THE AMERICAN TARIFF.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 6 September 1901, Page 3

THE AMERICAN TARIFF.

The American people are beginning to be restless under their highly protective tariff. The manufacturers are even beginning to realise that their own interests demand a reduction in the tariff, so that it is not surprising that the people havp found oat that they have a right to be relieved from the extortionate prices which the trusts, entrenched behind the tariff wall, are charging them for their products. For example, take all the manufacturers of iron and steel, from locomotives, steel rails, and farming machinery all the way down to typewriters, sewing machines and table knives. From the largest to the smallest article in the entire list there is not one which American manufacturers ace not making at less cost than any of their foreign competitors, and selling more cheaply to European buyers than to their American fellow countrymen. The specific duties of 4dol per ton on pig iron, 7.84d0l per ton on steel rails, 13.44 dol per ton on steel ship plates, and an average ad volorem duty of 43.58 per cent on foreign made iron and steel goods, are clearly not needed against foreign manufacturers, who cannot hold even their own markets. They serve no purpose now except to compel the American people themselves to pay more than European prices for the products of their mills and workshops