WILEY & HA L STED WILL SHORTLY PUBLISH THE IRON MANUFACTURER'S GUIDE TO THE xurnaces, Forges, and RolilXX AilXls OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH{ MAPS; TO WHICH IS APPENDED A HISTORY OF THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON, A SUMMARY OF THE STATISTICS OF THE AMERICAN PRODUCTION OF IRON, AND A GEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION OF THE IRON ORES OF THE UNITED STATES. BY J. P. LESLEY, SECRETARY OF THE AMERICAN IRON ASSOCIATION, AND PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS. HISTORY OF THR RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, FROM 1621 TO 1857. WITH NUMEROUS STATISTICAL TABLES, RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE, IMPORTATION, EXPORTATION, AND PRICES OF IRON FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY. BY B. F.' FRENCH, MEMBER OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, AND THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA, ETC., ETC. NEW YORK: WILEY & HALSTED. 1858. ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, BY B. F. FRENCH, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Southern District of New York. W. H. TINSON, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER. TO PROFESSOR ALEXANDER D. BACHE, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE U. S. COAST SURVEY, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED, TO EXPRESS MY ADMIRATION OF HIS EMINENT SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY ATTAINMENTS, AND THE HIGH VALUE I ATTACH TO HIS FRIENDSHIP. BE1VJ. F. FRENCI. No. 94 Clinton Place, New York. INTRODUCTION. IN preparing this volume for publication, it has been my object to furnish a reliable work upon the Iron Trade of this country-showing its past and present condition, the obstacles it has had to contend with, and the effect of the free-trade principles which have crept into our legislation, and produced those finacial revulsions which have, from time to time, brought ruin upon this branch of American industry. There is no article of manufacture more important than iron-none in which it is more necessary that a nation should be independent of all the chances of war or commercial restrictions-the large employment of which is the chief characteristic of civilization, and should always be, if possible, a domestic production, and protected beyond the possibility of any contingency. It is, no doubt, difficult to lay down any general rule as to the rate of protective duties. They should, however, be more than sufficient, in all cases, to protect the manufacture of any article which it is the design of a foreign government, foreign merchants, or foreign manufacturers to crush. It is an established fact, that, in many departments of English industry, those who are interested will not only carry them on at a loss for years, but furnish large sums of money besides to aid in retaining markets from which they are in danger of being excluded by commercial restrictions or industrial competition; and scarcely a branch of industry has sprung up in the United States which has not had, at first, to encounter a severe struggle, by the reduction of the price of the foreign article, below that which the new manufacture was expected to compete with. Vi INTRODUCTION. It is, therefore, premature for this country to adopt a free trade policy, while her manufactures are yet undeveloped, and unable to compete with foreign countries. "It may be a good policy," says a recent writer in one of our daily journals, " for some countries; and is, where the manufacturing interests are fully developed, and where there is a dependence for the raw material and for food upon other countries, as in the case of a country like Great Britain, and at some future day, probably, our own; but the important question is, whether we are now in that situation-whether our manufacturing interests in their infant state can compete with the cheap capital and labor of Europe, and whether our iron, copper, and lead ores shall always remain unworked, or be made, by native industry, to give wealth to our country? Or, again: Can we, with all our resources, afford to support decrepit Spain, add wealth to Cuba, aid France and Great Britain in their thousand per cent. ad valoren tobacco duties, and build up Brazil with our " free trade?" To show that we are not indulging, in wild assertions, let us prove these statements by statistics. The balances of trade with some of these countries, for the year 1857, appear thus: COUNTRIES. Exports from Imports into Balance of Trade U. S. U. S. against U. S. Brazil,................. $5,545,207 $21,400,733 $15,915,526 Spain (including Cuba),.... 27,889,568 57,432,545 29,542,977 Mexico,................ 3,615,206 5,985,857 2,370,651 Venezuela, etc.,......... 3,502,443 6,344,490 2,842,047 Total,................. $40,552,424 $91,163,625 $50,671,201 "From this statement it appears, that in 1857 the balance of trade against the United States in its trade with four neighboring countries, was over fifty millions of dollars for the year 1857; or the imports were 70 per cent. of the total commerce. These countries are chosen as an example, from their proximity to this country, and not solely from the great balance of trade against us. If China, etc., had been included, the balance would have been much greater. These countries having close proximity to the United States, the annual trade with them should be large, and, being in different latitudes, there is a mutual necessity and demand for the productions and manufactures foreign to the respective climates; and consequently there would be with'free trade,' or equal tariffs, an approximately INTRODUCTION. Vii equal trade. Now, as we cannot get'free trade' from these countries, we should have equal tariffs. We also find that the balance of trade with these four countries absorbs the entire gold productions of California, and that we contribute that amount annually to the wealth of these countries. Here is a fact for free-traders to consider! " An equality of trade is, in a great measure, dependent upon an equality of tariff; and an equality of trade, as a general rule, is the only true basis of commerce. One illustration will prove this. The duty upon a barrel of flour entering Cuba will average about ten dollars, or two hundred per cent. of its value. Now, flour is a staple product of the United States, and a necessary of life in Cuba, and from the proximity of the two countries, a large trade in this article would be a legitimate result; but owing to the tariff duty, the trade is merely nominal; and although generally there is a greater demand in Cuba for the products of this country than the reverse, yet with Cuba the ratio of our imports to exports is three to owe, giving an annual balance of trade against us of almost eighteen millions of dollars. " Is it not, then, proved that the'revenue' is not the only element to be considered in a tariff-protection is also necessary?'' One of our principal staples is tobacco; the crop of this year, 1858, being valued at twenty-five millions of dollars. We are the largest producers of tobacco in the world, and supply the non-producing countries of Europe almost entirely. Yet, what are the facts in regard to tobacco? France obtains a yearly revenue of nearly thirty millions of dollars from tobacco, or five millions more than the value of our entire crop. We supply France with four-fifthls of her consumption, and it is estimated that, with a moderate duty, our exports would increase ten-fold. The revenue to Great Britain on tobacco is over twenty-two millions of dollars annually; of Holland, twenty millions of dollars; Austria, seven millions; Spain, five millions-and so through the list, showing how the monopoly of one of our staples supports some of the governments of Europe. " That tobacco is not an exceptional case, let us examine the tariffs of Europe, in regard to duties levied on our leading staples. Wheat. Spain,.... Prohibited. Belgium,.......................... 19 cts. per 200 lbs. France,........................... Duty fixed monthly. Holland,...................... 121 cts. per ton. Viii INTRODUCTION. Cotton. Spain,.................... 1 to 2 cts. per lb. Belgium,.... 77 cts. per 100 lbs. France,........................... $2 44 to $3 42 per 100 lbs. Cotton Manufactures. Spain,............................ 31 cts. to $4 67 per 100 lbs. Belgium,.......................... $34 to $57 per 100 lbs. France,........................... Prohibited. Provisions. Spain,............................ 6 cts. per lb. Belgium,.......................... 96 cts. per 220 lbs. France,........................... $3 55 per 100 lbs. "These examples are, perhaps, enough to show how little'free trade' exists in Europe, in regard to our staple productions; and the monopolies and exorbitant duties are even more common in South America, and in the few Asiatic countries with which we have dealings." When the system of reciprocity and free trade had been proposed to a French ambassador, his remark was, "that the plan was excellent in theory, but, to make it fair in practice it would be necessary to defer the attempt to put it in execution for half a century, until France should be on the same footing with Great Britain, in marine, in manufactures, in capital, and the many other peculiar advantages which it now enjoyed." It was, truly, a profound remark, worthy the representative of a great manufacturing and commercial nation, and should not be lost upon this country. In regard to the manufacture of iron in the United States, there is nothing required but permanent, secure protection, to afford every branch of iron manufactures cheaper than they could be obtained from England, or from any other foreign country. Many of them had already begun to be cheaper under the tariff of 1842. It requires time, confidence, and capital to perfect all the manufactures of iron; and, while advancing to perfection, the prices should be satisfactory, beneficial to the country, and beneficial to all parties. If, however, on the other hand, they should be discouraged, and suffered to languish for want of protection, England will most assuredly avail herself of the occasion to raise her prices higher than she would under an adequate system of protection. CONTENTS. Introduction,................................................. 5, 6, 7, 8 Etna Furnace, Maryland, manufactures of............................ 10 Agricultural Productions, value of, consumed by persons engaged in the manufacture of iron,..................... 44, 67, 68 Agricultural and other interests suffer, when iron manufactures are not protected,................................................... 90 American Colonies, declare themselves independent................................ 11 engage in the manufacture of iron,............................... 2 exports of, to Great Britain,.................................... 7 imports of, from Great Britain,................................... 4 refuse to export to Great Britain,................................ 10 Report of Board of Trade on manufactures of..................... 3 Andover Iron Works, New Jersey, manufactures of.................... 11 Anthracite Coal, discovered in Pennsylvania soon after the American Revolution,..... 57 the value of afterwards realized in the manufacture of iron,.......... 62 tons of, passed over the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, in 1856,.. 62 Anthracite Iron, cost of to manufacture on the Schuylkill, in 1849,................... 100 cost of to manufacture on the Lehigh, in 1853...................... 150 cost of to manufacture in Wales, in 1849........................... 124 Bar and Pig Iron exported to Great Britain by the American colonies,...7, 8, 9 Bar Iron, tables of, imported by the American colonies,.... 4 British Parliament, acts of,...2........................... 2 lay a duty on American iron,.................................... 2 prohibit American colonies from manufacturing iron,................2 permit American iron to be exported to Great Britain free of duty,... 6 X CONTENTS. British Parliament, PAGE require the Board of Trade to make a report on the iron manufactures of the American colonies,.............................. 2 Britain, Great, comparative cost of manufacturing pig, plate, and bar iron, in Great Britain and the United States, in 1845,........................ 69 consumption of British iron, per head, in the United States,......... 68 iron imported from, by the American colonies,.............4, 5, 6, 16, 20 production of, in 1760,.....9............................. 9 statement of the quantity and value of pig, bar, and railway iron imported from Great Britain, from 1839 to 1855,................. 70 price of merchant bar iron in Liverpool, from 1837 to 1849,......... 75 Cincinnati, prices of iron at, from 1814 to 1831............................... 38 imports and exports of,......................................... 173 iron manufactures of, in 1856.................................... 173 Coal, Anthracite, experiments made with, in smelting iron ores,.......... 57 Coke, employed in the manufacture of iron before the American Revolution,.............................................. 58 Competition, home, reduces the price of iron,......................... 96 Congress, American, exempt all persons manufacturing iron from performing military duty during the Revolution,.......................... 11 Cort, patents for puddling and rolling iron............................. 12 Crane, experiments made by, with anthracite coal in Wales, in 1837,...... 59 Duties, ad valorem, neutralized by the fluctuations of the prices of foreign iron,........ 96 without a minimunm, injures the American manufacturer,............ 132 Duties, sliding scale of, recommended,................................ 133 France, experiments of, to manufacture iron with anthracite,............ 59 Furnaces, kind of, used in the manufacture of iron, previous to 1812,.......... 16 anthracite, table of, from 1838 to 1840,........................... 60 Gases, application of, in the manufacture of iron,........................ 65 Detmold's patent in the application of waste gases in the manufacture of iron,................................................... 66 of iron- 66 Geisenheimer's Patent for smelting iron ores with anthracite,............ 57 Hot Blast, introduced into the United States,........................... 55 Iron, average and comparative view of prices of, in Glasgow, from 1830 to 1849,......................................... 130 analysis of the ores of Lake Superior,............................ 158 CONTENTS. xi Iron, PAGE analysis of the ores of New York,................................ 168 bar, Livingston and Salisbury,................................... 11 bar, manufactured in the United States,.......................... 54 comparison of the principal results of the census of 1840 and that of 1850,..................................................... 137 comparative statement of the quarterly price of refined bar iron at the ports of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, from 1840 to 1856,............................................. 146 compromise tariff reduces the rate of duty,.................. 26 Congress increase the rate of duty on,............................ 24 Do. do. do.............................. 26 condition of the iron manufactures of the United States in 1850,..... 136 consumed in the United States,............................... 52 consumption of, in the United States, in 1855,............. 156 consumption of British iron, per head, in the United States,......... 68 consumption of agricultural produce for each ton of bar iron and castings made in the United States,............................ 44 cost of making pig and bar, in the United States, 1840,.......... 63 cost of making pig and bar, on the Schuylkill,.....1............... 100 cost of making pig iron in Wales, 1849,................... 124 cost of converting pig iron into rails, in Wales, 1849,............... 125 cost of making pig iron in Scotland,..................... 125 cost of manufacturing pig iron on the Lehigh, in 1853.............. 150 cost of manufacturing pig iron in Ohio........................... 152 cost to manufacture pig and bar, from 1802 to 1810,................ 17 duties on, from 1804 to 1812-16,............................. 40 duties on, from 1818 to 1828,.................................... 41 effect of free-trade on the manufacture of, in the United States,..... 20 effect of the reduction of duties on iron.......................... 27, 31 effect of duties on the manufacture of, from 1842 to 1846,........... 65 estimate of the comparative cost of manufacturing pig, plate, and bar iron in Great Britain and the United States, in 1845............ 69 hammered, imported from 1818 to 1830,.......................... 41 imports and exports of Cincinnati,............................... 173 imports of, from Great Britain, from 1816 to 1826,.................. 24 imports of, from Great Britain, from 1802 to 1804,............ 16 imports of, from Sweden from 1821 to 1838,.................25, 57 imports of, from Sweden and Norway, from 1845 to 1855,........... 25 imports of, from Sweden and Norway, from 1795 to 1801,.......... 16 imports of Scotch pig iron in different parts of the United States, in 1853 and 1854,............................................ 150 improvements made in the manufacture of,.................... 65 increase of importations of, attributed to the combined effect of the freetrade tariff of 1846, and the influx of gold from California,...... 145 manufactures of, ruined by the compromise tariff................. 65 manufactures of, in Pennsylvania, in 1854, 1855, and 1856,.......... 155 xii CONTENTS. Iron, PAGE manufactures of, increase rapidly during the war with Great Britain, 1812-15,.................................................. 20 manufactures of the United States, for the year 1820,.23 memorial of the iron masters to Congress, in 1849, on the depressed condition of the iron industry of the United States............ 76 mode used by the manufacturers of Great Britain to crush foreign competition in the manufacture of............................... 24 average price of pig from 1782 to 1849,.......................... 110 do. Russia and Swedish, from 1782 to 1849,....... 111 principal manufacturing centres of.............................. 179 production of, in 1854, 1855, 1856,.............................. 181 persons employed in the manufacture of,....................... 67 pig and bar, exported by the American colonies,................... 7 pig, price of, in Pennsylvania, in 1780, 1789, 1796, and 1800,........ 9 pig, manufactured on the Sterling Estate, New York,............... 9 pig, admitted free of duty into England,.......................... 10 pig, manufactured in the United States,.................... 48 price of, in the West, and in the Atlantic ports, from 1814 to 1824,... 21 price of bar and pig, from 1793 to 1807,.......................... 15 price of bar and bloom, from 1802 to 1810,....................... 18 price of, at Cincinnati, from 1814 to 1831.......................... 38 price of merchant bar iron in Great Britain, from 1837 to 1849,...... 75 prices of, in Sweden, from 1815 to 1831,.......................... 36 prices of, in England, from 1806 to 1831,.......................... 35 prices of, in the United States, from 1793 to 1831,................... 36 process of puddling, introduced into Pennsylvania,............ 22 production of, declines after the peace............................. 20 production of, in the United States for the years 1828 and 1830,..... 33 production and consumption of, in the United States, 1840,.......... 63 production of, under the compromise tariff,........................ 65 production and consumption of, in the United States, in 1845,........ 67 production of pig, in the United States, 1846 and 1848.............. 72 production of anthracite, in Pennsylvania, in 1847,................. 72 production of, and importation of, in 1851-2,............... 145 production of, in 1853,......................................... 150 progress of the manufactures of the United States,........... 171 do. do. of Pittsburg..................... 171 do. do. of Cincinnati,................... 173 quantity of, rolled at Pittsburg, in 1828, 1829, 1830,................ 37 quality of, made from the Lake Superior ores,..................... 157 rail mills in the United States,.................................... 154 railway, admitted free of duty,................................... 26 railway, price of, from 1850 to 1854,............................. 151 railway, wear and tear of American,............................. 151 railway, consumption of, in the western States,............... 151 railway, imported into the United States free of duty, from 1833 to 1841, 55 CONTENTS. Xiii IrOll, PAGS Renton, process for reducing ores into malleable iron,............... 145 Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the manufacture of, 1810,. 18 Report of the Convention of Manufacturers of, held in New York, November, 1831,............................................. 33 Report of the Iron Masters of Maryland on the depressed condition of the iron manufactures of that State,.......................... 131 shipments of Lake Superior ores, in 1855, 1856, and 1857,.......... 157 South Carolina opposes the tariff of 1828,......................... 26 statement of, imported from Russia from 1821 to 1851,............. 56 statement of, manufactured in the United States, 1840,.............. 64 statement of, imported from Russia, from 1783 to 1804,............. 13 statement of iron, manufactures of iron, and steel imported into the United States, from 1828-9 to 1843-4,............... 27, 28, 29, 30 statement showing the population and iron manufactures of the United States for the year 1830..................................... 