St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1912-02-07
Democrats and Tariff.

Democrats and Tariff.
The passage of the metal tariff
bill in the House of Representatives
by a vote of $40 to 100 on Tuesday
of last week is another democratic
verdict on the tariff The passage
Of this bill makes it evident the
democrats intend to ignore the
work of the tariff commission and
the facts they have collected and
treat the tariff in their own way.
The rapidity with which the bill was
rushed through the house shows
that they intend to force their views
on the country without sufficient
consideration in debate. The bill as
passed places iron ore on the free
list and reduces the duty of $3.50
per ton on pig iron to eight per
cent ad valorem or about $1.20 per
ton. The democratic advocates of
the bill claim for it that it will re-
duce the profits of the American
manufacturer but will not reduce
the wages of the American laborer.
They admit that it will increase the
use of foreign ore and pig iron and
increase the use of American ore
and pig iron in America; that it
transfers the production of 100000
600 worth of iron products from the
American manufacturer to foreign
manufacturers each year, and that
it will bring more revenue to the
government by the increased impOr-
tation of these goods.
The weakness of the bill and at
titude of the democrats is shown by
the claim that they will reduce the
manufacturers profit but not the
workmans wages. Such a claim is
pure humbug as political parties
never have and never will deter
mine the division of income between
the employer and the employee. The
profits of the proprietor cannot be
reduced without affecting his en-
ployes and the democrats are prom
ising what they cannot perform in
making this claim.
Again the democratic advocates say
that the reduction in duties will
increase the area of American terri
tory in which foreign producers can
compete in pig iron. While they re-
duce the duty on pig iron from
$3.50 to $12O per ton they claim
the imports of it will be enough
more to increase the revenues of
be the case. The Payne tariff law
reduced the duty on pig iron from
81 to $3.50 per ton and since that
reduction was made the imports of
pig iron from China to ports on the
Pacific coast have increased from
approximately 100000 tons per
year to 142,OOO,OO0 tons. Reducing
the tariff by more than half again
cannot fail to further increase the
importation of iron from China
where they pay their laborers in
iron mills fifteen cents for a twelve
hour day. There will also be an in
creased importation of pig iron
along the Atlantic sea board and
the field for the American product
further restricted.
The iron and steel bill is not
the only place where the democrats
have shown the same disposition. In
the tariff bills they passed at the
special session they attempted to
take away from the American man
ufacturers and give to foreign pro-
ducers $4O,OOO,O0O worth of wool
en- goods per year; $11,OOO,OO
worth of cotton goods; SIG, 200, 900
worth of raw wool and $4,000, 900 |
worth of goods on the free list.
Add to these figures the 100000
900 worth of iron and steel includ-
ed in the present bill and you have
an annual output of $4,000 900
worth of goods that they would
take away from American manu-
ufacturers and have sent US from
foreign manufacturers. And they h
have acted on only five of the four
teen schedules of the tariff as yet
Still they claim they would not
reduce the wages Of the American
laborer But 1t must be apparent
to every intelligent man that such
an amount OF business could not be 4
taken from America without les