The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-29
M'QUEEN ANSWERS
 MIR. UNDERWOOD Says Iron Is Not Made for
 $7.50 Per Ton CITES HIS FIGURES Says That Plans Had Already Been Made for Manufacturing Cot ton Ties in the Birming-
 ham District

ties are manufactured in the Birming- ham district. He seems therefore to imply that Birmingham Is not interest ed in the subject and should keep quiet. As a matter of fact, however. Birming- ham citizens are interested in the wei fare of the entire south and the Bir- mingham district" to southern pa triot may become sufficiently elastic to take in on such matter Atlanta and Gadsden.
 Cotton ties 1t Is well known have been manufactured for years by the Atlanta Steel company in Atlanta, Ga. At the present moment 5000 tons or steel billets are being rolled at Gads- den for conversion into cotton ties at the Helena Rolling mill, only 16 miles from Birmingham on the main line or the Louisville and Nashville railroad. This mill has been idle for some time and is now scheduled to start up May 1, never having contemplated in max ing it's arrangements that such bloN would be directed against this district
 A mill for the manufacture or cot ton ties is about 60 per cent completed at Gadsden at the plant of the southern Iron and Steel company.
 Is the district to understand that because it has thus far restricted US energies to the production of raw ma terials and has not yet produced chains, anchors anvils, saws, hammers, aXes' locomotives, marine engines, harves- ters and agricultural implements gen. orally that therefore it Is to nave no sympathy with proposals to put all these on the free list?
 The reductions which have been made successively in the rates of duty on pig iron have already taken away from the Birmingham furnaces their trade north of Norfolk, Va. Thous- ands of tons of English and of Nova Scotian pig iron are imported into Philadelphia.
 On the other hand. the pressure Of enormous capital investment in lake furnaces in Chicago, Cleveland, Toledo Detroit. and Buffalo have taken away the market which existed in bygone years for Birmingham pig iron in Chi cago. H.. Dayton. Ohio, Springheld' Ohio. Columbus, Ohio, Youngstown, Ohio. Cleveland Ohio, Detroit, Mich.' Pittsburg, Pa, Harrisburg, Pa, Read ing, Pa, and the additional develop ment of New York state canal system has enabled the Buffalo furnaces not only to protect their own home mar ket but largely to drive out southern iron from New York state and New England.
 It Is A very serious mistake for any one. either for the make of maintaining nolitical or politico- economical doc trines. to shut ones eyes to actual facts. The wise man and the votary or truth will seek to recognize the facts, even if 1t becomes necessary to change his opinions to keep step with them.
 The development of the Mesabi ores mined by steam shovel lifting car load at a single scoop, developing full train load of ore every 3o minutes at the pier, loading an S000-ton whale hack steamer in 45 minutes, unloading the same at lake port with clam shell buckets in three to four hours into 1OO-ton steel cars and delivering the same to furnaces using hy-product coke which costs nothing for the coking, all the expense being borne and profit made upon the by-products and these materials being charged into furnaces with four or five stoves 90 to 100 feet high. blast furnished in some cases by gas engines operated by the blast fur mace gas. giving an output of 800 tons ner furnace per day on a fuel consump- ton. based on the large product, high heats and rich quality of the ore. Of less than ton for ton, equipped in some cases with Gayley dry blast costing d million dollars per installation. reduc- ing fuel consumption and increasing output, have enabled the northern fur naces not only to supply their nome ma rkets in general but to press back substantially southern iron to the Ohio river.
 MT. Underwood in his reply to MT. Me- Cormack states that he knows that pig iron was exported in large quantities to Europe in 1s96-7, which is perefectly true. It was so exported without a dollar of profit to keep plants going and men em- poyed to avoid disruption of organlza- tions at a time when southern furnace were so poor that they could
  ligations. In counting the cost of such iron no allowance was made for the min erals taken out of the ground or the cost of replacing the land so exhausted; 1t was a matter of temporary expediency which if persisted in would have ruined the district exporting its valuable minerals for other people to work them up with cheap labor and return the finished prod ucts to our country.
 In those days the cost of living was 6o per cent of what 1t is today, and wages were correspondingly low. If 1t becomes necessary again to produce pig iron at MT Underwood's figure-S 90 per ton-it will become necessary to accompany 1t by a 40 per cent reduction in all labor costs At that time also the outcrop ores of Red mountain, averaging 90 per cent in richness, were being mined py hand power, and loaded at trifiing cost in some cases not exceeding 50 cents per ton It is now necessary to have eX- pensive power plants, the soft ores having been exhausted, to follow the 32 to Ss per cent ores, in some cases even below the sea level, with expensive drilling hosting. ventilating and pumping. Similar in creases have followed in many cases the operation of coal mines, where the more accessible outcrops have long since been attacked. and operations are now pursued following the operation ol ueep siiai's niu slopes with expensive systems Of under ground haulage.
 . But this information Is not new to MT. Underwood. as I find where I wrote him in December 190S as follows:
 'I am in receipt of your favor of the 2Sth I have read carefully what you have written regarding the tariff on pig iron, and bearing on this district. l have also read carefully the whole of Judge Garys testimony before your con- mittee. and I do not find where Judge l.. li l nat ,i,,l- f.oa