32 statement showing the population and iron manufactures of the United States, for the year 1810,.................................... 19 statement showing the effects of protection on iron at Pittsburg and Cincinnati,................................................ 36 statement showing the population, and value of pig, castings, and wrought iron, in 1840,..................................... 60 statement of the quantity and value of pig, bar, and railway iron imported into the United States, from 1839 to 1855,.............. 70 statement of the quantity and value of pig, bar, and nails exported by the United States, from 1840 to 1855,......................... 71 statement showing the difference in cost between English and American labor in the rolling mill,................................. 129 statement showing the population, and value of the iron manufactures of the United States, for the year 1850........................ 135 statement of pig iron produced in the United States in 1840 and 1850, with the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years,.... 138 statement of iron castings produced in the United States in 1840 and 1850, with the increase in ten years and the decrease in ten years,................................................... 142 statement of wrought iron manufactures produced in the United States in 1840 and 1850, with the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years,......................................... 144 statement showing from what countries the deficiency of iron was supplied for the year 1852,.................................... 145 statement of the price of steel in New York (duty paid), from 1851 to 1856,.................................................... 149 statement exhibiting the yearly value of, and manufactures of iron, and iron and steel imported from and exported to foreign countries; home consumption of foreign iron and steel; home consumption of foreign iron, and manufactures of iron and steel over domestic exportations for the last seventeen years,......... 177, 178 Xiv CONTENTS. Iron, PAGE statement showing the value of foreign importations in, exportations, domestic exportations, home consumption of foreign importations of iron and steel, also the manufactures of pig iron, iron castings, wrought iron, consumption of domestic iron and the manufactures thereof in the United States, and consumption of cast, shear, German and other steel, for the years 1840 and 1850, and estimate for 1855,................................................. 174 statement exhibiting the population, production of pig iron, iron castings, and manufactures of wrought iron, the consumption of domestic iron, and the manufactures thereof, the home consumption of foreign iron, cast, shear, German, and other steel in the United States, with the allotment per capita thereof, for the years 1840, 1850, and estimate for 1855,................................ 176 steel, hardware, and cutlery imported from 1815 to 1839,........ 20 value of pig, bar, and iron castings in 1850,..................... 137 Martien's process of manufacturing iron.............................. 66 Maryland, coke furnaces of, before the Revolution....................... 58 iron furnaces of,................................. 10 iron productions of,........................... 9 production of, in 1849,.................... 131 iMassachusetts, iron manufactures of,........................... 2 Memorial to Congress on the best mode of relieving the iron industry of the United States from its depressed condition, 1849,............. 77 Michigan, ores, and iron of,......................................... 157 Missouri, iron resources of,.......................................... 153 Neville, Process of, for manufacturing steel,........................... 166 New York, ores of, capable of yielding superior iron and steel,................. 167 tables of the iron ores of, with the proportion of metallic iron which they contain,................................. 168, 169, 170 Norway, iron imported from,.................................. 16 Ohio, amount of the iron productions and manufactures of, from 1840 to 1857.................................................... 74 cost of manufacturing pig iron in 1854........................ 152 do. do. do. into rails,................ 152 Pennsylvania, act passed for the encouragement of the manufacture of iron with anthracite,......8.............................. 58 coke employed in the manufacture of iron before the Revolution,.... 58 CONTENTS. XV Pennsylvania, PAGE furnaces of,.............................................. 9 iron manufactures of, in 1854, 1855, and 1856..................... 155 ores of, and yield of,....................................... 72 production of anthracite iron, in 1847,............................ 72 production of the rail mills, in 1847,............................. 3 statement of the production of pig iron, from 1828 to 1847......... 73 Pittsburg, centre of extensive iron manufactures, from 1810 to 1825,........... 22 iron manufactures of, in 1857,.................................. 171 Protection of home manufactures stimulates home industry and increases the consumption of cotton and sugar,. 87......................... 8, 91 of manufactures increases the wealth and power of the country,...... 92 the only policy to prevent financial revulsions...................... 134 Railway Iron, consumption of in the western States,............................. 151 cost to manufacture in Wales, in 1849,........................ 124, 128 increased demand for, from 1830 to 1856,......................... 55 imported free of duty, from 1833 to 1841,........................ 55 price of, in England, from 1850, to 1854,......................... 151 wear and tear of American,.................................... 151 Railways.completed in the United States, in 1853,...................... 151 Rail Mills, table of, in the United States,.............................. 154 Resolutions of the convention of iron masters, on the subject of relieving the iron industry of the United States......................... 97 Remarks by the author of the memorial of the iron masters of the United States to Congress, 1849, on "A Protective Market"-" Foreign Iron: its Influence on Prices " —" Manufacture of Iron,"-" Protection of Prices " —" Protection in the United States by Prices " — "' Free Trade "-" Necessity of a Home Market,"..... 10... 105 Renton, process of, for reducing iron ores into malleable iron,........... 145 Riepe, process of, for manufacturing steel,............................ 160 Russia, iron imported from, 1783 to 1804, 1821 to 1851,.............. 13, 56 Scotland, cost of making pig iron, in 1849............................. 125 States, Western, rivals of the Eastern in the production and manufactures of iron,.................................................. 74 Steel, manufactured at Pittsburg, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston,.................................................. 49 manufactures of Pennsylvania,.................................. 160 prices of (duty paid), in New York, from 1851 to 1856,.............. 149 report on the manufacture of, 1831,.............................. 48 Riepe's, Uchatius', and Neville's process of manufacturing........... 160 xvi CONTENTS. PAGE Sterling Estate, iron production of,................................... 9 Superior, Lake, quality of the iron made from the ores of,......................... 157 iron works and production of,................................... 157 ores shipped from the mines of,................................. 157 Sweden, iron imported from................................... 16, 25, 57 Tariff, Free-trade, injurious to home manufactures...................... 133 United States, Congress impose a duty on imported iron and steel,................ 15 decline of iron manufactures..................................... 12 exports of iron,............................................... 13 Hamilton recommends iron manufactures to be protected by Congress, 14 Indian wars revive the manufacture of fire-arms,................... 15 Uchatius' Process for manufacturing steel,............................. 166 Virginia, first colony to manufacture iron,............................ 2 Wages, price of, controlled by the English and Scotch iron masters,...... 131 Wales, cost of making pig iron in 1849.................................. 124 cost of converting pig iron into rails, 1849,....................... 125 Wall, patent of, for the conversion of cast into wrought iron,............ 66 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. --- THE United States, since the acquisition of California and New Mexico, yield to no country in the richness and purity of her metallic ores, especially those of iron, which run in gigantic measures throughout the Union, and exist nowhere more abundantly or in greater variety than in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Georgia. These rich and inexhaustible deposits may be worked with great profit in every locality, and would soon become a source of great national wealth, but for the jarring interests of sectional feeling which prevent their development, and deny to them the preponderance to which their manufacture is entitled. First, there is the great magnetic region which lies imbedded in the Appalachian chain of mountains, covered with vast and rich forests of timber, and at the base and along the valleys of which are found the brown and yellow hematite and pipe ores, scattered in rich abundance, reposing upon their limestone beds, 1 2 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. and in juxta-position with all the materials necessary for their manufacture. Sec6ndly, the fossiliferous deposits, opened out extensively in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia, and also in the midst of immense forests of timber. Thirdly, the argillaceous ores of the coal measures, so precious from their association with the bituminous coal deposits of this country; and, Fourthly, the iron mountains of Missouri and Michigan, which yield the purest of iron, and any one of which localities could furnish iron enough to supply the world. The North American colonies engaged in the manufacture of iron at a very early period. In 1621, Virginia led the way, and was followed by Massachusetts in 1628. They made, however, but little progress, as the mother country adopted the policy of restricting their manufacturing spirit by administrative measures. In 1660, the British Parliament passed an act prohibiting the American colonies from exporting any of their manufactures to Great Britain in any other than English-built ships, although in direct violation of the Charter of Virginia, which empowered the people of that colony to carry on a direct trade with foreign countries. In 1679, Great Britain imposed a duty of ten shillings per ton on all iron imported into the American colonies. It was afterwards proposed by the House of Lords, to prohibit the American colonies from manufacturing iron wares of any kind out of sows, pigs, or bars, under a heavy penalty, which did not, however, become a law. In 1731, an act was passed IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 3 by Parliament directing the Board of Trade to inquire into and report on the laws made, manufactures set up, and trade carried on by the American colonies. In the following year, they accordingly reported that iron works had been for many years established in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and from the progress they had made, it was expedient to encourage the manufacture of it in the colonies, especially as the production of it had greatly fallen off in the mother country. The officers of several of his Majesty's dockyards, also reported that the American iron was superior in every respect to the best Swedes iron.* 3 Copy of a letter from the officers of his Majesty's yard at Woolwich to the Navy Board, dated 3d September, 1735. "We have lately received fron his Majesty's yard at Deptford, bar iron 2} inches broad and 1~ inches thick-15 cwts. 0 qrs. 4 lbs.; squares of j of an inch -5 cwts. 0 qrs. 12 lbs. imported by Mr. Crawley from America, and pursuant to your warrant of July 11th, 1735, have made sufficient trial of each of the sorts, find the said iron to be very good, and fit for his Majesty's service, superior in every respect to the best Swedes iron, and in our opinion worth ~17 10s. 6d. per ton." They also wrote to the Navy Board, on the 17th Feb., 1736, "That, from the trials we have made from one ton of iron, imported by Mr. Crawley, from America, it is, both in the nature, and goodness, and value, equal, in all respects, with Swedes iron." 4 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, WROUGHT AND BAR IRON IMPORTED BY THE AMERICAN COLONIES FROM 1710 TO 1735. COLONIES. IRON, WROUGHT. BARS. C. Qr. lb. T. C. Qr. lb. Carolina,........ 1,143 0 27 00 00 0 00 1710 New England,.... 4,596 2 16 200 3 0 7 to I New York,...... 567 0 19 10 2 1 10 1711. Pennsylvania,... 937 2 00 12 0 2 21 Virg'a and Mary'd, 3,014 0 8 1 10 1 1 Carolina,........ 1,551 0 7 4 13 0 00 New England,.... 5,344 3 24 281 13 3 19 1712. New York,...... 639 1 7 32 3 0 00 Pennsylvania,.... 540 0 20 2 1 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 5,653 2 4 5 3 2 14 Carolina,........ 1,406 2 2 27 5 0 00 New England,... 983 0 13 212 1 0 00 1713. New York,...... 4,885 2 21 49 8 2 16 Pennsylvania,.... 1,040 0 9 7 4 3 26 Virg'aandMary'd, 2,859 2 21 8 5 2 4 Carolina......... 1,051 1 18 8 10 0 00 New England,.... 4,633 0 3 279 6 3 00 1714. New York,...... 1,136 3 15 98 7 0 18 Pennsylvania,.... 923 2 1 24 12 0 7 Virg'aand Mary'd, 6,597 2 12 8 5 0 00 Carolina,........ 691 0 21 1 18 0 00 New England,.... 5,795 2 24 372 10 1 00 1715. New York,...... 1,379 3 00 110 10 0 00 Pennsylvania,... 987 3 4 8 5 0 00 Virg'aandMary'd, 8,946 3 15 16 7 0 00 [Carolina,........ 670 1 7 00 00 0 00 New England,.... 5,397 2 2 372 10 3 00 1716. New York,...... 1,094 0 14 147 00 0 00 Pennsylvania,.... 962 2 00 10 00 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 7,446 0 22 8 10 0 00 Carolina,........ 866 1 11 4 2 0 00 New England,..... 3,819 6 5 140 7 0 00 1717.. New York,...... 1,146 1 00 42 14 1 00 Pennsylvania,.... 1,149 0 26 8 16 2 00 tVirg'a and Mary'd, 8,728 1 27 3 3 0 00 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. COLONIES. IRON, WROUGHT. BARS. C. Qr. lb. T. C. Qr. lb. Carolina,........ 970 2 21 2 00 0 00 New England,.... 3,110 1 1 154 4 0 00 1718.t New York,..... 1,396 1 20 2 18 2 00 Pennsylvania,.... 887 0 2 3 10 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 6,734 2 3 26 10 3 00 Carolina,........ 1,342 21 3 10 0 00 New England,.... 7,393 3 00 337 12 2 23 1729.- New York,...... 1,903 2 23 58 01 0 25 Pennsylvania,".... 851 0 14 4 00 0 00 Virg'aand Mary'd, 4,866 0 23 1 1 0 00 Carolina,........ 1,4'79 3 23 5 10 0 00 New England,.... (,329 2 24 149 13 1 5 1730. New York,...... 2,775 0 00 91 10 2 13 Pennsylvania,.... 2,628 3 00 00 00 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 6,389 2 24 2 9 0 00 Carolina,...... 1,770 0 11 10 18 0 7 New England',... 9,727 1 7 243 8 2 7 1731. New York,...... 2,627 2 7 101 11 1 00 Pennsylvania, 2,946 0 9 5 00 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 9,681 311 3 18 0 00 Carolina,........ 2,167 3 7 9 00 0 00 Georgia,........ 291 0 00 00 00 0 00 1732. New England,.... 8,597 2 4 413 5 2 00 Pennsylvania, 2,207 2 26 2 14 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 7,445 3 27 4 14 0 00 PIG. BARS. C. Qr. lb. C. Qr. lb. Carolina,........ 2,692 3 11 25 00 0 00 New England,.... 7,104 3 17 378 4 0 00 1733. New York,...... 1,609 3 7 55 00 0 00 Pennsylvania,.... 2,419 2 0 2 00 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 8,815 1 10 12 00 0 00 Carolina,........2,880 2 19 25 00 0 00 Georgia,........ 3321 00 00 00 0 00 1734. New England,....,104 3 14 370 14 2 00 New York,...... 1,609 3 1 55 00 0 00 Pennsylvania,.... 2,419 2 8 2 00 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 8,815 1 10 12 00 0 00 6 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. COLONIES. PIG. BARS. C. Qr. lb. T. C. Qr. lb. Carolina,........ 3,353 1 23 5 19 0 00 Georgia,......... 1,700 0 00 4 00 0 00 1735. New England,.... 6,543 2 23 107 9 3 00 New York,...... 2,136 2 00 108 8 1 5 Virg'a and Mary'd, 9,709 1 24 2 13 0 00 A controversy sprung up in Great Britain about this time, on the policy of permitting American iron to be imported into that country free of duty. It was maintained by the British merchants that, inasmuch as the importation of foreign iron into England was of great amount, and came mostly from Russia and Sweden, the principal part of which had to be paid for in money, and since it had been ascertained that the American iron, from the colonies, was equal in quality to either, and could be paid for in British manufactures, besides giving employment to British shipping, it was the interest of the mother country to encourage the manufacture of iron in the American colonies. The English iron-masters, on the other hand, contended that to encourage the manufacture and importation of American iron free of duty into England, would tend to injure the English manufacturer, and reduce many thousand families to want. The arguments of the English merchants, however, at length prevailed, and a law was passed by Parliament in 1750 permitting both pig and bar iron to be imported into London, from the American colonies, free of duty; but, at the same time, it prohibited them from erecting any rolling or slitting-mill, or forge to work with a tilt hammer, and from manufacturing IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 steel for exportation, under a penalty of ~200. The duty on bar iron thus taken off was ~2 is. 6-0d. per ton, and on pig iron 3s. 9~-d. per ton. In the following year, the Governors of the several American colonies reported to Parliament that there were in operation in the colonies four mills or engines for slitting or rolling iron, eleven plating forges to work with tilt hammers, and five furnaces for making steel. PIG AND BAR IRON EXPORTED TO GREAT BRITAIN BY THE AMERICAN COLONIES FROM 1728 TO 1748. COLONIES. LONDON. OUTPORTS. T. C. Qr. T. C. Qr. 1728-9. Pennsylvania,.... 99 13 2 174 12 3 Virg'a and Mary'd, 344 9 0 508 6 3 1730... Pennsylvania,.... 105 16 0 83 00 0 Virg'a and Mary'd, - 79 17 0 746 17 0 1730-1.. Pennsylvania,.... 88 1 0 81 1 0 Virg'a and Mary'd, 1,367 15 0 713 6 0 1731-2.Pennsylvania, 52 11 0 54 00 0 Virg'a and Mary'd, 1,504 8 0 721. 00 0 1732-3. Pennsylvania, 43 3 0 52 00 0 Virg'a and Mary'd, 1,669 14 0 639 17 0 1733-4..Pennsylvania, 59 4 0 88 00 0 Virg'a and Mary'd, 1,397 17 0 644 4 0 1734-5.. Pennsylvania, 197 14 0 44 17 0 Do..... 00 00 0 19 17 bar iron. Virg'a and Mary'd, 1,353 3 0 1,059 00 pig. 1739....Pennsylvania,. 170 5 0 44 9 bar iron. Virg'a anti Mary'd, 2,242 2 0 00 00 1740....Pennsylvania,.... 159 00 0 00 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 2,020 2 0 5 tons bar iron. 1741... Pennsylvania,.... 153 00 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 3,264 1 0 5 do. 1742... Pennsylvania., 143 00 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 1,926 3 0 00 1743... Pennsylvania, 62 12 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 2,816 1 0 57 tons do. 1744....Pennsylvania, 87 15 0 85 do. Viro'a and Mary'd, 1,748 00 0 00 8 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. COLONIES. LONDON. OUTPORTS. T. 0. Qr. 1745.... Pennsylvania, 97 7 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 2,130 16 0 5 tons bar iron. 1746.... Pennsylvania,.... 103 1 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 1,729 00 0 195 do. 1747.... Pennsylvania, 24 14 0 00 do. Virg'a and Mary'd, 2,119 00 0 83 do. 1748... Pennsylvania,. 114 10 0 00 Virg'a and Mary'd, 2,017 00 0 00 PIG AND BAR IRON EXPORTED BY THE AMERICAN COLONIES FROM 1750 To 1756. COLONIES.,BAR. PIG. T. C. Qr. T. C. Qr. [ Carolina,........ 00 00 0 New England,.... 21 1 12 1750. New York,...... 75 12 1 Pennsylvania, 318 9 3 Virg'a and Mary'd, 2,508 16 1 Carolina,........ 17 4 0 New England,.... 9 14 0 1751.. New York,...... 33 0 3 Pennsylvania, 199 15 0 Virg'a and Mary'd, 2,950 5 3 f Virg'a and Mary'd, 20 0 0 Carolina,........ 00 0 0 1752. - New England,.... 41 5 0 New York,...... 64 16 2 156 8 2 Pennsylvania,,... 16 10 2 2,762 8 0 Carolina,........ 00 00 0 10 0 6 New England,... 2 8 0 40 10 0 1763. New York,...... 00 00 0 97 4 3 Pennsylvania,.... 107 13 2 242 2 15 Virg'a and Mary'd, 97 16 0 2,347 9 2 Carolina,....... 00 00 0 20 0 0 New England,.... 00 00 0 4 16 0 1754. New York,...... 6 10 0 115 16 2 Pennsylvania,.... 110 9 3 512 19 3 Virg'a and Mary'd, 153 15 1 2,591 4 3 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 COLONIES. BAR. PIG. T. C. Qr. T. C. Qr. Carolina,........ 00 00 0 14 0 3 New England,.... 00 00 0 00 00 O 1755. -New York,...... 11 12 0 457 8 0 Pennsylvania,.... 