Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1891 — THE STRUCTURAL IRON TRUST. [ARTICLE]

THE STRUCTURAL IRON TRUST.

How Caraeg;le and His Associates Appropriate the Tariff Bonus on Structural Iron—toddentally 1* Shows Who Pays the Tariff. In extrolling the McKinley tariff the other day Mr. Andrew Carnegie magnanimously observed that his praise was entirely disinterested, inasmuch as the rates of duty have been considerably reduced upon the manufactures which he produces. It was certainly very generous in Mr. Carnegie to lavish encomiums upon a measure from which, as he assures us, he derives no benefit. Next to .steel rails, his most important manufactures are beams, rafters, joists, columns, and other forms of structural iron. Upon these products tho former rate of duty was $25 a ton. In pretended deference to the complaints of house-builders against this most exorbitant duty, the McKinley tariff reduced the rate to $lB a ton. It was believed that this reduced rate would be sufficient to ward off competition with the structural Iron combination on this side of the Atlant.c, and the expectation has not been disappointed. The price maintained by the American Beam Association, to which Mr. Carnegie belongs, is $62 a t.3n for most if not all forms of structural iron. In Belgium the selling price of the same manufactures is 120 francs per metric ton, or $31.08 per ton of 2,000 pounds. At the mills in Germany the price is $22.72 per ton. Adding the duty of $lB, the price of Bo'gian and German form? -of structural iron would be, when laid down in Philadelphia, $39.05 and $40.72 respectively, exclusive of freights and commissions of Importers. Making the most liberal allowance for the difference In wages, these comparative figures show the extent of the extortion that is practiced upon the housebuilders of this country by Mr. Carnegie’s American Beam Association under cover of the tariff. Although the

importations of structural iron are so insignificant as to receive no mention in the Treasury returns of trade, we are reliably Informed that Belgian apd German beams are offered to-day in New York and Boston at $46.50 per ton. This is the price for forms of structural iron made by foreign works for their home trade. For patterns required by American consumers the price is $52 a ton. Under the discouraging influence of the tariff upon the import trade the American Beam Association is enabled to swell its enormous profits by charging the builders of this country $lO a ton more for its products than the highest price of the foreign article, with duties, freights, commissions, and all included. While Mr. Carnegie’s disinterestedness is not very apparent, his ground, for extoljiig the McKinley tariff is quite obvious. Yet, notwithstanding the high duty, tbe wide margin in price between American structural iron and 'tbe foreign article affords an opportunity of saving money of which builders should avail themselves. We are assured .that if foreign beams should be carried In stock by American merchants there would be a large market for them in this country, in -spite'of tho duty of $lB a ton. Importers are unwilling to take this risk, however, 'because the American Beam Association could drop its prices below the lowest rate of the foreign article and still have a considerab e margin of profit. Thus the McKinley ‘tariff, in obstructing the imports of structural iron nearly .as effectually as did its predecessor, .amply justifies the warm praises of Mr. Carnegie. It Is evident that a further reduction in the duties of structural iron is demanded by .the interests .of American consumers. The-ohange in ithe McKinley tariff has had no effect iin reducing the prices of the Beam Monopoly. But If the duty an structural 'iron-should be reduced to $9 or $lO a ton ithere would be abundant “protection” for tbe home manufacturer, as .prices aud the cost of production demonstrate, while there would be some protection df American consumers from imonoplistic rapacity. By reducing the duty, and with it the cost of this'material, .it \would enter far more extensively Into house-building, and thus give.a .healthful-stimulus to a great variety of industrial pursuits.— Philadelphia Record.