The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-04-08

The wide circulation given 10 state
ment said To have been made a few wears
ago by Mr. CHARLES VI SCHwAB has
served tn fix in the public mind q notion
II not n conviction that steel rails. 'he
market price If which il So a ton. can
he manufactured ard profitablv sold in
this country ~ something lii" Sl2 a ton.
The American psaOpIe individually do
not buy steel rails for domestic uss ami
consumption, hv' all are directly con-
ccrDcd if'he railroads are paving annu-
ally for steel rail, So GoWo more than
fair and reasonable price.
Those who have thar twelve dollar no
tion firmly fi7ed IA mlnd will probably
he reluctant 20 accept statement Of
facts. nj figures taken from book ac-
counts and manufacturers cost sheets
The figures now to be- quoted are taken
officially from those sources. They show
the cost for the term quoted Of N per
cent. Of all the steel rails produced
In the United States Within the FIVE
year term 1897 20 1910 inclusive the total
production nj American steel rails was
approximately - ffS 's0 tons The total
mill cost of pr0duoing az per cent. II
that output was sSns. 3tO. .0S or ~ az .t52
tons NJ s., ~ a ton There - - course
n diherenc" IN cost Of production in
different mills. and the detaIls-I infor-
nation - very property concealed and
guarded. The lowest average of cost
for the FIVE wear term shown by anv of
the manufacturers - S217l. and the
highest average. - 81 ~
The repprt - 'hr Bun-au ~ aI,nr
shows the pTc. a.; b..s-..msr tug IRON.
from which N" rails arr mad. A. aver
aging 81 ~ = ton ipr ihu-.' five wears
The prize vun's-l above. j. basel On an
average cost IT SD a. Ton 'nr the I.lg
iron iss~i. ~ hiding the item 1T Wa-tar..
which occurs ~ the I,rI-e-~ ~ mann
featuring H." difference. b"tw"-n th..
pig iron o"-' rui hr flushed r,,t,,,-i -
represented bN 'Ibrr. mHugl n..-... fuel
materials. supplies general ~ l,rn~. ,l--
preciatI"u AMI other Incidental aud hes
e~sarv charge Th. o.,e; ~ producing
the b.-Ss"rurr rlG ron appears IN b.. net
value oi he met I'l. miXiur. the. ,uk-
hme~tnn" I1bur ami general "xrr.n-a
for nlat"rlais supplies t""l~. l.l.r,.. "a
ton. a.. .lITercn".. "f = few cents 70
ton IN the Du~' IF IHg~ btll"ts and rail, j.
shown in different mot hu,i- IT cnmputl-
ton, but the variation j. 80 small thar II
serves merely 10 confirm and establish
the accuracy ~ m" FINAL fig,Ir..-
These figures and others giving moro
elaborate detail were in the hand- of
the WAYS and Means Committee nf he
House and Of the Finance committee
81 the Senate when The steel sCh.-luI.-S
were under cons dera'Inn 70 the IN !
enlightened who "laInor for the trans !
fer Of steel rails - tho free Il-t the. NAV ]
come A. a reason for the retention Of "A |
par Of the duty indsr the Dinglev |
law the duty on rails was g. - a ton |
Under the Pawn" bill y IL SS1 "a ton ,
During those five wears 'h. average ,p-r
Of production Wa S.? ~ and the aver ,
age selling price was So - From this /
10 would appear that the graSping rail I
makers fails-i to take full advantage Of
their protect lon Cost plus protection .
would have been Sp2I. or sra, ton /
more than Wa actually charged This A.,
fact teDd- - disturb the argument Of 1
those who assert that durv - always
added =" domestic pro" and VI" bonus
thus scqur"d add"i - already bursting
bank accounts
" IL probabl" for w." r..aSpns. tha,
the duty On steel rails ~ q matter of no.
ono wav or H." other Rails
might bn free or the dIry might be iun
Ter cent ad valorrfn and about - many /
would come IN one "a~a A. m the other
On" reason - thai the bs~' obtarnabl"
informant ION shows that 'he cast ~ max
ing steel rails N Furupe - htIle ~ No
le-s than n j. IN this country. and tho
other - that the mills Of Europe. after
supplying home demand and such aN-
port trade ~ they have" az" not s1iipped
to meet more than IN .nconsiderabI..
fraction ~ The american demand The
present RAJ" IT S1p2 SERVES "a. u fairly
efe'tIy" barrier against dumping. and
that - probably - he-i n not IT. only
III" ~ sil events " b. ..Iaiu ,ha' the.
duty ~ steel rails cannot hr rem rsIe-i
rs a bulWar, from bshInd WINCH prrh-
ntory industry r"a"he- nut ami takes
money from ~" Jrpcket- pT ~. Amer
Ican pe"pl" /,