9 5 0 836 6 1 Virg'a and Mary'd, 299 1 3 2,132 15 1 In 1761 the Governor and Council of Maryland reported to the Commissioners of the Board of Trade and Plantations in England, that there were eighteen furnaces and ten forges in that State, which made 2,500 tons of pig and 600 tons of bar iron. It was, no doubt, the scarcity of wood, and high price of iron in Great Britain, which stimulated the colonies to manufacture iron; for, up to this period, England had made so little progress that her production of pig iron had only reached 17,000 tons. The seat of iron manufactures were then principally confined to Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland. In 1730 the Reading furnace was built, and the Warwick in 1736. The Cornwall furnace, in Lebanon county, Penn., so famous for having enriched all its late proprietors, was built in 1741. The price of pig iron at this establishment, in 1780, was three hundred pounds of Continental money; in 1789, ~6 10s., Pennsylvania currency; in 1796, ~10 10s. ($28 00); and in 1800, ~10 ($26 67-) per ton. The rates of wages were less then than at the present day, averaging about fifteen dollars per month. In 1751 a furnace was built on the Sterling Estate in Orange county, N.Y., which produced annually 1,500 tons of pig iron, which was worked up into bar iron. The great iron chain which crossed the Hudson River, 10 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. during the Revolution, each link of which weighed 140 pounds, was made at these works. The Mount Etna furnace, near iagerstown, was among the first in this country to cast cannon. An eighteen-pounder of its manufacture is still exhibited at Barracks Hill, near Fredericktown, as a revolutionary relic. In the spring of 1765, the Act of Parliament of 1750 was so far modified as to permit American iron to be imported into Ireland free of duty; and from this time forward the American colonies made rapid progress in the manufacture of iron and steel, which returned large profits to the manufacturer. PIG AND BAR IRON EXPORTED BY THE AMERICAN COLONIES TO GREAT BRITAIN FROM 1760 TO 1776. YEARS. BAR IRON. PIG IRON. Tons. Cwt. Qr. lb. Tons. Cwt. Qr. lb. 1761......... 39 1 0 0 2,766 2 3 12 1762....... 122 12 2 14 1,763 6 0 2 1763......... 310 9 3 2 2,566 8 0 25 1764......... 1,059 S 0 10 2,554 8 3 21 1765......... 1,078 16 0 16 3,264 8 1 22 1766......... 1,257 14 3 9 2,887 5 1 15 1767......... 1,325 19 0 18 3,323 2 1 19 1768......... 1,989 11 0 16 2,953 0 2 14 1769......... 1,79 13 0 23 3,401 12 2 9 1770......... 1,716 8 0 21 4,232 18 1 18 1771......... 2,222 8 1 24 5,303 6 3 13 1772......... 965 15 0 23 3,124 19 2 11 1773......... 837 3 3 16 2,931 13 0 23 1774......... 639 2 0 23 3,451 12 2 14 11i5......... 916 5 2 11 2,996 0 2 16 1776......... 28 0 1 8 316 1 3 8 In September, 1774, the colonies entered into an agreement not to export to Great Britain any mer IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 chandise or manufactures, nor to import from the mother country any British manufactures, until their grievances should be redressed. They also declared that they would " not import or purchase any slaves imported after the first of December, and also wholly to discontinue the slave-trade, and neither hire vessels nor sell commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it." On the 4th of July, 1776, the American colonies declared themselves independent, and Congress, while in session, passed a law exempting all persons then engaged in the manufacture of iron from performing military duty. The war with Great Britain gave a great impetus to all branches of iron manufacture while it continued. In several of the colonies large quantities of charcoal, pig, and bar iron of a superior quality were produced. The Salisbury and Livingston bar iron commanded high prices, and were much esteemed in Great Britain. The Andover Works in New Jersey manufactured, during the Revolution, both iron and steel for the army.* The iron works and founderies of New England, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, also supplied the army with cannon, shell, and shot. No statistics exist which show the exact production and consumption of iron in the colonies during the * Resolved, That a letter be written by the Board of War to the Governor and Council of the State of New Jersey, setting forth the peculiarity of the demand for their works, being the only proper means for procuring iron for steel, an article without which the service must irreparably suffer; and that the said Governor and Council be desired to take such means as they shall think most proper for putting the said works in blast, and obtaining a supply of iron without delay.-Journals of Congress. 12 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. War of the Revolution, and for some years afterwards. However, it may be safely set down at about thirty thousand tons per annum. In 1783, Mr. Cort obtained in England two patents, one for the puddling and the other for the rolling of iron, which gave a great impulse to its production. The object of these processes was to convert into malleable iron, cast or pig iron, by means of the flame of pit coal, in a common air furnace, and to form the result into bars by the use of rollers in the place of hammers. On the return of peace, in 1783, the trade and commerce of the United States revived. New markets were thrown open to American enterprise. The commercial relations between Great Britain and the United States were governed by separate and distinct regulations of the several States, on the one side, and general orders in council on the other. The first order in council issued after the Independence of the United States was declared, placed the exportation of bar and pig iron on the same footing of duties as the like merchandise exported from any of the British possessions. The old confederation having made no provision to protect home manufactures, Great Britain, true to her policy of monopolizing every market, in. the first two years after the peace, flooded the American market with every description of merchandise, which involved the United States in debt, and threatened for a time the peace and existence of the Union. The manufacture of iron fell off rapidly. Most of the iron works in New England and the middle States were closed by the sheriff, and the exports of bar and pig iron were reduced more than one-half. From IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 1789 to 1790 the United States exported but 200 tons of bar iron and 3,500 tons of pig iron, so completely had Great Britain taken possession of the market. From this time also may be dated the commencement of her system of protection to her own manufactures and prohibition to all others, by which the domestic competition of forty-one years enabled her to manufacture iron at prices defying all rivalry, and throw open her ports and proclaim free trade when she knew that no nation could compete with her. STATEMENT OF IRON IMPORTED FROM RUSSIA FROM 1783 TO 1804. YEAR. BARS. NAIL ROD IRON. Poods. Foods. 1783.......... 6,615.... 1784.......... 6,612.... 1785.......... 38,618.... 1786.......... 31,858 2,322 1787........ 10,833 1,260 1788.......... 17,054 846 1789........ 24,981 1,250 1790.......... 78,160 2,526 1791........ 48,136 2,621 1792......... 132,380 1,132 1793.. 177,826 1,071 1794.......... 250,635 694 1795.......... 206,039 504 1796.......... 296,691 6,405 1797.......... 112,200 506 1798.......... 142,654 1,250 1799.......... 239,885 126 1800.......... 112,568 314 1801.......... 269,709 426 1802.......... 309,425 21 1803.......... 413,822. 1804.......... 278,264 14 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. In 1787, a general convention was held in Philadelphia to frame a new Constitution which went into operation on the 4th of March, 1789. One of the objects which claimed the attention of Congress under the new Constitution, was the protection and encouragement of iron manufactures, which had been much depressed by the free-trade policy adopted by the Federal Government. In 1790, Congress directed the Secretary of the Treasury (Hamilton) to-make a report on the subject of protecting home manufactures. In this report he particularly recommended the manufacture of iron to the special protection of Congress. " The manufacture of this article," he says, " is entitled to a preeminent rank. None is more essential nor extensive in its use." He proposed, that, in order to encourage the production and manufacture of iron, a further duty be laid upon all foreign iron imported into the United States, as well as upon fire-arms, and military weapons. This recommendation appeared to be the more necessary at that time, because Great Britain had, but a few years before, in order, if possible, to prevent foreign competition, passed an act prohibiting the carrying out of the kingdom all the various tools and instruments, models and plans, necessary to be used in the manufactures of iron or military weapons under a heavy fine and imprisonment. The protection thus proposed by Congress created no little solicitude on the part of Great Britain, and she agreed, without further hesitation, to negotiate a commercial treaty with the United States, which was signed on the 19th November, 1794. By this treaty, IRON TRADE OP THE UNITED STATES. 15 no higher duties were to be paid by either than were paid by all other nations. The breaking out of the Indian wars soon after, and the renewal of the militia system of the United States, greatly revived the manufacture of fire-arms, notwithstanding the restrictive steps which had been taken by Great Britain to prevent the introduction of suitable machinery to carry on this branch of manufactures in this country. In 1792, Congress imposed a duty of $20 per ton on steel, and $36 per ton on iron cables imported from Great Britain. The duties laid by Congress for the purpose of revenue, to take effect after the first of July, 1794, if imported inl American vessels, were fixed at 15 per cent. on steel and rolled iron; 10 per cent. on hardware, and 15 per cent., ad valorem, on all other manufactures of iron, steel, or brass, and 10 per cent. additional if imported in foreign vessels. The prices of bar iron, in this country, from 1793 to 1807, were as follows: From 1793 to 1197....... $90 00 to $95 00 per ton. " 1800 to1801....... 100 00 to 105 00 " " 1803 to 1807....... 110 00 to 115 00 The first considerable rise in foreign iron took place in 1796, when it suddenly advanced 30 per cent.,* * This was the year before the bank restriction, and the rise occurred in consequence of the importation having fallen off, instead of keeping pace with the increasing demand for consumption in this country, and in the rest of Europe as well as in the United States. Between 1796 and the close of 1800, there was no further advance; but the embargo in Russia, in the latter year, had the effect of raising the price. The advance altogether, including the new duty of ~1 per ton, was nearly ~10 per ton, and this operated as a sufficient premium for applying increased capital to the production of iron, and bringing into operation 16. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. which had the effect to stimulate- the manufacture of it in the United States. In Great Britain it operated as a premium in the employment of additional capital in its manufacture, which, together with improved machinery and new methods of making it, greatly increased the production of that country and furnished a large surplus for exportation. The imports of iron from Sweden and Norway, from 1795 to 1801, averaged about $80,000 per annum. In 1802, 1803, and 1804, the United States imported annually from Great Britain iron manufactures valued at upwards of one million and a half of dollars, and for the next three years the imports greatly exceeded all former years. The manufacture of iron in the United States during this period could scarcely be maintained, and must have perished if the various non-importation, non-intercourse acts, the embargo, and war of 1812, had not come to its relief. The furnaces, up to this time, were blown by wooden and leather bellows, and the cold blast, and one tuyere, and their working profitably was greatly influenced by the skill and influence of the founder. With the greatest skill and every precaution, the yield still depended much upon the blast, and as this was invariably produced by water-power, which was often very irregular and weak, and in dry seasons incapable of furnishing the necessary power, it will account for the small average annual product of the furnaces of that day. The ores used were mainly the all the powers of machinery. Thenceforward the production of iron proceeded so rapidly, that with the aid of further duties, amounting almost to a prohibition of importation, it not only kept pace with the increasing demand, but nearly superseded the use of foreign iron in England, and furnished a surplus for exportation.-TooKE. i'kON TRADE O) TiE UNITED STATES. 17 hematites and magnetic ores, and the weekly average of the furnaces was from twenty to twenty-five tons per week. irIATERMALS. QUANTTIXES. COST. Charcoal,. 240 lbs. at 3 cents,.. $7 20 Ore, 3 tons at $2 00,. 6 00 Limestone,.. i 30 Labors,....... 4 00 flcidental —wear and tear, etc,,.. 2 50 Capital, estimated tpon an investment of $50,00t for real -estate business, etc., and on a production of 800 tons to the furnace, per annum,. 3 75 23 75 Profit for deterioration of estate, etc.,. 5 00 Total cost,. $2 8 5 The pig metal was sold to forges in the neighborhood, for but few were wealthy enough to carry it throughout the entire process. The cost of transportation varied from $3 to $5 per ton. It was then converted into bar iron, without refining. The pig metal, by the time it reached the forge, cost the iron master $33 75 per ton; and to convert it into bar iron, $83 25 per toll. MATER[ALS. QUANTITIES. C0OST.. Pig metal,. 30 cwt. at $34 50,.. $51 75 Charcoal,.. 3'5 lbs. at 3 cents,.. 11 25 Labor,.. 13 -25 Incidental expenses,.. 2 5:0 Interest on capital-say $15,000, and producing 200 tons of bar,. 4 50 Total cost,.. $83 25 The great expense of making iron at that time arose not only from the expense of cutting, charring, 2 18 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. and hauling wood, and transporting the same to the furnace, but afterwards the crude iron to the forge, and from the forge to the rolling-mill, for the purpose of manufacturing into merchant bar, and then again to the slitting and nailing factory, and all these establishments were sometimes many miles from each other; and after this hauling and transportation, carried at an enormous cost, in many cases, to the Atlantic market, where it would probably command from $110 to $120 per ton, and blooms from $75 to $80 per ton. In 1810, the Secretary of the Treasury presented a report to Congress on the manufacture of iron, which he represented as being now firmly established, the value of whichl was estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. By this report, founded on official documents, there were in the United States 153 furnaces, which made 53,908 tons of pig iron, and 330 forges, which made 24,541 tons of bar iron; 316 trip hammers, and 34 rolling and slitting mills, which required 6,500 tons of iron; and 410 naileries, which made 15,727,914 lbs. At this period, iron was exclusively made with charcoal-from the smelting of the ore in the blast furnace to the finished bar in the forge fire. From 1810 to 1812, the capital and enterprise of the country was too lucratively employed in common to be much attracted to the iron trade, until the war with Great Britain was declared, when the necessity of the country for this indispensable article advanced the price enormously, and encouraged the erection of extensive works which enriched all those who engaged in its manufacture. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 19 STATEMENT SHOWING THE POPULATION AND IRON MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES FOR THE YEAR 1810. Manufactures of Manufactures of States. Population. Pig Iron and Iron. Castings. Columbia, District of 24,023.... Connecticut........ 264,042 $46,180 $351,198 Delaware.......... 72,674 195,420 Georgia.......... 252,433..... 30,155 Kentucky......... 406,511 1,000 44,260 Louisiana......... 76,556..... 244,000 Maine, District of.. 228,705..... 21,929 Maryland......... 380,546 249,653 491,058 Massachusetts 472,040 154,700 2,078,542 New Hampshire.... 214,360..... 170,350 New Jersey....... 245,555 861,932 526,511 New York........ 959,049 362,020 497,875 North Carolina 555,500 135,160 554,950 Ohio............. 230,760 109,090 74,123 Pennsylvania...... 810,091 1,301,343 4,492,478 Rhode Island...... 77,031 3,970 56,770 South Carolina..... 415,115 90,227 Tennessee......... 261,727 98,097 263,327 Vermont........ 217,713 122,000 222,059 Virginia........ 974,622 171,312 538,854. Indiana...... 24,520..... 4,000 Michigan....... 4,762 Mississippi.... 40,352 E- l Missouri.. 20,845......... Total........... 7,239,814 3,616,457 10,998,086 In 1812, Congress laid an embargo on the commerce of the United States, which was followed by a declaration of war against Great Britain. In order to meet the expenses of war, Congress, on the 30th June, increased the rate of duties one hundred per cent. on all imports. Iron manufactures rapidly in — creased under this tariff, until the return of peace,. 20 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, when the Government once more adopted the freetrade policy, which ruined most of the iron-masters, and prostrated for some.years this important branch of industry. The production of pig iron fell off from 54,000 tons to about 20,000 tons annually for several years. In 1816, Congress passed a new tariff. The duty on bar iron, rolled, was fixed at $30 per ton; not rolled, $9 per ton; and steel, $20 per ton. It did not, however, prevent Great Britain from flooding the States with her manufactures. The total value of all imports, from Oct. 31, 1815, to Sept. 30, 1816, amounted to the enormous sum of $155,302,706, and for the three fiscal years ending Sept. 30, 1815, 1816, and 1817, to $359,394,274. ENGLISH IRON, UNWROUGHT STEEL, HARDWARE, AND CUTLERY, IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM 1815 TO 1839. Year. Tons. Cwt. Year. Tons, Cwt. 1815........ 21,501 15 1828........ 22,865 10 1816........ 21,634 4 1829........ 17,38] 10 1817........ 10,725 3 1830... 21,330 5 1818........ 13,737 10 1831........ 41,452 6 1819........ 8,251 3 1832........ 45,436 15 1820........ 8,199 0 1833........ 62,253 4 1821........ 9,562 3 1834........ 4T9,66 1 1822........ 15,835 9 1835....... 63.012 10 1823........ 13,841 11 1836........ 91,38 14 1824........ 11,781 14 183........ 54,120 2 1825........ 13,03T 4 1838........ 8,039 17 1826........ 12,491 2 i 1839....... 85,11 11 1827........ 21,855 11 American statesmen now fully realized the folly and the injurious effects of the free-trade system upon the home industry of the country, and in 1818 Congress IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 21 raised the duty on foreign iron, which revived the manufacture of it in this country for a few years. The duty on hammered iron was fixed at $15 per ton, pig iron at $10, and rolled iron at $30 per ton. In consequence of the heavy cost of transportation of iron to Pittsburg, in the years 1818 and 1819, English bar iron sold in that city from $190 to $200 per ton; boiler iron, $350 per ton; sheet iron, $360 per ton; and hoop iron at $250 per ton. At Cincinnati, the price of bar iron from 1814 to 1818 averaged $200 per ton, and castings, $120 per ton; while hammered iron sold in the Atlantic ports of the United States at the following prices: 1814................... From $125 to $148 per ton. 1815.................. " 130 to 150 " 1816.................. " 110 to 120 " 1817 to 1819............ " 90 to 100 " 1821 to 1822............ " 85 to 95 " 1823 to 1824............ " 90 to 95 " Although no efforts had been made to manufacture iron until after the tariff of 1818 was passed, yet some improvements had been made in its manufacture by reserving the charcoal for the blast furnace, and rolling the iron from the bloom, with bituminous coal, into boiler, plate, sheet iron, hoops, and all the variety of the higher descriptions of iron. The delicate process of puddling was not yet introduced, although it had been thoroughly and profitably carried out in Great Britain, some years before, because the internal improvements, canals and railways, had not yet reached those rich deposits of mineral wealth which, like those of England, lay far in the 22 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. interior; but if this process had been thoroughly understood, iron could not have been manufactured at lower rates, upon the Atlantic seaboard, than that manufactured with charcoal. It was therefore necessary, in order to adopt some of the English improvements, that canals and railways should be constructed, so as to extend to the manufacturer cheap transportation to a market. The Lehigh navigation penetrated the coal region of Mauch Chunk, in 1820, and the Schuylkill canal in 1825, which enabled the manufacturer to purchase coal, in the latter year, for half the price that foreign coal sold at in the Atlantic ports. It was not until after these improvements had been made, that the process of puddling was introduced into Pennsylvania, which gave so great an impetus to her iron trade; and Pittsburg, located in the richest of the bituminous coal fields of this country, soon rendered the western States independent of foreign markets, and became, from the skill of her manufacturers, the Birmingham of the United States. In a few years, they reduced the price of iron onehalf to the consumer of that region, notwithstanding they had to transport their blooms for the manufacture of it across the lofty Alleghanies. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 23 STATEMENT SHOWING THE POPULATION AND IRON MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES FOR THE YEAR 1820. Manufactures of Manufactures of States. Population. Pig Iron and Wrought Iron. Castings. Alabama.......... 127,901..... $15,620 Columbia, District of. 33,039..... 5,000 Connecticut......... 275,202..... 296,260 Delaware........... 72,749 $30,000 30,000 Georgia............ 340,987..... 69,036 Indiana............ 147,178.... 3,000 Kentucky..... 564,317 130,000 138,800 Louisiana.. 153,407..... 10,000 Maine............. 298,335... 65,200 Maryland.......... 407,350 93,000 449,080 Massachusetts....... 523,287 77,500 423,610 Mississippi.......... 75,448.... Missouri.......... 66,586..... 18.421 New Hampshire..... 244,161 40,500 18,340 New Jersey......... 277,575 76,300 188,997 New York......... 1,372,812 342,400 472,158 North Carolina...... 638,829 53,510 Ohio............... 581,434 413,350 491,707 Pennsylvania........ 1,049,458 563,810 1,156,266 Rhode Island...... 83,059..... 