' . . Wtg' ' . " MMJi"j. . -
8 'Che Coneervative *
A STKEL , TKUST UI'JSODE.
[ By A. B. Fnrqulmr. ]
Probably the great uinjority of our
citizens altogether overlooked a recent
announcement that two cargoes of steel
rails ( one brought from Scotland and
ouo from Germany ) , had just been
landed on our shores to fill orders from
a number of street railway lines var
iously located in our Eastern cities ; and
of the few that did not overlook it ,
probably a inn jority passed it by as a
matter in which they had but slight
concern. They were not paying the
money , and why should they trouble
themselves where this or that corpora
tion procured its supplies , or whether at
high or low cost ?
Yet , leaving out of view the liklihood
that for any extra expense borne by a
corporation today it will have to be
reimbursed by the public tomorrow ,
every citizen han reason to bo interested
in incidents such as this , because he
here sees a curious instance of the work
ing of a trust. The object of the trust ,
to be sure , is not to cause the purchase
abroad of goods that could very easily
have been made in this country , but as
that result does sometimes follow from
its methods , the case is worthy of some
study. Though it may be only a cor
poration that suffered by the trust's
squeezing in this case , the same kind of
squeezing is pinching our own fingers in
many other cases.
Steel Rails Hoth Imported and Imported.
The peculiar feature about this impor
tation is that it occurs not only in the
face of a rigorous import duty of $7.84 a
ton , but also in the face of a strong cur
rent of steel mamifactures exported
from our own seaboard. Rails are
included among other steel exports. A
few mouths ago one mill shipped 70,000
tons for the North China Railway , and
it is understood a much larger amount
has been engaged for future delivery.
Nevertheless , in the case of the two car
goes mentioned , imports of the same
kind of product were made at a saving
of fully 25 per cent iu cost. These
imports were what are known as "guard
rails , " constructed especially to avoid
derailing of trolley cars at curves and
switches. It seems that only three or
four steel mills in this country , all of
them in Pennsylvania , are provided
with the appliances required for the
rolling of such rails ; that the proprietors
of these mills are tightly combined into
a pool and exact a profit exceeding 100
per cent on every ton furnished under
such special orders ; that American com
petition in this line of production is
practically out of the question ; and that
it was therefore cheaper to buy from
Scotland or Germany and pay the $7.84
duty.
The Exception That Proven the llulc.
Ill this case it is plain that the pool , or
trust , has over-reached itself. I some
years ago compared protection-grabbing
to the behavior of pigs at their feeding ;
the eagerness with which the corn is
seized results in the waste of more than
is eaten. The trust could have kept all
the trade in guard rails and cleared at
least 50 per cent profit by putting the
price lower. Though its eagerness may
carry it too far iu special lines where the"
demand is not very large , it makes no
such mistake with steel rails of ordinary
construction. For these it carefully
keeps the price just low enough to
escape importations , the. amount of the
duty being realized by it as added profit
( an unwarrantable tax upon home con
sumers as is proved by its exportatious ) ,
and so wo hear nothing of imports of
ordinary rails. In fact , such exceptional
cases are to be taken not as indications
of the usual working of the trust , but
merely as episodes.
But the moral of mere episodes may
be as distinct and imperative as that of
normal occurrences , particularly when
the episode is but an exceptionally strik
ing exhibition of some factor all the
time at work. It is so in this instance.
The facts that the course of steel rails is
now prevailingly outward , that the
manufacturers thus prove their ability
to meet rivals throughout the world on
equal terms , that they are none the less
extortionate toward consumers at home ,
that the profits they exact are so inor
dinate that in some cases the customer
finds that it pays him. to be at the incon
venience of placing his order with
makers in another quarter of the globe ,
submitting to delay in transportation
besides paying a heavy duty these facts
do not pertain to guard rails alone , butte
to trusts generally when fostered and
pampered by legislation ; this case being
only a particularly conspicuous exem
plification of a prevalent state of things.
Steel Duty Interferes With Kxports of
Machinery.
For several years past , until recently ,
the prices of iron and steel were lower
in this country than abroad , and the
result was a rapid increase in our
exports of machinery and implements.
Now the situation is reversed , and it is
with great difficulty that manufacturers
can hold their trade and make a profit ;
whereas , if we could be relieved of the
duties levied on imported raw material ,
which yield the government but little
revenue , there would bo no difficulty ,
while the metal producers could con
tinue to make abundant profits without
this bonus.
Is it not plain that legislation should
cease to foster and pamper the steel
trust ? That it should at least abstain
from adding , at the public cost , to the
gigantic profits of that trust by its
largess of $7.84 a ton tariff duty ? This
is a bounty paid to people that do not
need it by people that do. If merit is
claimed for protective duties in other
instances , nothing but an abuse can be
seen in this instance. If it is the pee
ple's will to bear the cost of this enrich
ment of the steel trust , we must believe
that the people really enjoy paying high
prices for what foreigners can buy of
the same producers at low prices. This
powerful and grasping steel combine ,
like the sugar trust and the tin plate
and glass monopolies , chosen favorites
of protective legislation , thus empowered
and encouraged by government to exact
whatever prices they think the public
can be made to bear , all tempt us to call
the law to our aid not that it may lay
its hand upon them in any way directly ,
but only that it may lift the hand with
which it holds us down to give monopo
lies a chance to strike us.
Manufacturers Ready for Iioiver Duties
and Increased Exports.
The officers of a prominent manufact
uring company iu "Wisconsin the Gis-
holt Machine Company convinced that
the country had by this time passed
the need of protection in machine con
struction , and that the high duties of
our present tariff law were provoking
retaliation on the part of more than one
country of continental Europe where it
would be advantageous to us to sell
machinery , sent out a circular letter of
inquiry a few months ago to manufact
urers throughout the United States.
By the kind permission of the authors
of the circular I have been enabled
to read a number of the replies. The
great majority of the writers , represent
ing well-known houses from Pennsyl
vania westward , agreed that the policy
of reducing duties and so warding off
retaliation from abroad was now prefer
able , in order to build up an export
trade.
Nor do I see how any manufacturer ,
desiring only a fair show in home mar
kets and not an opportunity for expor
tation , can fail to agree with them.
This country has grown great in manu
facturing because it can make iron
cheaper than any other , if it chooses.
It is the great magazine of essential
supplies timber , limestone , coal and
metals , as well as exhaustless stores of
food at easy command. Moreover , it is
peopled by an ingenious and energetic
race the very pick of the best stock of \
the Old World. To teach that such a
people iu such a land could not prosper . I
and push ahead without tariff duties L
has been proved flat absurdity. ? <
Many Trusts Harmless Without Pro
tection.
The close alliance of trust and tariff
ought now to be so plain that no intelli
gent man could hold a doubt on the
subject. Yet people are perpetually
trying to confuse it , and successfully
confusing it for many minds , by sug
gesting that associations and combina
tions are not unknown in free-trade
England , and that many products not
covered by an import duty ( as petroleum )
are subject to combinations here. This
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