Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-03-18

If the canal and re-enacts the pro-

of the canal and re-enacts the pro-
Gates, the amount being increased
from S100,0O0,O00 to $250,000,000. It
IS provided the bill shall go into effect
the day following its enactment.
A Review of the Tariff Hearing.
Fully three hundred importers and
exporters, manufacturers and agricul-
turists. and tariff experts appeared
before the house committee on ways
and means at the various hearings
which began on November 10th and
continued daily until December 23rd,
and also at several supplemental hear
ings. Some of the most prominent
men i n the manufa curing and finan-
cial worlds presented testimony of a
varied and interesting character. In
addition to this testimony there were
! thousands of briefs filed with the
committee, which added to the sta
tistics furnished by the various gov
eminent departments and agents sent
abroad, together with special data
compiled by Thomas ]. Doherty, as
sistant counsel of the treasury depart
| ment and Major Herbert H. Lord who
was clerk of the ways and means COM
| nittee when the Dingley tariff was
framed, has given the committee in
formation more complete than has
ever been at the disposal of a tariff
framing committee.
Mr.. Carneaie's Testimony.
Andrew Carnegie, Charles NJ
Schwab, Judge E. H. Gary, and other
steel magnates furnished the most in
teresting testimony. Andrew Carnegie
who caused considerable discussion by
proclaining, in magazine article,
that the steel manufacturers of tha
country do not need any tariff pro-
lection, was before the committee fo1
nearly eight hours. His testimony,
while witty and entertaining, did not
offer the tariff makers much specific
information regarding the cost OF
manufacturing steel rails and other
articles of ste2l. He dealt largely in
theories and deductions and avoided
figures, claiming that he was not ia
,miliar with the details of the steel
business at the present time, but spoke
from his general knowledge gained ir
the business before he retired to
! private life.
Judge Gary, who was one of the
best equipped and most satisfactory
witnesses before the committee, pre-
| ceeded Mr.. Carnegie by several days
I He declared that the independent
steel manufacturers require tariff pro-
lection and said that if the duty or
steel should be removed, the United
States Steel Corporation, Of whose
board of directors he is chairman
would secure monopoly of the mar
ket. The cost of labor would be re.
ouced, he said, if the tariff on stee
was taken off entirely. In the course
of his testimony Judge Gary declared
In favor of government control OF
manufacturers to prevent them from
charging a price which would be more
than fair return on their invest
| mentS.
Mr.. Schwab. who was formerl,
president of the steel corporation, wa!
one of the most earnest, advocates fol
protection for the steel industry before
the committee His replies to the
qu >stions of members of the commit
tee We're replete with figures and ar
guments. He declared that the Bess
emer process of steel manufactur,
will within five years, be superseded
by the Open Hearth process, which
he predicted, will in turn, be abandon
ed for the electric system of manu-
facture being developed in Germany
Lumber and Paper.
The agitation for free lumber b.
those in sympathy with the movemen