19,032 South Carolina...... 502,741..... 42,000 Tennessee.......... 422,813 184,916 246,755 Vermont........... 235,764 85,400 33,340 Virginia..... 1,065,379 193,100 393,417 Arkansas Territory... 14,273..... 120 Illinois Territory.... 55,211 Michigan Territory... 8,896..... 1,000 Total............ 9,638,131 2,230,275 4,640,669 In 1823, President Monroe recommended to Congress a revision of the existing tariff. It was not, however, until 1824, when the results of the extravagant legislation of Great Britain upon the subject of her Corn Laws had been felt in this country, in its full extent, that the agricultural inter 24 IRON MtADE OF THE UNITED STATES. ests of the middle States, and those of the eastern and western States, were compelled to unite with the manufacturing interests in petitioning Congress to impose a higher rate of duties on foreign manufactures. The tariff on foreign iron was again modified, but it proved a very imperfect measure of protection against the combination of cheap capital and labor of England.* The imports of foreign iron for the ten years previous to 1826 averaged about ten per cent. of the entire exports of Great Britain. Under the treaty negotiated with Sweden, July 4, * The disposition of England to bring against the rising industry of foreign countries the full power of capital and competition, is openly avowed. In a recent report made to the British Parliament by the Commissioner appointed under the provisions of the Act 5 and 6 Victoria, c. 99, to inquire into the operation of that Act, and into the state of the population in the mining districts, 1854, the following passage is found: "I believe that the laboring classes generally, in the manufacturing districts of this country, and especially in the iron and coal districts, are very little aware of the extent to which they are often indebted for their being employed at all, to the immense losses which their employers voluntarily incur in bad times, in order to destroy foreign competition and to gain and keep possession of foreign markets. Authentic instances are well known of employers having at such times carried on their works at a loss amounting in the aggregate to three or four hundred thousand pounds, in the course of a few years. If the efforts of those who encourage the combinations to restrict the amount of labor, and to produce strikes, were to be successful for any length of time, the great accumulations of capital could no longer be made which enable a few of the most wealthy capitalists to overwhelm all foreign competition in times of great depression, and thus to clear the way for the whole trade to step in when prices revive, and to carry on a great business before foreign capital can again accumulate to such an extent as to be able to establish a competition in prices with any chance of success. "The large capitals of the country are the great instruments of warfare (if the expression may be allowed) against the competing capitals of foreign countries, and are the most essential instruments now remaining by which our manufacturing supremacy can be maintained; the other elements-cheap labor, abundance of raw materials, means of communication, and skilled labor-being rapidly in process of being equalized." IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 25 1827, the trade with that country was based upon the liberal principles of entire reciprocity. STATEMENT OF BAR IRON IMPORTED FROM SWEDEN FROM 1830 TO 1838. BAR IRON. BAR IRON. Years. Tons. Years. Tons. 1830..... 15,532 1834.... 19,638 1831..... 23,133 1835.... 28,728 1832. 20,122 1836... 27,342 1833..... 19,100 1838.... 25,669 BAR IRON (INCLUDING CAST AND OTHER STEEL) IMPORTED FROM SWEDEN AND NORWAY FROM 1845 TO 1855. Years. Cwt. ~ Values. 1845......... 272,496 $626,166 1846........ 256,663 717,116 1847........ 288,464 609,729 1848........ 290,082 740,078 1849........ 295,359 729,206 1850.......397,231 1,025,587 1851......... 409,003 942,961 1852........ 289,391 773,674 1853........ 181,049 445,808 1854.......... 203,137 510,221 1855........ 296,500 844,233 In 1828, Mr. Neilson, of Glasgow, took out a patent for the application of hot-blast in the manufacture of iron, which was economical in its result, and was generally adopted in the United States, and greatly increased the production of iron. To this great discovery, the development of the railway system of this country and Europe is, perhaps, more indebted than any other. In 1828, Congress passed a new tariff, and increased 26 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. the rate of duties on iron; but it still proved insufficient to prevent foreign competition. Pig iron,... $12 50 per tonl. Hammered iron,... 22 40 " Rolled iron,.... 37 50 " The receipts of the Treasury, under this tariff, gradually improved, and soon enabled the Government to pay off her war debt. In some parts of the Union, the tariff of 1828 was looked upon as an unequal and oppressive measure, and South Carolina in particular took steps, on the ground that it was unconstitutional to impose taxes to protect particular interests, to resist its execution. In consequence of that opposition, it was slightly modified in 1832; but she did not cease to complain until Congress was compelled, in 1833, to reduce the rates still further, by providing for a gradual reduction on imports. By this act, everything was sacrificed to the speculative theories of the day, and at a time when the extension of this industry, and the improvement, economy and skill introduced into it, had reduced the price of iron to a lower point than it had ever reached before in this country. The duty on English bar iron was gradually reduced from $30 per ton, in 1832, to $7 50 in July and August, 1842; and pig metal from $9 50 per ton, in 1834, to $4 50 per ton in 1842. Railway iron was admitted free of duty. The effect of this great reduction of duties on the importation of iron may be seen in the following tables: STATEMENT OF IRON AND STEEL IMPORTED INTO THIE UNITED STATES, FROM 1828-29 TO 1831-32. 1828-29. 1829-30. 1830-31. 1831-32. ARTICLES. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. | Bar and bolt iron, rolled,.... 3,320 $119,326 6,449 $226,336 17,245 $544,664 20,387 $701,549 T Bar and bolt iron hammered, o or otherwise manufactured, 29,489 1,884,069 30,693 1,730,375 23,308 1,260,166 38,150 1,929,493 e Pig iron,................. 1,138 28,811 1,129 25,664 6,448 160,681 10,151 222,303 Hoop and sheet iron,....... 1,089 89,057 1,038 59,822 2,532 151,900 2,853 182,559 Brazier's rods, 3-16 a 8-16, inclusive,............... 75 6,164 97 5,945 217 13,660 233 13,727 Nail and spike rods, slit, 3 234 14 784 101 4,585 56 2,063 Band, scroll, or casement rods, slit or hammered,........ - 1 81 10 72 3 176 Old or scrap iron,.......... Total iron,............ 35,114 2,127,661 39,421 2,049,007 49,861 2,135,728 71,833 3,051,870 M Steel,................. 1,200 289,931 1,223 291,957 1,710 399,635 2,146 645,510 Total iron and steel,.... 36,314 $2,417,592 40,644 $2,340,964 51,571 $2,535,363 73,979 $3,697,380.4. STATEMENT OF IRON AND STEEL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES, FROM 1832-33 TO 1835-36. 1832-33. 1833-34. 1834-35. 1835-36. ARTICLES. ___ __ Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Bar and bolt iron, rolled,...28,028 $1,002,750 28,896 $1,187,236 28,410 $1,050,152 46,675 $2,131,828 t Bar and bolt iron, hammered, or otherwise manufactured, 36,124 1,837,473 31, 84 1,742,883 31,524 1,641,359 32,987 1,891,214 o Pig iron.................. 9,330 217,668 11,113 270,325 12,295 289,779 8,541 272,978 Hoop and sheet iron,....... 3,350 245,848 2,214 190,237 2,009 133,639 3,643 325,676 X Brazier's rods, 3-16 a 8-16, M inclusive,............... 221 12,834 132 10,017 113 17,428 240 21,764 C Nail and spike rods, slit,.... 95 6,080 77 1 244 10 1,301 Band, scroll, or casement rods, t slit or hammered,........ 12 2,063 3 230 - 5 5 z 5 Old or scrap iron,......... 998 24,035 1,617 33,243 640 10,609 1,846 28,224 w Total iron,............ 78,158 3,348,751 15,759 3,434,248 74,992 3,133,215 93,342 4,672,990 t Steel,................523116 2,431 554,150 2,605 576,888 2,878 686,141 m Total iron and steel,.... 80,289 $3,871,867 78,190 $3,988,398 77,597 $3,710,103 96,220 $5,359,131 _______________ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 7797~;,70,0 _-_,2-__ __ 5, 3 5 9, 131 STATEMENT OF IRON AND STEEL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATE S? FROM 1836-37 TO 1839-40. 18036-37. 1837-38. 1838-39. 1839-40. z ARTICLES. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Bar and bolt iron, rolled,.... 47,839 $2,573,367 36,174 $1,825,121 60,285 $3,181,180 32,825 $1,707,650 m Bar and bolt iron, hammered, 0 or otherwise manufactured, 31,325 2,017,346 21,319 1,166, 196 35,557 2,054,094 28,819 1,689,831' Pig' iron,........... 14,128 422,929 12,192 319,099 12,507 285,300 5,516 114,562 c Hoop and sheet iron,. 5,041 504,473 2,536 218,192 3,309 354,933 2,469 235,809 t Brazier's rods, 3-16 a 8-16, inclusive,..........201. 2 21,792 142 10,648 381 27,942 193 47,782 z Nail and spike rods, slit,-, 32 14 94 36 2,291 24 Band, scroll, or easement rods, tt slit or hammered........ 4 36 55 2,712 15 886 15 963 Old or serap iron,. 766 18,391 436 7,567 589 10,161 707 15,749 Total iron............ 99,300 5,558,366 72,855 3,549,629 112,679 5,916,787 70,544 3,812,370 Steel,................ 3,566 804,817 1,907 487,334 2,958 771,809 2,225 528,716 Z Total iron and steel. 102,866 $6,363,183 74,762 $4,036,963 115)637 j$6,688,596 72,Y769 $4,341,086 to STATEMENT OF IRON AND STEEL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES, FROM 1840-41 TO 1843-44. 1840-41. 1841-42. 1842-43. 1843-44.* 0 ARTICLES. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. Tons. Export value. ~d Bar and bolt iron, rolled,.... 63,055 $2,1J2,27(8 61,600 $2,053,453 20,230 $637,617 46,000 $1,825,121 i Bar and bolt iron, hammered, or otherwise manufactured, 29,605 1,614,420 19,512 1,041,410 8,440 450,311 17,500 855,220 i Pig iron....... 12,26I 223,288 18,694 295,284 6,472 76,858 26,050 349,600 Hoop and sheet iron,....... 3,646 376,015 3,560 296,679 1,522 154,638 3,600 280,360 Brazier's rods, 3-16 a 8-16, inclusive,............... 164 12,843 530 37y761 212 15,369 470 10,648 Nail and spike rods, slit, 131 613 18 860 10 730 2a 1,890 Band, scroll, or easement rods, slit or hammered,........ 15 1,161 22 1,023 10 1,612 60 6,500 t Old or scrap iron........... 783 10,537 685 8,207 169 4,424 5, lO 152,160 Total iron,............ 109,548 4,411,215 104,621 3,Th4,683 37;,071 1,341,565 99,477 3,481,499 H Steel,................ 2,563 609,201 2,7(1 597,311 1,334 324,086 2,800 487,334 P2 Total iron and steel,.... 112,111 $5,020,416 107,392 $4,332,000 38,405 $1,665,651 102,277 $3,968,833 * The last quarter of 1844 is only estimated in part. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 And as this was only the beginning of the experimental system, which was carried out with such disastrous results to the industry of the country, and to the working classes of society, it will be well to examine how far it realized, for the consumers, low prices. ~ s.d. $ s. d. In 1832 bar iron sold in England for 5 0 0, Railway iron, 6 15 0 1833 " " " 6 0 0 " " 7 10 0 1834 " " " 6 10 0 " " 8 00 0 1835 " " " 515 0'; " 8 5 0 1836 " " " 10 00 0 " " 11 15 0 183 " " " 8 15 0 " " 10 00 0 1838 " " " 8 15 0 " " 10 10 0 1839 " " " 9 00 0 " " 10 10 0 1840 " " " 8 00 0 " " 9 12 6 1841 " " " 6 10 0 " " 8 00 0 Thus teaching the country again, that the only effect of low duties was to prostrate the iron trade, enrich the foreign manufacturer and laborer, and bring their establishments into the highest perfection and improvement, without reducing the cost to the consumer in the United States. 32 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. STATEMENT SHOWING THE POPULATION AND IRON MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES FOR THE YEAR 1830. Manufactures of Manufactures of STATES. Census for 1880. Pig Iron and Wrought Iron, Castings, Alabama.......... 309,527 Columbia, District of 39,834 - Connecticut...... 297,675 $136,762 $500,000 Delaware......... 76,748 - 160,000 Georgia.......... 516,823 - Illinois.......... 157,445 Indiana........... 343,031 Kentucky........ 687,917 Louisiana......... 215,139 Maine........... 399,455 54,500 608,500 Maryland......... 447,040 - Massachusetts..... 610,408 1,437,147 8,360,102 Mississippi..... 136,621 - Missouri.... 140,455 - New Hampshire... 269,328 52,891 364,284 New Jersey....... 320,823 412,941 642,238 New York....... 1,918,608 751,807 1,989,790 North Carolina... 737,987 - Ohio.9.... 937,903 Pennsvylvania...... 1,348,233 1,643,702 3,762,847 Rhode Island...... 97,199 139,973 200,000 South Carolina..... 581,185 - Tennessee......... 681,904 Vermont.......... 280,652 127,680 149,490 Virginia... 1,211,405 - Arkansas..... 30,388.Florida. 34,730.Michigan..... 31,639 - E Naval service.. 5,318 - Total...... 12,866,020 4,757,403 16,737,251 A committee appointed by a convention of manufacturers of iron in Philadelphia, in 1831, reported the amount of iron made in the United States to be as follows: IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 1828. 1830. Pig iron,.. 108,564 tons. 13M,015 tons. Castings from the ore at blast furnaces,.... 14,840 " 18,273 " Bloomed bar iron made from the ore, equal in pig iron, at 28 cwt. pig iron to a ton of bar iron, at 7,477 " 8,194 " Total made, reckoned in pigs and castings,..... 130,881 tons. 163,542 tons. The pig iron was all converted into castings, bar iron, nails, and other wrought iron. REPORT ON IRON OF THE CONVENTION OF THE FRIENDS OF DOMESTIC INDUSTRY, HELD IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, NOVEMBER, 1831. "The Committee on Iron respectfully report: That, in discharge of the duties assigned them, they have availed themselves of the information obtained by the Convention of manufacturers of iron, recently assembled in Philadelphia (of which several of your Committee were members), which information was originally collected for the purpose of answering the call made upon the Secretary of the Treasury at the close of the last session of Congress; and is, they have every reason to believe, as precise and accurate in all its parts, as any body of facts, of equal magnitude and importance, which, under similar circumstances, has ever been submitted to the public. From ab — stracts of statements made to that meeting, it appears that at 202 furnaces, known to have been in operation, there were made, in the year 1830, 155,348 tons of iron. 3 34 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. " This iron, further investigation enables your Committee to say, is converted into 90,768 tons, of bar iron, and 18,273 tons of castings; which, with the bar iron made at the bloomeries, amounting in that year to 5,858 tons, and making a total of bar iron of 96,621 tons, will, if estimated at the average wholesale prices of the principal markets of the country, give an aggregate value for the production of that year of 11,444,410 dollars. " The same statements exhibit for the three years ending with 1830 (when the bar iron made at the bloomeries is reduced into pig iron and added to that made at the furnaces) the following results: Years. Iron. Value. For 1828,.. 130,881 tons, 10,861,440 dollars.'" 1829,... 142,870 " 11,528,134 "' 1830,... 163,542 " 11,444,410 " Increase in quantity very nearly 25 per cent. Increase in market value not quite 51 per cent. " It will be perceived by the last statement, that the increase in value does not keep pace with that of quantity; and your Committee would here, for a moment, call the attention of the Convention to this fact, affording a practical refutation of the doctrine, that an increased impost necessarily enhances the price to the consumer. " In this instance, the average price of bar iron in 1828 was 118k dollars. In that year, an addition to the duty on hammered iron was made of $4 40 per ton, and on rolled of $7 00. In the following year, the price fell to 114] dollars, and in 1830 to 961 dollars; showing a decline in two years of 218 dollars IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 per ton, in the face of the increased duty above mentioned: a decline effected exclusively by domestic competition, inasmuch as no corresponding diminution of price took place abroad, and the fall here was greatest in those markets which are inaccessible to foreign iron. " In making these statements, your Committee have been careful to found them upon data which they believe will bear the test of the most rigid scrutiny. They have been particularly cautious to guard against exaggeration. They believe the cause they desire to sustain needs no aid beyond the simple truth. "In further illustration of the facts above stated, and of other beneficial consequences flowing from the system of protection, they beg leave now to refer to the accompanying statements marked A and B.* By * STATEMENT A.-Prices of Iron in England, taken from the Invoices of the Importers in New York. FLAT. ROUNDS. SQUARE. YEARS. Common Common 5 1 1 size. size.' I 4i Common. 2 ~.d. ~ s.d. ~ s.d..~ 8.d.~ 6 8. ~. ~ 8.d ~ 8.d. ~8.d. 1806 20 60 22 60 23 60 27 0 0 19 60 1808 14 5 0 15 5 0 1809 14 0 0 15 0 0 16 00 14 0 0 17 00 1810 13 0 0 14 0 0 17 0 0 13 00 16 0 0 1815 11 0 0 11 0 0 11 0 0 16 0 0 11 0 0 18 0 0 1816 10 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 0 12 0 0 1819 12 60 12 6,0 12 60. 12 60 1820 9 16 9 10 0 0 10 6'0 11 6 0 12 5 11 6 0 1821 8 15 6 8 15 6 8 15 6 9 5 6 1 1 13 8 15 6 9 156 1822 8 00 8 0'0.8.00 10 3 0 8 0 0 1823 8 4 0 8 46 846 9 4 6 8 4 0 9 4 011 4 0 1824 9 20 9 20 9 20 11 6 9 20 1825 13 15 0 1315 0 14 6 0 14 6 0 15 6 0 1826 10 60 10 60 11 60 12 30 14 3 10 6 0 1 1827 913 0 9 13 0 10 0 0 11 7 13 7 9 13 0 10 7 0 11 7 0 Feb., 1828 8 9 0 8 9 0 8 9 0 13 0 8 9 0 9 100 11 0 0 July,1828 7 90 7 90 7 90 7 90 1050 1829 6 00 6 00 6 00 6 00 1830 6 00 6 00 6 00 7 00 9 0 11 0 6 00 1831 { 1o60 { Same { Same { 10 { 9 0 11 0 { to X6 to T t'o 6. The above prices are poundgshillings, and pence, sterling, per ton. In 1806, the difference between the common sizes and half-inch, was nearly 36 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. the one it will be seen that while iron in some foreign markets advanced from 40 to 50 per cent. from 1824 to 1825, and from 1822 to 1825 experienced fluctuations amounting to nearly 75 per cent. on the lowest ~7 sterling per ton. It required twenty-five years to bring it down to the present difference of about one pound. Statement of Prices of Iron in Sweden, from 1815 to 1831. March,.....1815... ~ sterling 12 0 0 September, 1824... ~ sterling 10 7 6 July,...1816......... 13 10 0 December) 1824........... 11 5 0 October,..1816............12 10 0 April,.... 1825............14 3 0 March,.....1817............13 10 0 September, 1825...........14 19 0 June,.....1817............14 0 0 June,.....1826..........12 0 0 February,..1819............16 10 0 July,.....1827............12 9 0 December, 1819..........13 3 0 October,..1827.13 5 0 January,..1820............14 10 0 December, 1827.........13 5 0 June,.....1821............13 5 0 September, 1828............13 15 0 September, 1821........... 11 14 0 May,.. 1829............13 15 0 November, 1822............11 10 0 June,...1829............13 9 0 April,..1823............12 4 0 September, 1829............12 19 0 August,...1823............11 10 0 December, 1829............12 0 0 December, 1823............11 0 0 April,.....1830...........11 0 0 March,... 1824..........11 5 0 May......1831...........10 10 0 Auust,...1824...........10 11 0 T7iolesale Prices of Hammered Bar Iron in the Seaports of the United States. 1793...... 90 to 95 dollars per ton. 1813......115 to 125 dollars per ton. 1794. ". " "' " i 1814......125 to 145 " " 1195."..... c " "c " 1815....130 to 150 " " 1796......." ". " 1816......110 to 120 " " 1797..... 100 to 105 it 1817...... 90 to 100 " " 1798..... 1 " " "4 i 1818......" " " " 1799. 95 to 100 " i 1819......" " " " 1800...... "" 4 ( 1820...... " " " "11 0 1801......110 to 120 " " 1821...... 85 to 95 "." 1802.... 105 to 110 0" " 1822...... " " " " 1803..... " " " 1823......90 " " 1804...... i i 1824...... " " 1805...... " 1825......105 " " 1806. " "... " c 1826 " "...... 1807......110 to 115 " " 1827......100 " " 1808...... t " i" 1828......105 " " 1809......1 c " " 1829......100 c" " 1810......115 to 120,," " 1830...... 90 " " 1811......110 to115 " " 1831......5 to 85 " 1812...... " " c STATEMENT B.-Showing the effects of a tariff of protection on the article of iron at Pittsburgh and Cincinnati: In the years 1818,'19, and'20, bar iron in Pittqburgh sold at from 190 to 200 dollars per ton. Now the price is 100 dollars per ton. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 37 cost, our own varied but about 17 per cent., including an additional duty of about 5 per cent.; and actually receded at a subsequent period, although sustained by a second addition to the duty, to prices below what In the same year, boiler iron was 350 dollars per ton. Now at 140 dollars per ton. Sheet iron was but little made in those years, and sold for 18 dollars per cwt. Now made in abundance, and sold at 81 dollars per cwt. Hoop iron, under same circumstances, was then 250 dollars, and is now $120. Axes were then 24 dollars per dozen, and are now 12 dollars. Scythes are now 50 per cent. lower than they were then-as are spades and shovels. Iron hoes were in those years 9 dollars per dozen. Now a very superior article of steel hoes at 4 to 41 dollars. Socket shovels are made at 41 dollars by the same individual who, a few years ago, sold them at 12 dollars per dozen. Slater's patent stoves, imported from England, sold in Pittsburgh at 350 to 400 dollars. A much superior article is now made there and sold for 125 to 150 dollars. English vices then sold for 20 to 22- cents per lb.; now a superior article is sold at 10 to 101. Brazier's rod in 1824 were imported, and cost 14 cents per lb., or $313 60 per ton. Now supplied to any amount of i to i diameter, at $130 per ton. Steam engines have fallen in price, since 1823, one-half, and they have onehalf more work on them. The engine at the Union Rolling Mill (Pittsburgh), in 1819, cost $11,000-a much superior one of 130 horse power, for Sligo Mill, cost, in 1826, $3,000. In 1830, there were made in Pittsburgh one hundred steam engines. In 1831, one hundred and fifty will be made, averaging $2,000; or $300,000 in that article alone. A two horse power engine costs 250 dollars; six horse, 500 dollars; eight to nine horse, 700 dollars. These last are the prices delivered and put up. At least 600 tons of iron made in Pittsburgh are manufactured into other articles before it leaves the city, from steam engines, of the largest size, down to a threepenny nail. Eight rolling and slitting mills of the largest power are in the city of Pittsburgh; five of which have been erected since 1828. Thirty-eight new furnaces have been erected since 1824 in the western parts of Pennsylvania, and that part of Kentucky bordering on the Ohio River, most of them since 1828. The quantity of iron rolled at Pittsburgh was, in 1828............................ tons, 3,291 19 0 0 1829................................. 6,217 17 0 0 1830................................. 9,282 2 0 0 Being an increase of nearly 200 per cent., in two years. 38 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. had prevailed for ten years before, when the existing duty upon hammered iron was but nine dollars per ton, or less than one-half of that now levied. " This comparative stability, so important to the success of all well-regulated industry, was due exclusively to the domestic supply, which effectually protected the consumer from the foreign speculator, who could otherwise have controlled this market, and would have produced here the same disastrous consequences that ensued in his own. " If such has been the result of protection upon the general market of the country, its effects have been still more striking, when examined with respect to The above facts were furnished by members of the Committee residing at Pittsburgh, who vouch for their accuracy. One fact there stated suggests the following remnarks to the Committee: To the Report of the Select Committee of the Senate of the United States, on the subject of iron, is appended, among other papers, one in which it is stated, that "it is now ascertained that the superiority of England over France is entirely due to the cheapness of iron: a six horse steam engine, for instance, in France, costs, on the average, at least 500 dollars more than in England, owing to the cheapness of iron in Great Britain. It is still dearer in the United States than in France." Here it is asserted that a six horse power steam engine costs 500 dollars more in France than it does in England, and that it is still dearer in the United States than in France. Now it so happens, that in the United States, at Pittsburgh, a steam engine of that power can be put up, ready for action, for the identical sum of 500 dollars. Prices of Iron at Cincinnati. In 1814 to 1818, bar iron 200 to 220 dollars per ton; now 100, 105, 110. The fall in prices has been nearly as follows: 1826, bar iron, assorted,.............. 125 to 135 dollars per ton. 1827, " ".............. 120 to 130 " " 1828, " ".............. 115 to 125 " " 1829, " ".............. 1121 to 122 " " 1830, " ".............. 100 to 120 " 1831, " ".............. 100 to 110 " Castings, including hollow ware, 1814 to 1818, 120 to 130 dollars per ton; present price, 60 to 65, and the quality much improved. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 particular, but most important districts. Our Western brethren, the hardy pioneers of our country, were restrained and limited in their contest with the wilderness, by the difficulty of obtaining, on almost any terms, this article, so indispensable to their success in every stage of their arduous enterprise. The second statement exhibits the prices of iron of various descriptions, at different periods, at Pittsburgh and Cincinnati-the great marts of the West. Comment can scarcely be necessary upon the facts there disclosed. The decline in price (in some instances more than half) has been in exact proportion with the stability given to the domestic manufacture, by additional impost on the foreign, until it has reached a point that now enables the mechanics of the first-mentioned city to enter into successful competition with those of almost any other quarter, in the fabrication of nearly every article of necessity, and in one justly esteemed the proudest effort of human ingenuity, they have attained a degree of perfection which enables them to challenge a comparison with the skill and experience of any nation whatever-as the Committee are assured that contracts can be made for any number of steam engines at the prices indicated in the table referred to, it cannot be necessary that they should press this point further. Here your Committee might leave this branch of their subject, satisfied with having, as they believe, demonstrated from facts that protection to the manufacturer, when effectual in amount, and connected with such an assurance of permanence as stimulates enterprise and excites skill, does not operate as a tax on the consumer, but the very reverse. But they believe that facts will justify them in going 40 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. even further, and will enable them to maintain the position that an impost may, under some circumstances, operate as a tax upon the producer of the foreign article, compelling him, for the purpose of preserving even partial possession of the market, to reduce his own profits in proportion to the increase of impost, which reduction is in fact a contribution to the treasury of the importing country, and may relieve its citizens from the burden of taxation to that extent. The circumstances undqr which this may occur are twofold. First, when the importing country is the only, or the principal market for the article in question, and that article one which the exporting country must produce in the manufacture of some other article of greater value. Secondly, where there is an increasing surplus of production in the exporting country, and an extensive and growing manufacture of the same article in the country where this surplus has heretofore sought a market. " Without detaining the Convention longer than to make a passing reference as an example of the first case to the additional duty of the tariff of 1828 (since repealed) upon molasses, which duty was exclusively paid by the foreign planter, who thus contributed, during its existence, more than half a million of dollars per annum to the support of the government of the United States, the Committee will proceed, in proof and illustration, to the second case, and again refer to the statement marked A, and to that marked C,* where, among other facts, it will be seen that in * STATEMENT C.-The duties on iron imported into the United States, were, 1804 to 1812, 15 per cent.; double war duties from 1812 to 1816. In 1816, duties, rolled iron, 30 dollars per ton; hammered, 9 dollars. The law of 1816, IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 41 July, 1828, after the intelligence of our additional duty reached England, iron fell at once $4 44 per ton, and that the following year a further reduction of $6 50 was submitted to. Our additional duty gave additional confidence to the American manufacturer; he extended his operations, and increased the supply without advancing the price. The foreign manufacturer could only reach the market by the payment of the additional impost. American competition prevented him from charging this to the consumer, and fixing the duties at these rates, ruined many of the manufacturers and compelled them to abandon their works. By act of April 20, 1818, the duty on hammered iron was raised to 15 dollars. This, in some measure, revived the manufacture, and many, who had abandoned, resumed their operations. The foreign manufacturer, to keep possession of the market, offered his iron at a less price; so that there was an actual decline here. In 1824, the duty on hammered iron was raised to 18 dollars, and, in 1828, to $22 40. These additions to the duty had no permanent effect in raising the price. The foreign manufacturer could not advance his prices beyond those of 1824, because the American iron maker supplied the market at those rates; and iron, at a duty of $22 40, sells at less than it did at one of 9 dollars. The foreign manufacturer has been compelled to take the additional duties from his profits; and these deductions from his profits have been paid into the treasury of the United States, without adding to the price paid by the American consumer. The following table shows the operation of the additional duty levied since 1818 on hammered iron alone: Tons. Duties. 1818, imported of hammered iron,........ 13........ 208,950 dollars. 1819, " " "........ 16,160.... 242,394 " 1820, " " "........ 19,531.... 272,877 " 1821, " " "........ 15,374.... 230,413 1822, " " "........ 26,273.... 378,641 1823, " " "........ 29,014.... 435,210 " 1824, " " "........ 21,298.... 383,364 1825, " " "........ 23,085.... 428,490 1826, " " "........ 23,837.... 427,066 " 1827, " "......... 21,718.... 390,924 1828, " "........ 33,155.... 663,100 1829, " "....... 29,202.... 654,141 " 1830, " " " estimated, 29,202.... 654,141 Tons,............................. 301,880 -= 5,369,711 " Duties at $9, the rate per law of 1816,.............. 2,716,920 Gain in the treasury, at the expense of the foreign manufacturer,................................. 2,652,791 " 42 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. he was therefore compelled to diminish his profits to that amount, and to the same extent to become a contributor to the treasury of the United States. " An examination of the last-mentioned statement C will show that by this means, through the instrumentality of American manufacturers, their foreign competitors have been made tributary to the public treasury upon the article of iron, since that article has been really protected, more than two millions and a half of dollars; while the consumer, as has been already shown, has been benefited to an amount even greater than this. " If it be alleged that the same benefits would have resulted to the consumer-that the same decline in prices would have occurred, without this competition -we answer that such allegations would be contrary to all experience, which has taught all who have given attention to the subject to know, that while we are dependent exclusively upon a foreign supply for any article of consumption, the foreigner is enabled to prescribe his own terms, and that these always, of course, yield him a large profit. But when domestic skill goes to work to produce the same articles, their prices are reduced, and often to an extent that excites astonishment, when it is accompanied with the knowledge that no sensible change in the cost of production has taken place. " But it may be asked, if additional protection, by exciting domestic competition, invariably brings down prices, of what benefit is this protection to the manufacturer? To this we reply, that permanence and stability, and not high prices, are our objects. American manufacturers are not so blind to the constant and IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 43 inevitable course of events, as not to foresee that as these objects are approached, they must expect a more active competition from their fellow-citizens, as well those who are already engaged in the same pursuits, as from others who may be induced to enter upon them. For this they are prepared; they can estimate its extent; and its effects are wholesome and salutary; it stimulates to greater care, economy, industry, and skill: profits are reduced, but they are stable I and the prudent man looks forward with confidence to realizing a fair reward. Against foreign competition there is no guarding, because the manner of its approach can never with certainty be foreseen; nor can its extent be calculated. The ordinary production of foreign industry may, it is true, be calculated with some degree of accuracy, but the extraordinary fluctuations to which their markets are liable from great political convulsions, and other causes, cannot be estimated. Every violent change invariably forces upon our market their vast accumulations, which easily break down the barrier of a mere revenue protection, and involve in ruin all who have essayed competition in the same branch. The consumer receives a momentary benefit, but a reaction certainly follows; great fluctuation engenders a spirit of speculation, and mere gambling is substituted for a regular trade. The frequent occurrence of these evils (everywhere acknowledged to be such) is only to be prevented by an efficient system of protection. " Having, as they believe, satisfactorily shown the beneficial effects of a system of real protection to the consumer of iron, your Committee will proceed with 44 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. a few brief remarks upon its influence on the agricultural labor and trade of the country. " From a critical examination of the returns from 73 furnaces and 132 forges in a great variety of situations, the details of which are more particularly stated in the annexed paper marked D,* they find that in the manufacture of the iron, in its first stages only, made in the United States in the past year, agricultural produce to the amount of nearly three and a half millions has been consumed by the persons thus employed, which vast sum has of course been paid to the farmer, showing how completely his interest is identified with that of the iron manufacturer, and furnishes him with the means of estimating the probable consequences to himself of the destruction of this branch of industry, and the conversion of so large a body of * STATEMENT D. —The following calculations were made by Hardman Phillips and George Valentine, Esquires, and are derived from the average returns submitted to the Committee, from two counties (those most extensively engaged in the manufacture of iron in Pennsylvania), namely, Centre and Huntingdon, and have been carefully verified by a comparison with returns from 73 furnaces and 132 forges. For each ton of bar iron and castings made, the following agricultural produce is found to be consumed: 20 bushels wheat and rye, average at 75 cents,............... $15 00 57 lbs. pork,............'" 5 "............... 2 85 43 lbs. beef............ " 4 "............... 1 72 10 lbs. butter.......... " 12~ "............... 1 25 2 bushels potatoes,.....' 30 "............... 60 } ton hay,.............. "............... 3 50 For every ten tons of bar iron one horse is employed one whole year, worth $100; and experience shows that the mortality among horses so employed is per annum one in seven, and constitutes a charge, per ton, of.............................. 1 43 For fruit and vegetables, of which no return has been made, we feel justified in putting down............................. 1 00 Total,..................................................$27 35 Which, multiplied by the quantity of bar iron and castings, will give the sum of 3,415,850 dollars, paid by the iron manufacturers and those employed by them, to the farmers. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 consumers into cultivators and producers. By the same statement it appears that nearly 25,000 workmen are constantly employed, receiving annually the sum of 7,493,700 dollars, making, with their families, nearly 125,000 persons directly dependent on this manufacture. " For transporting this iron to the markets where it is sold to the consumer, it is estimated that about twelve hundred and fifty thousand dollars are annually paid-being a further contribution to the wealth of the country, through its internal commerce. " These facts show how completely interwoven are the interests of agriculture, commerce, and labor, with those of manufactures. " The last consideration that occurs to your Committee, as within their duty to notice, is the capability of the United States to furnish a supply of iron equal to their own wants. Of this the Committee cannot entertain the smallest doubt. The tabular statements, heretofore referred to, show that in two years, from 1828 to 1830, the supply has increased very nearly twenty-five per cent.; and it is known that old establishments, in many situations, are enlarging, and new ones erecting-giving the assurance that this increase will be progressive, until not only the domestic market will be fully supplied, but a surplus remain for exportation. " If we compare our situation with that of Great Britain less than a century ago, in this particular, we shall see abundant reason for self-gratulation. Ninety years since, her entire production of iron did not much exceed that which is now made in the State of New Jersey. In 1802, within the limits of a single 46 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. generation, her furnaces were less in number than those now existing in the United States, and the production not more than will be made here during the present year, 1831 —and this without availing ourselves of the means to which she is indebted for the extraordinary change which this short period has effected. We have the benefit of her experience; we can command her skill, if it be necessary; we have the mineral and fuels in unlimited abundance (which have done so much for her), when our forests shall fail. Our citizens yield to none in enterprise and ingenuity, when adequate rewards for the exercise of those qualities are held out; and knowing this, with the experience of our rapid progress in the last two years, furnishing, as we now do, more than threefourths of the entire consumption-is it, we repeat, extravagant to assert that we are fully competent to supply our own wants, and furnish a surplus to minister to those of our neighbors? " In conclusion, your Committee cannot refrain from the expression of the gratification which the result of this investigation has afforded them. Deserted by the Government, and denied that protection which, at the close of the late war, was freely granted to every other interest, this important branch of domestic industry, so essential to the prosperity, if not to the existence, and so closely connected with our national independence, seemed threatened with absolute extinction. A wiser policy, adopted at a later period, aided by the unconquerable spirit of American enterprise, has raised it to the elevated rank it now holds; and to maintain it in which, it asks no sacrifice from our fellow-citizens engaged in other pursuits. Grate IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 ful for the consideration which its well-founded claims for their justice, after years of delay and suffering, at last obtained, it is now returning to the country the full measure of benefit it has received, and will protect them from speculation and monopoly from abroad, should it not again become the victim of that unnatural policy, which would cherish foreign industry while it neglects and destroys our own. SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT. "Before separating, the Committee instructed the Secretary to make a further report of any facts that might be received in time for the permanent committee. In conformity therewith, he has now to state that Mr. Peter Townsend, who was delegated by those engaged in the manufacture of iron in this city, to visit all the establishments in this State and those east of it, has returned and reported the result of his examinations; by which it appears that in New York there are in operation, of blast furnaces, 8; in Connecticut, 3; and information from other places enumerates furnaces, not before known, to the number of 26; in the whole, 37 additional furnaces, making, of pig iron and castings, 25,250 tons, and a large number of forges employed in converting the pig into bar iron. " There are returns of thirty-two bloomery fires in situations were it was not before known that any existed, making 30 tons each per annum, or nearly 1,000 tons yearly of bar iron by this process; and the returns brought by Mr. Townsend show, that the Committee estimated this kind of iron nearly 1,000 48 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. tons too low in the districts which he visited. The result of the whole, if 20,000 tons of the above pig iron were converted into bars, would be: Bar iron..................................... 14,285 tons. Bloomed bar iron, as above..................... 1,960 " Bar iron, per former statements................. 96,621 Total bar iron made in the United States, agree-) ably to the information received by the Commit- 112,866 tons. tee to this date........................... Stated in pig iron it would be: Former statement.............................163,542 tons. Pig iron and castings, as above.................. 