Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1891 — THE SALT COMBINE. [ARTICLE]

THE SALT COMBINE.

HOW THE TARIFF HAS RAISED PRICES. After Election Wage Reductions—Crime and the Tariff—How the Trusts Operate— Secretary Rusk’s Plan—Tariff Shot—The Tin Question. The Price on Sait Raised. When the McKinley bill was being considered by the Ways and Means Committee at its public hearings, several interests were represented which demanded that salt be put on the free list This created intense alarm among the producers of salt in New York State. They at once sent a committee to Washington with petitions and protests, the gist of which was that if salt were made free their works would have to be closed. In supporting their demands they pointed with pride to the fact that they had never taken advantage of the opportunity which the tariff gave them to corner the market, and that they had never organized a trust to control and regulate the output and advance prices. One of their committee, Mr. Kerr, said: “Had it not been for the American salt, and had our work's been uuder a trust, people wou’d have been paying considerably higher prices for their salt to-day. ” By such a show of philanthropy the salt men prevailed and the McKinley bill became law, with the duties on salt retained as they were in the tariff of 1883. Just as soon as the hill became a law these salt producers, who had so long abstained from forming a trust out of pure philanthropy, held a meeting and formed what they chose to call the Western New York Salt Manufacturing Association. They also issued a circular which declared that the ohject of the combination was to “maintain uniform raffcer than higher prices,” and theD they proceded deliberately to advance the market price?. The effect of this advance is shown in the following table, which gives the prices prevailing a year ago and the present prices. These prices were furnished by one of the largest dealers in salt in Boston: August, October, 1800. 1891. 6-pound boxes: 8 .OtH $ .08% 10-pound boxes.... - 08% .09 30-pound boxes Ills .11 30-pound bags 11% .11 Barrels of 250 pounds in bulk 1.60 17S 10-pound bags pec barrel of 25 bags..., 1.83% 2.03 Does this short history of the salt industry under the McKinley tariff bear out the famous assertion of the New York Tribune, “This (the McKinley tariff) ie a trust-killing tariff, men and brethren.”