bring them
back to their former terms.
THE fact that this association of
American shell manufacturers have at
times shipped quantities of these
empty paper shells to England and
tother countries in competition with
the numerous manufacturers of them
there, on an even basis, with the
freight rates against them, would seem
pretty good evidence of the profits
they are making on them
| There are number of factories
loading shells that are in the same
position as we are, and unless some
thing is done to relieve the situation
and prohibit the American manufac-
turers from controlling us and our out
Iput, we will in due time be forced to
close down and leave the field entirely
to the association
"a lower duty will not mean the
importation of large quantities of
empty shells, but will mean the same
consumption of American-made goods
for just as soon as leaders of shells
commence to import, the American
manufactures will adjust their prices
: accordingly, which we know they can
easily do from years of experience in
all lines of the ammunition business