25,250 " Bloomed bar iron, equal to..................... 2,744 " Total of iron equal to pig iron.................. 191,536 " " The value of which, according to the mode of estimation already explained, would be 13,369,760 dollars. " It is hardly necessary to add that these additional facts strengthen all the inferences and calculations heretofore made by the Committee. REPORT ON STEEL. "On the subject of steel, your Committee reports, that, as no preparation whatever had been made for collecting information antecedent to this Convention in New York, they are not able to supply it from any other source than what is attainable in this city. They have no time left for collecting and collating tabular statements of the quantity of steel imported and manufactured in this country; nevertheless, enough IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 information has been acquired as to satisfy the Committee that the article in question is one which requires the continued protection of Government. "Without seeking further, the members of your Committee are enabled, from their recollection, to enumerate fourteen steel furnaces in the following places, viz.: Pittsburg, 2; Baltimore, 1; Philadelphia, 3; New York, 3; York, 1; Troy, 1; New Jersey, 2; Boston, 1. " These furnaces are now in operation, and of a capacity sufficient to supply more than 1,600 tons of steel annually-an amount equal to the whole importation of steel of every kind. But it should be observed, that steel, for common agricultural purposes, is not the best, although it is most used, and that American is quite equal to English steel used for such purposes in England. American competition has excluded the British common blister steel altogether. The price of blister steel is less than it was before 1828, and probably as low as it ever will be —certainly as low as it ought to be, having a just consideration for the manufacturer and his customer. The only steel now iimported from Great Britain is of a different and better quality than that just mentioned. It has been the laudable pride of American legislation to advance with the increasing enterprise of the people, and to encourage discoveries of those mineral treasures towards which that enterprise might be profitably directed. The Committee having shown the result of such countenance from Government, in the instance of common blister steel, may be allowed to anticipate the effects of its continuance, and that protection will be hereafter acknowledged as the parent of perfection. 4 50 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. " Steel imported here from all parts of the world, except England (although the German steel is freely employed in some branches of manufactures), amounts to so considerable a quantity that the competition for ascendency, in our market, must rest between that nation and this. We already supply ourselves, to her exclusion, with common steel; and, to give some idea how extensively it affects our manufactories, the Committee will state two or three striking facts. The iron of this country, when properly made, has been found equal in quality to the Russian and Swedish iron used in England for conversion into steel; and, being so converted, is employed in making large and rough implements of manufacture and agriculture. " It is used in the fabrication of ploughshares; it is worked up by shovel makers, scythe makers, and cross-cut and mill saw makers use more than any other manufacturers. One factory of this kind, in Philadelphia, requires a ton and a half of steel per diem, for every working day of the year. These isolated instances may give some idea of the vast consumption of steel in the numerous factories of the United States, and for this purpose alone they are stated. " The English, however, continue to supply us with the superior qualities. These are" 1. Blister steel, from iron of the Dannamora mines of Sweden. " 2. Shear steel of the same origin.'3. Cast steel. "As to the first, being the best quality of blister steel, a house in Hull monopolizes all the iron made from Dannamora ore, under contract, by which the IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 51 parties in Sweden are to forfeit ~10,000 sterling if they sell to anybody else; so that no other European country can furnish a good file without resorting to England for the steel that is made of Dannamora iron, this excelling all others in Europe for files and many other instruments. The British manufacturers, aware of the advantages of their monopoly, continue to exact the same price for their steel delivered in America that they did before the duty on the Swedish iron was reduced in England from $28 88 to $6 66 per ton, thus proving that an article whose low duty approaches nearest to no duty (almost free trade), is charged to this country at a rate no less than before the reduction of duty took place in England. "It is, however, a cause for congratulation here, that iron of similar or equal quality to that which has thrown all the advantages of manufacturing the best articles of cutlery into British hands has been made recently, by improved processes, from the ore of Juniata, and both sides of the line between New York and Connecticut-the latter denominated the Ancrumn, the Livingstone, and the Salisbury ore. Steel is now made at Pittsburg, and may be made in New York and Connecticut, bearing a fair comparison with the best hoop L (L) or Dannamora steel that comes from England. No difference is observed where trials have been made, without disclosing to the judges the origin of either. " The second kind of first quality British steel is called'shear steel.' This is nothing more than blister steel, drawn, under a tilt hammer, into bars of various sizes used in the fabrication of some articles of cutlery, and the finer kinds of edge tools. England 52 IRON TRADE OF TIE UNITED STATES, has hitherto monopolized this branch also, from being in possession of the only European steel that would bear the expense of preparation, and from the perfeqtion of her machinery. She has now the honor of transferring a portion of her experience and skill to the United States. Her workmen in steel, wanting employment or adequate recompense for labor at home, continually seek these among us; and it is believed that these may be afforded to such an extent as to yield them support commensurate with their industry, and that ingenious men, who, under other circumstances, might have been compelled to pursuits not congenial with their education, or to be dependants upon public bounty, will become useful citizens instead of idlers and beggars in the land. "The third kind of steel (best quality) is called'cast steel,' and this is made from the best blister steel only. There is none made in the United States. Several attempts to make it, with profit, have proved unfortunate. " The causes of failure were: " 1. The want of best quality blister steel (of which only it can be made) at a reasonable price. " 2. The want, or expense, of crucibles of proper quality, wherein the blister steel is to be melted and smelted. "The first difficulty may be surmounted by the discovery that iron well made, from the ores of Juniata, New York, and Connecticut, may be converted to the best blister steel; and the second difficulty is believed to be at an end, since the explorations of the present year have disclosed the existence of clay analogous to that of Stourbridge, which is considered the IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 53 best in the world for crucibles. Centre, Clearfield, and Lycoming counties (Pennsylvania), have yielded large specimens of clay that satisfy geologists, mineralogists, and chemists of the identity of its properties with those of Stourbridge. Clay in the vicinity of Baltimore has been successfully employed in the manufacture of fire-brick, and may probably be used for the manufacture of crucibles for cast steel, if properly prepared. The great impediment to the making of cast steel has not arisen from any mystery in the art, but the want of strength in the crucibles. Black lead and a variety of clays have been tried, but the weakness of these materials has hitherto caused a loss to the manufacturer, because the crucibles made of them would not bear moving when the melted metal was in them (28th). The Stourbridge was the only kind of clay that possessed the requisite qualities of preserving its shape and soundness when exposed to the greatest heat, and its strength and tenacity when moved for the purpose of discharging the melted metal. " Capital, enterprise, and perseverance will be engaged to bring this desirable material, so indispensable to the finer arts of cutlery and machinery, into market, if protection be continued to the efforts which our citizens are willing to make. If these views are correct, we have steel for agricultural purposes in the greatest abundance; we have steel (shear steel) for nicer purposes, and we have cast steel for the most refined articles of manufacture among ourselves. But this is not all-we may export our steel to Russia, Prussia, and France, in competition with England herself, and thus justify the further importation of 54 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. foreign commodities which wve can have the means of paying for. The subject of steel becomes more interesting as our investigation of it advances; but it is believed that the facts and inferences now set forth will suffice to continue the protection already granted, and to procure time for more extensive practical development, which, if realized, will add to the means of domestic employment and beneficial intercourse with foreign nations. " B. B. HOWELL, Secretalry. "NEW YORK, November, 1831."' The following statement shows the annual consumption of iron in this country, as per report made to the Convention of Manufacturers of Iron, lately held in Philadelphia: In 1830, there were made 202 furnaces...........155,348 tons. Of which were made into castings............... 28,273 " 127,075'Which rendered into bars at 28 cwt. per ton, would yield...................................... 90, 68 tons. There were made of bloomed iron................ 5,853 " Total bar iron made annually in the United States,.. 96,621 " Annual consumption of bar iron in the United States 130,007 " Besides what is made from the blast furnaces into castings................................... 28,273 " Iron consumed in the United States annually....... 158,280 " As early as 1830, the railway enterprises of Great Britain, so intimately connected with her iron trade, extended their influence to the United States, and led to the construction of important lines, connecting the IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, 55 Atlantic seaboard with the great lakes and fertile valleys of the West, creating a demand for iron rails on a scale of magnitude not anticipated by the iron masters of this country, and led, some years afterwards, to the erection of mills, which now produce one hundred and eighty thousand tons of rails per annum, and, with adequate protection, would soon render this country entirely independent of foreign supplies. It therefore presents a subject of deep consideration to the American statesman, whether the United States, with all her resources, shall continue to be dependent upon a foreign country for so indispensable an article as railway iron, when it can be manufactured at home with better materials, and made to contribute so much substantial wealth to the country. By an act of Congress, passed on the 14th July, 1832, railway iron was admitted free of duty, provided it was laid down within three years from the date of importation; but after the 3d of lfMarch, 1843, it was made to pay the same duty as rolled iron. STATEMENT OF DUTIES REMITTED ON RAILWAY IRON IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM 1833 TO 1841. Years. Value. Years. Value. 1833.... $202,210 1838.... $910,111 1834.... 421,010 1839.... 672,376 1835.... 529,509 1840.... 688,510 1836..... 234,194 1841.... 391,264 1837.... 407,517 From 1832 to 1839, there was no extension of the iron trade; but the introduction of the hot-blast and other improvements produced the most wonderful results, not only in the increase, but in the economy of 56 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. the production of iron, by which many large establishments were rescued from ruin. The puddling process was generally adopted, and worked with great practical skill; and this accurate knowledge soon enabled the Eastern establishments to work the American pig metal into nail plates, that have almost excluded and shut out the Swedish iron. The rolling mills were also greatly improved in their machinery and adapted to the higher descriptions, or qualities, and smaller sizes of iron. The blast-furnace, independent of the hot-blast, was much improved and its economy greatly extended by the introduction of cast iron blowing cylinders, water tuyeres, kilns for charring wood, etc. During this period of great depression in the iron trade, the United States consumed more than one-fourth of the whole exports of Great Britain. IRON IMPORTED FROM RUSSIA FROM 1821 TO 1851. Years. M Hammered Iron in Bolts Value. Sheets. and Bars. 1821.... 84,461 cwt. $274,593 1822..... 120,890 " 383,915 1823.... 114,013 " 354,613 1824.....111,957 " 317,843 1825.... 79,309 " 241,442 1826.... 120,848 " 414,948 1827.... 86,325 " 268,216 1828.... 117,581 " 366,059 1829.... 23,663,505 lbs. 709,827 1830..... 21,912,702 " 541,445 1831.... 12,]20,534 " 314,484 1832.... 29,252,011 " 660,459 64,234 cwt. 1833.... 21,943,500 " 573,280 58,1710 " 1834.... 6,905,680 cwt. 41,760 " 1837.... 5,240,000 " 40,600 " 1838.... 5,400,000 " 36,590 " 1850.... 757,956 " 1851.... 793,054 " IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 IRON IMPORTED FROM SWEDEN FROM 1821 TO 1829. Year. Cwt. Value. Year. Cwt. Value. 1821 220,260 $710,392 1826 319,385 $1,078,705 1822 339,885 1,651,055 1827 327,540 979,921 1823 419,958 1,233,826 1828 480,046 1,556,495 1824 333,723 909,857 1829 327,160 1,008,363 1825 399,775 1,274,645 Although anthracite coal was discovered in Pennsylvania, soon after the Revolution, yet no attempt was made to use it in the smelting of ores, until about 1820. The first successful attempt to generate steam with it was made in 1825, at the Phoenixville Iron Works. Experiments for using anthracite in blast furnaces were made by the Lehigh Coal Company in 1830, and vast sums had been expended, from time to time, in different parts of Europe, to effect the same object; but every attempt proved unsuccessful, until Dr. Geisenheimer, of New York, in 1833, obtained a patent * for smelting iron ores with anthracite coal * In this patent, Dr. G. claims, first, the application of anthracite coal, exclusively or in part, in deoxidating and carbonating iron ore. Secondly, The application of anthracite coal, exclusively or in part, in combining iron, in a metallic state, with a greater quantity of carbon: if bar iron, for steel; if pig or cast iron, for a superior quality. Thirdly, The smelting or reducing of iron ore, so deoxidated and carbonated by the application of anthracite coal, as aforesaid, into pig or cast iron. Fourthly, The refining or converting of iron ore, so deoxidated and carbonated by the application of anthracite coal, as aforesaid, into malleable or bar iron. Fifthly, The application of anthracite coal in smelting or reducing iron ore, raw or roasted, but not prepared by a previous separate process of deoxidation and carbonation, as above described, into pig or cast iron. Sixthly, Though I cannot, and do not, claim an exclusive right of the use of heated air for any kind of fuel, nevertheless I believe to have a right to claim, and do claim, the use of heated air applied upon, and in connection with, the said principle and manner discovered by me to smelt iron ore in blast-furnaces, with anthracite coal, by applying a blast of air in such quantity, velocity, and 58 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. and hot-blast which he afterwards sold to Mr. Crane, of Wales, who with some additions, took out a patent in this country, in November, 1838, but which he never enforced, for the great secret seems to have been imparted simultaneously in England and the United States. In 1836, the legislature of Pennsylvania passed an act for the encouragement of the manufacture of iron by mineral fuel, giving to the Governor authority to charter companies with ample powers, in regard to the amount of stock, and quantity of land, for the purpose of prosecuting this branch of industry. Coke was employed, a few years before the Revolution, in the manufacture of pig and refined bar iron; but it soon fell into disuse, on account of the facility of obtaining charcoal, which made better iron. In 1836 and 1837, the use of it was again revived at Karthaus and Farrandsville, on the west branch of the Susquehanna River, where pig iron was produced, but not of good quality. At Lonakoning, on St. George's Creek, Maryland, the manufacture of pig iron with coke was attended with more success; and at Jennings' Run, in the same coal basin with Lonakoning, two large furnaces, on the Welsh plan, were also erected for using coke or bituminous coal in the smelting of ores. Messrs. Baughman, Guiteau & Co., put in blast an anthracite furnace at Mauch Chunk, in August, 1838, which worked well for five or six weeks; but for want density, or under such pressure, as the compactness or density and the continuity of the anthracite coal requires, as above amply and fully described and illustrated. NEW YORK, November 21, 1833. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 of ore, it was blown out in January, 1839. The average temperature of the blast was 4000 Fahrenheit. It was again put in blast in July, 1839; and, for about three months, it produced good Nos. 1, 2, and 3 quality, pig iron. The Pottsville furnace was also put in blast in the same year, charged with nothing but pure anthracite and iron ore, and proved entirely successful. The first account of Mr. Crane's experiments in Wales with anthracite reached this country in 1837; in which he remarked, " Since I have adopted the use of anthracite coal, combined with hot air, the produce of my furnace, with a pressure of II lbs. per square inch, has ranged from thirty to thirty-six tons, weekly. With respect to the quality of the iron produced by the combination of hot-blast and anthracite, the result is very satisfactory. It is well known that my cold-blast iron, for all purposes where great strength was required, was never deemed inferior to any smelted in South Wales; but that which I have produced with hot-blast and anthracite is decidedly stronger." The entire success of Mr. Crane, at the Yniscedwyn Works in Wales, in 1839, with anthracite coal and hot-blast, gave birth to numerous establishments both in the anthracite and bituminous regions of this country and Wales. In France, experiments had been made under the most favorable circumstances that money and science could furnish, and failed. TABLE OF BLAST FURNACES APPLIED TO THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON WITH THE ANTHRACITE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 0 Name and Situation of Date of commencing Nature of Ores used, Locality, and Yield Furnace. Name of Proprietors. When built.blast with anthracite. Character. per cent. 1. Mauch Chunk....... Baughman & Co........ 1838 August 27, 1838 Hematite ard magnetic, of N. Y.... 40 to 70 2. Pottsville........... Marshall, Kellog & Co... 1838 July 10, 1839.. Carbonate aud hematite........... 25 to 50 3. Roaring Creek....... B. Patterson & Co. 1838-9 May 18, 1840.. Fossiliferous, Bloomsburg.......... 50 to 64 4. Phenixville........ Messrs. Reeves......... 1837 June 17, 1840.. Hydrated peroxide...............38 to 50 H3 5. Danville............ Biddle, Chambers & Co.. 1838-9 April, 1840.... Calcareous peroxide, of Danville.... 45 to 60 6. Crane Works........ Crane Iron Co.......... 1839-40 July 4, 1840... Hydrated peroxide, near Works.... 40 to 55 7. Columbia at Danville. Geo. Patterson......... 1839 July 2, 1840... Cale. fossiliferous peroxide......... 45 to 60 C1 8. Montour at Danville. Biddle, Chambers & Co.. 1840 July 11, 1841.. Fossil calcar's and silicious peroxide 33 to 60 9. Stanhope, N J Stanhope Iron Co. 1840-1 April 5, 1841.. Magnetic, of Irondale............. 50 to 70 H No. 1. The Mauch Chunk was the first successful furnace in smelting iron with anthracite in the United States. 2. The Pottsville furnace is the same with which Mr. Lyman made his experiments with a continuous blast of three months. H 8. The Roaring Creek furnace, on the north branch of the Susquehanna, was selected for the purpose of experimenting with the rich fossiliferous ores of Bloomsburg and anthracite of Wilkesbarre. H 4. The Phenixville furnace experimented with ore from the Yellow Springs, and anthracite from Pottsville. 5. The Danville furnace used the anthracite from Wilkesbarre, and the fossiliferous ores from Montour Ridge. 6. The Crane Works used the ores near their works, and anthracite from Mauch Chunk. T. The Columbia furnace used the ores from Danville, and anthracite from Shamokin. S. The Montour furnace used the ores from Montour Ridge, and anthracite from Wilkesbarre. 9. The Stanhope furnace used the magnetic ores of New Jersey, and anthracite from Beaver Meadow. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 61 STATEMENT SHOWING THE POPULATION, AND VALUE OF PIG, CASTINGS, AND WROUGHT IRON IN THE UNITED STATES, FOR 1840..o,. STATES,.5' b E Alabama...... 590,756 $750 $27,700 $4,875 Arkansas....... 97,574 - 1,240 Columbia, Dist. of 43,712 -- 68,000 Connecticut.... 809,978 162,375 1,733,044 235,495 Delaware..... 78,085 425 10,700 29,185 Georgia....... 691,392 12,350 5,350 Illinois........ 476,183 3,950 41,200 Indiana........ 685,866 20,250 14,580 1,300 Kentucky...... 779,828 730,150 164,080 236,405 Louisiana...... 352,411 35,000 - 88,790 Maine......... 501,793 153,050 56,512 Maryland...... 470,019 221,900 312,900 513,500 Massachusetts.... 737,699 233,300 1,798,758 390,260 Michigan....... 212,267 15,025 57,900 Mississippi..... 375,651 36,900 Missouri....... 383,702 4,500 60,300 7,670 New Hampshire. 284,574 33,000 136,334 8,125 New Jersey,.... 373,306 277,850 405,955 466,115 New York..... 2,428,921 727,200 2,512,792 3,490,045 North Carolina.. 753,419 24,200 16,050 62,595 Ohio.......... 1,519,467 880,900 784,401 485,290 Pennsylvania... 1,724,033 2,459,875 1,262,670 5,670,860 Rhode Island... 108,830 103,150 147,550 South Carolina.. 594,398 31,250 - 75,725 Tennessee...... 829,210 403,213 100,870 628,745 Vermont....... 291,948 168,575 24,900 42,575 Virginia....... 1,239,797 470,262 128,256 382,590' Florida..... 54,477 - Iowa....... 43,112 4,000 1 Wisconsin 30,945 75 3,500 [ Naval service 6,100 - Total........ 