Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 72, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1909 — SAY THOUSANDS ARE KEPT IDLE [ARTICLE]

SAY THOUSANDS ARE KEPT IDLE

Talk of Tariff Changes Is Held Responsible. J , I - STATE ORDERS ARE HELD

Officer* of the Largest Steel-Making Corporation Other Than the GaryFrick Concern Declare That Until Question of Duty Is Settled the Trade Will Bi Dull —Think Buyers Hops to Benefit by Seeing Competition With Foreigners Lower Prices. Pittsburg, Feb. 9. —Many steel mills are idle and thousands are deprived of the means of earning a livelihood as a result of the congressional effort to “tinker with the tariff," declares B. F. Jones, Jr., president of the Jones & Laughlln Steel company, next to the United States Steel Corporation the largest manufacturers of steel in the country. Willis F. King, vice president of the tame concern, coincided with Jones* insertion and both insisted that ihe present condition A)f the steel trade is one of waiting to see what the new duties will be. No large contracts will be let,” said. King “till the tariff duties are fixed Buyers are waiting for the better prices which must 1 follow if foreign manufacturers are allowed to come into, competition with American mills. The possibility of a lower tariff on steel and the consequent lower prices has held up big railroad orders.”