17,069,453 7,172,575 9,916,442 12,820,145 No two minerals can at all compare with iron and coal in their unlimited use in all the industrial arts; and until the discovery that anthracite could be used 62 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. in the manufacture of iron, its immense importance was not fully realized; nor did its great value stop here, for it afterwards led to the construction of some of the most important internal improvements of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, which have cost, in the aggregate, upwards of eighty-five millions of dollars. The total number of tons of anthracite coal which passed over them in the year 1856, amounted to 6,751,542, of which the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad took to the Atlantic seaboard nearly one-half. It is now fifteen years since this great work was put into operation to develop the resources of the Schuylkill region, during which time its tonnage has amounted, although limited in the beginning, to 27,034,596 tons, of which 20,718,056 were anthracite coal, and has earned and paid into the treasury of the company $33,654,435. Its average receipts, during the last four years of panics and revulsions, have been $3,770,474 per annum, which, after the payment of interest, repairs, and sundry charges, left a dividend fund equal to fourteen and a half per cent. on the entire stock of the company. In 1838-9, the iron trade partially recovered from its depressed condition in consequence of the impulse given to railway enterprises, and the price of iron advanced for several years. But it afterwards fell under the influence of the increased make of Great Britain, which was partly forced upon the American market at less than cost of importation, and embarrassed for a while all those who had engaged in its manufacture, under the belief that Congress would soon abandon the free-trade system, and, with in IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 creased duties, sustain and foster this important branch of American industry. Bar iron in England gradually fell from ~9 per ton, in 1840, to ~4 lOs. in 1843. By the census returns, the production of the United States, in 1840, amounted to 286,903 tons; but the report of the home league of New York estimated it at 347,700 tons. The mean of both is probably more correct, say 315,000 tons, which shows an increase of fifty per cent. in eight years, under the most discouraging circumstances of a low tariff and a severe financial revulsion, which swept over the country, and paralyzed both its capital and industry. The cost of making pig and bar iron, at this period, was, in some localities, as follows-based upon a furnace making seventy-five tons per week (average)MIATERIALS. Cost. 3 tons anthracite coal (steam power, etc., included), at $2 00 per ton.................................... $6 00 2t tons of ore, at $1 50 per ton........................ 3 75 1 ton of limestone,................................... 75 Labor,...................... 1 715 Incidentals, without charge for capital,................. 2 00 Per ton,..................................... $14 25 REFINING. 1~ cwt., waste V7 per cent.................... $1 05 61 cwt. coal, at $2 per ton,................... 65 Labor,............................................. 1 05 Repairs, ore, and blast............................... 50 $3 25 PUDDLING, ROLLING, ETC. 21 cwt. of refined pig, at $17 25,.... $18 11 18 cwt. coal, at $2 00,..1...............0............. I Stock, 25 cts.; Puddling, $5 50........................ 5 75 Shingling, $1 00; Rolling, 90 cts.,..................... 1 90 Weighing, 12 cts.; incidental, $4 00,................... 4 12 Add, rolling, piling, and reheating,..................... 1 50 $33 18 If steam power, 10 cwt. coal for engine. The total consumption of pig iron, in 1840, amounted to 411,903 tons. STATEMENT OF IRON MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1840. M CAST IRON. BAR IRON. Number ofD Tons Produced. Bloomeries Tons of Fuel Men Employed STATES AND TERRITORIESBoomerieTn F in Mining Capital Invested. Furnaces. Forges, and Tons Produced. Consumed. Operations. Furnaces._ Rolling-mills. _ _ Maine.............. 16 6,122 1 0 285 48 $185,950 0 New Hampshire..... 15 1,320 2 125 2,104 121 98,200 z Massachusetta....... 48 9,332 67 6,004 199,252 1,097 1,2 2,875 Rhode Island....... 5 4,126 0 0 227 29 22,250 Connecticut,..... 28 6,495 44 3,623 16,933 895 577,300 Vermont.......... 26 6,743 14 655 388,407 788 664,150 New York.......... 186 29,088 120 53,693 123,677 3,456 2,103,418 Pennsylvania....... 213 98,395 169 87,244 355,903 11,522 7,781,471 0 New Jersey......... 26 11,114 80 7,171 27,425 2,056 1,721,820 Delaware......... 2 17 5 449 971 28 36,200 Maryland......... 12 8,876 17 7,900 24,422 1,782 7957,6650 Virginia............ 42 18,810 52 5,886 36,588 1,742 1,246,650 North Carolina...... 8 908 43 963 11,598 468 94,961 South Carolina..... 4 1,250 9 1,165 6,334 248 113,300 Z Georgia............ 14 494 29 0 630 41 24,000 Alabama.......... 1 33 5 75 157 1,307 9,500 t Louisiana......... 6 1,400 2 1,366 4,152 145 357,000 Tennessee.......... 34 16,129 99 9,673 187,453 2,266 1,514,736 Kentuckv.17 29,206 13 3,637 35,501 1,108 449,000 Ohio............... 72 35,236 19 7,466 104,312 2,268 1,161,900 Indiana............ 7 810 1 20 787 103 57,700 Illinois............ 4 158 0 0 240 74 40,300 Missouri.......... 2 180 4 118 300 80 79,000 Michigan..... 15 001 0 0 451 99 00,800 Wisconsin.......... 1 3 0 0 1 3 4,000 Total......... 804 286,903 795 197,233 1,528,110 30,497 $20,432,131 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 The compromise tariff was regarded, at the time, as an abandonment of the protective policy, and in a few short years, it produced so great a change in the industrial condition of the country that the production of pig iron fell off to 230,000 tons. In 1840 and 1841, nearly all the manufacturing establishments of the United States were closed, and more than three hundred thousand persons were thrown out of employment. Alarmed at this state of things, Congress now opened their eyes to the depressed condition of the country, and in the following year passed a new tariff, which fixed the duty on Hammered iron,........................ $17 per ton. Rolled, "........................ 25 " Pig, "......... 9 which soon had the effect to restore confidence, give employment to the manufacturing classes, rebuild iron works and furnaces which had been rendered inoperative or "unproductive, and infuse life and anlimation into every department of American industry. In consequence of the railway mania which prevailed in Europe and this country in 1844 and 1845, an increased demand for iron sprung up, which raised the price of it in England and reestablished the manufacture of it here, on a firmer basis. For several years the production was unexampled in this country, until it was checked by the tariff of 1846. In the meantime, many improvements had been made in its manufacture. The most important of these was the application of the waste gases, which had heretofore escaped from the top of the furnace, to the heating of 5 66 IRON TRADE OF THIE UNITED STATES. the steam boilers of the blowing engines, and to the processes of refining and puddling, instead of other fuel. This invention originated in Germany, but the credit of introducing it into this country, with improvements, is due to Mr. Detmold, who took out a patent for it in 1844, and perfected the application of it to all the various processes of manufacturing iron with anthracite. A great economy is also obtainable by Mr. Wall's patent in the conversion of the cast into wrought iron by the application of a current of voltaic electricity to the crude iron in a state of fusion, whether on the hearth of the blast furnace, in the fused pigs in the sand, or on the metal immediately upon its being run from the finery furnace. The Martien process has for its object the purification of iron when in the molten state from the blast or refining furnace, either by air, or steam, or vapor of water applied from below, so that it may rise up amongst and completely penetrate and search every part of the metal previous to'congelation, and prior to its being run into a reverberatory furnace for puddling. By this means, the manufacture of wrought iron by puddling, and the manufacture of steel from cast iron, in the ordinary manner, are stated to be greatly improved. Among, however, the most notable improvements in the manufacture of iron, in recent years, is a combination of many kinds of iron to insure good qualities of each; and another is the admixture of small quantities of other metals. Manganese is found to give a closeness of grain to iron. Calamine (carbonate of zinc) gives increased malleability; and, with certain kinds, it produces toughness and strength; while, if antimony be added to the iron IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 of the surface, it imparts a steely hardness, so that qualities can be induced suitable to the different kinds of service which each is to render. In 1845, the production of the United States was as follows.: 540 Blast Furnaces, yielding....... 486,000 tons of pig. 950 Bloomeries, Forges, Rolling, and Slitting Mills,................. 291,600 tons of bar, etc. Blooms,......................... 30,000 " Castings, machinery, stove, plates, etc., 121,500 " which, estimated at the then market value, stands thus: 291,600 tons of wrought iron, at $80 per ton, $23,328,000 121,500 " castings, at 75 " 9,112,500 30,000 " bloomery iron, at 50 " 1,500,000 $33,940,500 to which add the quantity imported the year before, say46,000 tons bar iron, rolled, at $60 per ton,... $2,760,000 17,500 "' hammered, do., at $80 "... 1,400,000 16,050 " pig, converted in castings, at $75,. 1,950,750 6,570 " scrap iron, at $35,..............201,950 4,157 " sheet, hoops, etc., at $130,....... 540,410 2,800 " steel, at $335,................. 938,000 Consumption,...................... $41,731,610 Every ten tons of pig metal required one laborer and four dependents, which gave 243,000 people dependent upon this interest. In France, the estimate is less than eight tons, and in England, more than thirty-five tons. In this country, the agricultural product consumed is very large-say one-fourth of the value of each ton of iron or castings. Conse 68 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. quently, no limit can be placed to the production of this country, except the want of consumption and demand, provided the tariff should be permanently fixed at thirty per cent., ad valorem. By a report made to the British Parliament in 1845, it appears that the value of the British manufactures consumed by various nations was as follows: Prussia,............. cents worth to each person. Russia,........... 15 " " Norway,............ 17 " " France,........ 20 " " United States,......$4 02 " " The consumption of iron in the United States, from 1821 to 1829, was twenty-five pounds per head; in 1832, forty-seven pounds; and in 1841, it was almost stationary. Under the tariff of 1842, it increased rapidly; and at the end of 1846, it reached a higher point than ever before known, being almost one hundred pounds per head. With the year 1847-8, the domestic production declined in its ratio to population, and the import increased. In 1849, there was a rapid increase in the imports, and diminution of production; yet the total quantity brought into the country was less per head than in 1846-7. The seaports were subsequently filled with every description of foreign iron, and many of the furnaces and iron works were forced to stop work. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 Estimate of the Comparative Cost of Manufaduring Pig, Plate, and Bar Iron in Great Britain and the United States, in 1845. CRAWSHAY-COST. UNITED STATES —COST. PIG METAL. PIG METAL. Ironstone,.. 3 tons, at 6s., $4 50 Ironstone, 21 tons, at $1 50, $3 75 Coke,......1 " 8s., 3 50 Coal(Anth.)3 " 2 00, 6 00 Limestone,..l " 3s., 75 Limestone, 1 " 75, 0 75 Wages,........... 6s., 1 50 Wages............1 75, 1 75 General charges,.....6s., 1 50 General charges,....2 00, 2 00 $11 75 $14 25 REFINING-PLATE. REFINING-PLATE. Waste, 2- cwt.,......... $1 47 Waste, 1I cwt.,......... $1 05 Coal, 10 ".......... 1 00 Coal, 61".......... 65 Refining,......... 37 Labor,................ 1 05 Repairs,.......... 50 PUDDLING —BAR IRON. PUDDLING-BAR IRON. WTaste, 3j cwt.,......... 58 Waste, I cwt........... 86 Coal, 18 "......... 1 12 Coal, 18 ".......... 1 80 Do., 12 "......... 75 Wages and incidental,... 13 02 Wages,................ 6 15 $33 18 $23 19 From the above estimates, it will be perceived that the wages of labor constitute the principal difference of cost per ton; since which they have been much enhanced in value in both countries, while capital has become much cheaper. S TA TEMENT exhibiting the quantity and value of Pig, Bar, and Railroad Iron; also the value of all manufactures o of Iron and Steel IMPORTED into the United States annually, from the 30th of September, 1839, to June 30, 1855. MANUFACTURES PIG IRON. BAR IRON. RAILROAD IRON. OF IRON AND 3 YEARS ENDING STEEL. O Cwt. Value. Cwt. Value. Cwt. Value. Value. September 30, 1840 110,314 $114,562 651,117 $1,827,636 581,838 $1,569,944 $3,184,900 Do., 1841 245,353 223,228 1,388,157 2,721,937 465,069 1,064,960 4,255,960 Do., 1842 373,881 295,284 1,122,821 2,001,793 499,400 1,093,070 3,572,081 o 9 mos. to June 30, 1843 77,461 48,251 247,140 479,911 193,098 358,921 1,012,086 1844 298,880 200,522 682,729 1,201,915 311,544 446,732 3,313,796 x 1845 550,209 506,291 951,053 1,926,391 436,249 637,514 5,077.,788 1846 483,756 489,573 790,802 2,011,770 117,943 281,077 4,981,463 U 1847 557,114 554,486 841,166 2,303,759 270,733 680,438 5,201,880 t 1848 1,032,641 815,415 1,445,124 3,435,627 589,789 1,219,185 6,916,620 M 1.849 2,112,649 1,405,613 2,297,841 4,333,592 1,383,265 2,252,246 5,695,948 1850 1,497,487 950,660 2,412,421 4,403,867 2,840,733 3,738,034 7,078,603 m 1851 1,344,990 787,524 1,717,496 3,322,857 3,772,516 4,901,452 8,182,838 1852 1,837,474 935,957 1,799,261 3,642,332 4,912,510 6,228,794 8,014,618 M 1853 2,284,549 1,528,031 2,119,064 5,604,414 5,979,904 10,426,037 9,551,884 mU 1854 3,209,673 2,893,483 1,183,420 3,257,899 5,657,339 12,020,309 10,824,645 1855 1,978,495 1,979,463 2,338,216 5,938,732 2,550,327 3,993,900 9,819,461 Total.............. 17,994,926 13,728,343 21,987,828 48,414,432 30,562,257 50,912,513 96,684,571. S TA TEMENT exhibiting the quantity of Pig Iron, Bar Iron, and Nails, with their combined value; and, also, the value of manufactures of Iron not specified, including castings of domestic produce EXPORTED annually, from 1840 to 1855, inclusive. IRON AND MANUFACTURES OF DOMESTIC PRODUCE. YEARS. __ Pig Iron-Tons. Bar Iron-Tons. Nails-lbs. Value. Manufactures of. Total. 1840 27 52 2,403,756 $147,397 $957,058 $1,104,455 t 1841 95 11 2,387,514 138,537 906,727 1,045,264 1842 29 11 2,156,223 120,454 989,068 1,109,522 9 months to 30 June, 1843 13 7 2,629,201 120,923 411,770 532,693 H 1844 27 6 2,945,634 133,522 582,810 716,332 M 1845 2 15 1,353,967 77,669 767,348 845,017 M 1846 198 115 2,439,336 122,225 1,029,5571 1,151,782, 1847 82 57 3,197,135 168,8171 998,667 1,167,484 1848 16 30 3,157,219 154,036 1,105,596 1,259,632 9 1849 83 251 3,136,958 149,358 946,814 1,096,172 z 1850 25 338 3,814,488 154,210 1,757,110 1,911,320 1851 351 215 5,300,866 215,652 2,040,046 2,255,698 1852 105 51 3,637,195 118,624 2,185,195 2,303,819 1853 575 140 3,439,183 181,998 2,317,654 2,499,652 m 1854 2,239 467 4,236,505 302,279 3,908,071 4,210,350 1855 678 157 5,456,493 288,437 3,465,035 3,753,472 Total................. 4,545 1,923 51,691,673 2,594,138 24,368,526 26,962,664 I72 IRON TRADE OF TIE UNITED STATES. According to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, in 1846, the production of pig iron in the United States had reached 765,000 tons, and in 1848, 800,000 tons; but in consequence of the railway speculations in England, and the famine of 1848 in Ireland, the prices of iron again receded, and the production fell off three hundred thousand tons-still showing, however, that anthracite iron could hold its own under low duties, commercial disasters, and other depressing circumstances. In the anthracite districts of Pennsylvania, the pro. duction of hot-blast anthracite iron was unexampled, and in 1847 it had reached 389,350 tons, being nearly one-half of the entire production of the United States. Pennsylvania is, doubtless, the great iron State of the Union, and its soil yields that metallic product in the greatest abundance. The iron ores which are scattered over its surface are various in quality. The magnetic oxide found in the south mountain between the Delaware and Susquehanna, yields from sixty to seventy per cent. metallic iron; whilst the brown and yellowish argillaceous, or hematite, and pipe ores are extensively worked along the borders of most of the limestone valleys, and yield from forty-five to sixty per cent. The fossiliferous ores in Columbia, Union, Juniata, Huntington, Bedford, and other counties, yield from forty to sixty per cent. Iron ores are also most extensively found in the anthracite and bituminous region, and of the same character with the clay ironstone of England and Wales, which yield from thirty to fifty per cent. The species termed bog ore is found in almost every county of the State, IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 and frequently yields from forty to sixty per cent. The great abundance of iron and coal found throughout the State has naturally induced the construction of numerous iron works, furnaces, forges, foundries, and smitheries, where iron is wrought from a crude state into bars and pigs, and moulded into steam engines, cannons, anchors, chains, cables, nails, scythes, cutlery, etc. The rolling mills of this State, in 1847, produced 40,996 tons of railway iron; but in two years after, the production fell off nearly twenty thousand tons, in consequence of foreign competition, which reduced the price of rails below the cost of manufacture, and compelled the mills to manufacture boiler plate and cut nails, which were less affected by English competition. A comparison of the production of pig iron in this State in 1850 with that of 1847, shows a decrease of nearly one-third since the passage of the tariff of 1846. STATEMENT OF PIG IRON MADE IN PENNSYLVANIA, FROM 1828 TO 1847. Years. Blast Furnaces. Forges and Pig Iron Made. Rolling Mills. 1828........ 44 78 24,822 1830........ 45 84 31,056 1842........ 213 169 151,885 1843....... - - 190,000 1844.......-. - -- 246,000 1846........ 317 - 368,056 1847........ 317 - 389,350 1849........ 253 000 1849 - -253,000 Notwithstanding that Pennsylvania is now the great centre of the iron industry of the United States, there 74 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. are other States west of the Alleghany Mountains which possess great natural advantages, and promise to become her great rivals in the manufacture of iron, all kinds of machinery, and iron wares.* * The Report of the Commissioners of Statistics of Ohio gives the following account of the Iron production and manufactures of that State: In 1840............ 30 furnaces produced 28,000 tons of pig iron. 1850........... 35 " " 52,658 " " 1857............ 54 " " 105,500 " " which shows an increase of one hundred per cent. in seven years. " The manufactures of iron in Ohio have increased even more than its production. The multiplied and increasing uses in all departments of civilized life, create a constant and pressing demand for all its fabrics. Under this demand, and with the vast and various supply of raw material furnished in thirty counties of this State, the manufacture of iron has progressed most rapidly. In the year 1857, the value of iron manufactures, or the products of iron works, exceeded $7,000,000 (seven millions) in the city of Cincinnati alone, where more than fifty of the large machine shops, foundries, and rolling mills are established; and whence are exported to every State in the Valley of the Mississippi, the products of iron work to the value of several millions of dollars. The following brief table exhibits the progress of the iron business of the last thirty years, and is a fair index to the general progress of the State: Hands. Value. In 1840.............................. 1,250 $1,728,549 In 1850.............................. 6,075 5,779,495 In 1857............................17,000 7,000,000 "Estimating the average number of women and children to able-bodied men, a population of thirty-five thousand were engaged directly, and (taking into view those necessary to supply their wants) probably fifty thousand altogether in the manufacture of iron at Cincinnati. The imports of pig iron' at this place (and iron is brought here from several States) is in the aggregate equal to one-third of all made in the State, and is sufficient to employ twenty large furnaces in smelting ore. The exports of iron manufactures from Cincinnati in 1857 exceeded those of 1847, by nearly one hundred per cent.! "From the facts above presented, it is evident that both the raw material and the manufacture of iron exist in Ohio to a great extent, and are rapidly advancing. The value of iron products may be thus stated: Value of Pig Iron made at $30 per ton,............. $2,165,000 Manufactures of Iron,............................ 20,000,000 "In this business is employed, altogether, more than one hundred thousand persons. The iron business will undoubtedly increase rapidly, and we look forward to the time when not less than two hundred furnaces will be at work, and their product be at least half a million of tons." IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 75 STATEMENT OF THE PRICE OF ENGLISH MERCHANT BARS IN LIVERPOOL, FROM 1837 TO 1849. Year. Month. ~ 8. d. Year. Month. ~ 8. d. 1837 January 14, 10 10 0 1841 September 3, 6 10 0 February 24, 10 5 0 November 18, 6 7 6 March 23, 9 15 0 1842 January 1, 6 10 0 April 15, 9 15 0 April 1, 6 5 0 May 6, 9 0 0 May 3, 5 150 June 8, 8 10 0 May 19, 5 126 July 15, 7 50 June 18, 5 10 0 August 1, 6 15 0 August 1, 5 7 6 August 15, 7 15 0 September 1, 5 15 0 August 23, 8 10 0 September 8, 6 0 0 September 15, 9 10 0 October 20, 5 12 6 October 16, 9 10 0 November 3, 5 10 0 November 23, 9 5 0 December 3, 5 5 0 December 23, 9 15 0 1843 March 1, 5 2 6 1838 February 7, 9 10 0 April 3, 5 0 0 March 31, 9 10 0 June 16, 4 10 0 June 4, 9 5 0 September 4, 4 15 0 September 6, 9 10 0 October 3, 5 0 0 December 14, 9 15 0 December 4, 4 15 0 1839 January 10, 9 15 0 1844 March 4, 5 0 0 January 19, 10 5 0 April 4, 5 5 0 February 6, 10 5 0 April 18, 5 10 0 May 17, 10 00 May 1, 6 0 0 June 12, 9 15 0 August 3, 5 5 0 September 20, 9 10 0 September 3, 5 10 0 November 15, 9 7 6 December 3, 5 15 0 1840 January 11, 9 0 0 December 20, 6 0 0 February 18, 8 15 0 1845 January 6, 6 10 0 March 31, 8 10 0 February 3, 7 10 0 May 15, 8 5 0 March 3, 9 0 0 June 30, 8 0 0 April 3, 10 0 0 July 23, 7 10 0 May 3, 9 5 0 August 29, 7 15 0 June 3, 8 5 0 September 3, 8 5 0 July 3, 7 15 0 September 10, 8 10 0 September 3, 8 5 0 November 14, 8 5 0 September 26, 8 15 0 December 3, 8 0 0 October 3, 9 5 0 1841 April 3, 7 15 0 December 3, 9 0 0 April 19, 7 12 6 1846 January 3, 9 0 0 May 18, 7 5 0 February 3, 9 5 0 June 3, 7 00 March 17, 9 0 0 July 1, 6 150 June 18, 8 100 76 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. STATEMENT OF THE PRICE OF ENGLISH MERCHANT BARS IN LIVERPOOL, FROM 1837 TO 1849. (Continued.) Year. Month. d~ d. Year. Month. ~ a. d. 1846 July 18, 8 15 0 1848 June 16, 6 5 0 August 17, 9 0 0 September 8, 6 2 6 December 1, 9 5 0 October 13, 6 0 0 1847 January 2, 9 10 0 November 18, 5 10 0 February 2, 9 10 0 1849 January 12, 5 15 0 March 2, 9 5 0 February 9, 6 2 6 June 3, 9 0 0 February 23, 6 10 0 August 18, 9 2 6 March 23, 6 12 6 September 18, 9 0 0 April 23, 6 2 6 December 3, 8 15 0 May 5, 6 5 0 December 31, 7 15 0 May 25, 5 10 0 1848 January 18, 7 10 0 June 8, 5 5 0 February 11, 7 12 6 August 3, 5 10 0 April 7, 7 5 0 October 26, 5 5 0 May 12, 6 15 0 November24, 5 10 0 Ill 1849, a convention of iron masters assembled in Philadelphia to consult on the best mode of relieving the iron industry of the United States from its depressed condition, and drew up the following memorial, which they submitted to Congress: IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED: "Your memorialists, interested in the manufacture of iron in the State of Pennsylvania, ask leave to offer some considerations and statements suggested by the suffering condition of that industry. We are not unaware of the prejudice which exists in the minds of many, against the propriety of the government giving any attention to the grievances of manufacturers; neither are we ignorant of the grounds of this feeling. " It is a part of our purpose in this memorial, to lessen, if we cannot wholly remove this prejudice. On a subject of such importance, involving so many interests, in a country so extended as ours, it is to be expected that honest differences of opinion will exist, and sectional, if not clashing, claims will arise. The manufacturers of this country, whatever may be their troubles, must yield with all their fellow-citizens to that system of compromise on which all our institutions are adjusted. We cannot ask any legislation for our advantage unless it be, if not equally for the benefit, at least not injurious to the rest of the community. On this ground we are willing to base our present application for relief. We come, without distinction of party, and ask to be heard upon strictly national considerations, that if any enactment is consequent upon our petition, it may be regarded as permanent and not partial legislation. We ask not for relief to-day which may be withdrawn to-morrow; but, for a settled policy. We ask to have the wisdom of all interests and all parties applied to the prepara 78 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. tion of such a system as will be permitted to stand, subject only to the improvements which experience and time may dictate. " It cannot be questioned, that a large supply of iron is necessary to the rapid progress of any country in all departments of industry and the arts, in civilization and the material well-being of the people. The production of iron in Great Britain is equal to that of all Europe beside; while her consumption is equal to a million and a third of tons, or about 100 lbs. to each individual of the whole population. Belgium falls little, if any, short of an equal consumption for each inhabitant. Sweden would stand next in order but that she exports so much of her iron as to remain far behind Belgium in proportionate consumption. France consumes about 30 lbs. for each person, and of this, about one-tenth is imported. The rest of Europe does not consume 10 lbs. each person, and the remainder of the Old World does not reach a consumption of 5 lbs. In this respect, the enterprise and industry of the people of the United States have not permitted them to remain behind; so that despite of obstacles the most formidable and the most vacillating legislation, we stand in the front rank of nations as to the consumption of iron. Our consumption is equal to that of Great Britain for each inhabitant; but we import about two-tenths of the quantity consumed. Such is the abundance of raw materials, such the enterprise of our people, such the tendency to employ iron, and so. greatly are the facilities for transportation multiplying, that we might with certainty outstrip the world in its production. All that is needed to secure such a result is a steady home market. Penn IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 sylvania now produces as much iron as Great ]Britain did in 1820; her product has doubled in ten years, under great disadvantages, and in ten years of favoring legislation, it might be doubled again. Pennsylvania now produces as much iron as France; more than Russia and Sweden united; and more than all Germany. Yet how many States of the Union will ere long manufacture as much as Pennsylvania? for there are few in which the raw materials do not abound. Our population is destined to increase in a very rapid ratio; under a wise policy, the production of iron would far more than keep pace, until we should be finally as much distinguished for the consumption of iron as we now are for the production of cotton. "The policy of purchasing only in the cheapest market sends not only the people of the United States, but of all the continent of Europe, and in fact of all the world, to Great Britain for iron; for there the cost of making is one-half less than here, and in still greater disproportion with most other nations. The difficulty is, that the manufacturers and merchants of that country are not governed by the cost of production in selling their commodities, but by the extent and urgency of the demand. When there is a demand, the prices are at the highest; when there is not, the world is invited to a cheap market. "If it be objected to such a development of the manufacture of iron, that the cost of production is too great in the United States, and that we ought rather to import that which is purchased cheaper in other countries; the reply may be made that, Great Britain being the only country in which iron is sold at lower 80 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. rates than here, our demand could only go to that market; that if sound economy requires us to obtain our supply of iron in Great Britain, the same motive would send all other nations to the same market. But our orders alone could not be filled without so raising the price, as to preclude all possibility of our obtaining a full supply. If we should order from Great Britain in one year, additionally, half the quantity of iron we now manufacture, prices would go higher than they have been for a century, in England or America. The British iron market is cheap when you refrain from it, not when you press upon it. The cost of manufacturing iron is far from being the only, or even the chief controlling element of the price. The manufacturers and holders of iron in Great Britain are extremely sensitive to a demand for any increased quantity of iron or to any increased urgency of demand, whether from abroad or for home consumption. "A million of tons of iron, which is the amount of our consumption when the industry of the country is suffering under no depressing causes, would have cost in Great Britain, in 1843, at the prices then prevailing (taking half the amount as pig and half as bar iron), ~3,500,000 sterling. In 1846, the same quantity would have cost ~9,00(),000 sterling, at which price it was more economical to manufacture than to import. These high prices gave an immense impulse to the production of this country, and showed how promptly capital and enterprise combined to overcome an emergency by which the country was threatened with a deficiency of the indispensable article of iron. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 "Had we even a stipulation, by treaty, on the part of the government of Great Britain, that we should always be furnished with iron in that market at the low rates now current, say a million of tons for $20,000,000, how could we pay for it? We already import more than we can pay for in exports. " All the shrewdness and enterprise of our merchants are constantly at work to increase our exports; not only is everything exported that will pay a profit, but every article that will pay a freight. How absurd to suppose we could pay $20,000,000 additional for iron! Any attempt to supply ourselves with iron from abroad would, if persevered in, reduce our consumption from 100 lbs. for each person to far less than half that quantity, besides abridging our imports of other articles, and wholly deranging our foreign commerce. "As manufacturers of iron, we freely admit that we enjoy in Pennsylvania, and, we may add, in all the United States, very manifold natural advantages. If we could now boast that exemption from injurious rivalry enjoyed by the British manufacturers, during the rapid growth of their industry, we could safely promise even greater results than have been witnessed elsewhere. Look for a moment at the circumstances under which the British manufacture of iron was developed. There was no surplus of pig iron in any country of Europe, and the article was unknown in European foreign commerce. All that England ever imported was a few thousand tons from the colonies of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and this was finally cut off by our revolution. The English manufacturer of pig iron had no rival, and required 6 82 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. no protection. The only competitors in bar iron were Russia and Sweden; their prices, from 1780 to 1849, ranged from ~12 to ~25 per ton. But as if this high price was not ample protection to British manufacturers, the government advanced the duties fifteen times, between 1780 and 1820, without one reduction, increasing them from ~2 10s. to ~7 per ton, affording the double protection of high prices and constantly increasing duties. "Between 1780 and 1825, Russian and Swedish bars could not be imported and sold in England for less than ~20 or $100 the ton; this gave the English manufacturers entire possession of the home market for all purposes to which their iron was applicable, and yet their price was always below the foreign. " In contrast with this, the American maker of bar iron competes with rivals whose average home price is only ~8 or $40 the ton, and who, at present rates of iron in the British markets, and duties here, can put their bars in our market at $40, duty paid. It is true, they lose money by the operation, but they would lose more by selling at home and thus further depressing the markets in which they must sell three times as much as they export. Thus they preserve their own, and ruin the markets of their competitors. During the rise of this manufacture in Great Britain, pig iron was xworth in their market over 100 shillings, generally 120 shillings. The American manufacturer encounters pig iron sold in Scotland, for years together, at from 35 to 45 shillings, and which can now be put down in our markets, duty paid, at 60 to 70 shillings. " If we ask relief against such ruinous competition, we derive countenance from the fact, that British IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 manufacturers constantly appealed to their government for protection under the favorable circumstances we have noted. We have seen with what success. The time was not long until in 1825, the manufacture having attained ample growth and power, it could dispense with all aid, and defy competition. Great Britain had then risen to the rank of the largest consumer of iron in the world. " If this business has been overdone in Great Britain, the evil consequences have fallen upon the manufacturers. The public has enjoyed an immense advantage in the abundance of a material so important in every department of industry as iron. The fluctuations in price which have ensued from this large production have been of late years so great as to cast in the shade all other commercial changes of price. The range of these fluctuations in pig iron during the last ten years is from ~1 18s. to ~5 12s. 6d., and in bar iron ~4 10s. to ~13, or about 200 per cent. " In one extremity of this fluctuation, British iron becomes too high to import under a revenue duty; in the other, too low to admit of home production. In the one extreme, we cannot afford to use it; in the other, it paralyzes our efforts to manufacture for ourselves. " The legislation asked by American manufacturers deserves not the odium so frequently heaped upon it. We know that we can furnish to the consumers of this country a million of tons of iron cheaper and better than it can be had abroad. We ask for defence against those commercial fluctuations which occur in Great Britain, from causes wholly originating there, and 84 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. which, while they thrust down the prices of iron there far below the cost of making, throw large and irregular quantities into our ports, disturbing the regular course of industry here; breaking down our markets, and carrying ruin at each such invasion, into many establishments. If we ask aid against such irregularities, it is no more than we should be obliged to do, if the manufacture in the United States were as greatly developed as in Great Britain, and enjoying, in all respects, equal advantages. If that were the case, each of the equally powerful competitors would seek to relieve their home markets in seasons of depression, by thrusting the rejected surplus upon his rival; and each would seize the opportunity of high prices in the other to make large exports, until both markets, unable to maintain any high prices to compensate for unfavorable periods, would sink into hopeless depression, and the business perish or be greatly impaired. Against such consequences both would appeal to their respective governments for protection; not for monopoly; for that security against ruinous fluctuations, and that regularity in sales indispensable to the success of industry. Competitors at home can observe their mutual progress, and take their measures of defence in time, but that competition which comes from abroad, cannot be watched, nor preparation made for its sudden inroads. If the British manufacturer is prevented from flooding our markets at less than the average upon which his business thrives, a mere revenue duty will be ample protection against the great advantage he enjoys, of employing labor at less than half the cost paid in the United States. "Among those most deeply interested in the vigor IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 85 and prosperity of our iron manufactures are the farmers who furnish food, and the planters and manufacturers who furnish clothing, for our operatives in iron. We cannot here fully unfold the chain of mutual interests which binds all branches of industry together, nor exhibit its strength, and the importance of preserving it unbroken. We ask attention to only a few prominent facts. When the ports of Great Britain were opened to our agricultural products, it was fondly hoped that our farmers would find there an unlimited market for wheat and maize. At the present moment, however, these are very little higher in Liverpool than in Philadelphia, and the pressure of any increased export would sink prices there below ours. At the present rates of iron and flour in Liverpool, the flour made from an acre of good wheat will about exchange for a ton of pig iron, and pay for its transportation to this country. If we take the product of the acre at four barrels, worth now in our market $18 or $20, it will exchange here for a ton of pig iron of far superior quality. " But farmers who feed the manufacturers of iron in the United States do much better than exchanging the product of an acre for a ton of pig iron. A furnace yielding 4,000 tons of pig iron gives employment to two hundred laborers, each of whom consumes annually fifty dollars worth of food. Of this but one-tenth is expended for bread; the remainder is consumed in the shape of mutton, veal, pork, beef, poultry, potatoes, turnips, beets, and other products of garden, field, and orchard; the production of which in great variety is an accompaniment of all good husbandry and profitable farming. To import 100 tons of pig 86 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. iron requires the product of 100 acres of wheat; but in our home markets the usual product of 50 acres will exchange for 100 tons of pig iron. An acre of potatoes, the cultivation of which does not exceed in expense that of Indian corn, will exchange for eight tons of pig iron in the markets of Philadelphia. The farmer who, with 100 acres "of wheat, prefers the foreign market, will receive for his crop 100 tons of pig iron, at present rates worth $2,000, whilst he who has a hundred acres of potatoes can exchange his crop at home for 800 tons of iron, worth $16,000. " Wheat sent to a distant market, which fluctuates according to the supply and demand, must be sold without reference to the cost of production, and without control of the producer for what it will bring in competition with all the world. What the farmer sells at home is at his own price, and is sold or held according to his discretion. Well-cultivated lands dependent on a foreign market may be worth from $5 to $20 per acre; those that have the full advantage of a home market are worth from $50 to $200. If the production of iron in Pennsylvania were continued in full activity for ten years, it would double the value of her own lands and make a vast contribution to the value of other lands and property beyond her boundaries. "What is applicable to the propriety of sending wheat to a distant market to be exchanged for iron, is just as true applied to the expediency of sending raw cotton to England, to be exchanged for manufactured cotton, or any other foreign goods. The cotton plantations can feed the operatives necessary to manufacture all their cotton; and such a policy would triple IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 the value of every cotton plantation in the country. To produce this additional quantity of food would probably require no more laborers than are now employed in growing cotton. It would only require that division of labor which is as important to the success of the planter and farmer as to that of any other producer. "To manufacture 800,000 tons of iron, the present product of the United States, gives support to upwards of 250,000 persons, to whom at least twenty millions in wages must be paid. Of this sum $4,000,000 will be expended in coarse cotton fabrics for clothing and furniture, $3,000,000 for woollens, and $3,000,000 for other items of clothing and domestic comfort. The $20,000,000 earned by the operatives in iron will thus be diffused over the whole country, giving vigor and activity to numberless branches of industry. The South will furnish cotton, sugar, and rice; the middle States, bread, potatoes, and meat; and the northern States, the products of the loom; whilst thousands of tailors, hatters, shoemakers, and other tradesmen, find constant employment in ministering to the necessities of the makers of iron, consuming themselves an additional quantity of food and clothing by a demand distributed in like manner. " It is said the domestic cost of manufacturing iron is too high to be sustained by any sound legislation, or to warrant any large consumption. We reply that our whole supply cannot be imported as cheaply as we manufacture it; for the reason that the cost is not the only controlling element of price, and that our large demands, if made upon the British market,. would quickly enhance prices far beyond the domestic. 88 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. rates. We must, therefore, manufacture at home at least three-fourths of our consumption; and, to do this, our manufactures must be maintained in full vigor by remunerating prices and a steady market. Iron costs twice as much to manufacture here as in Great Britain; because employers here pay double, and more than double, for wages of labor. The laborers of the United States can be fully employed at the high wages which prevail here, and we are not prepared to say that these wages are more than a just compensation for labor. It is certain, that in most countries where less rates are paid, a large mass of the population is in a state of destitution, and sunk to the lowest grade of human existence. In this country, where physical well-being is so easily attainable, should we not feed, clothe, and lodge our laborers in comfort, and keep them out of the poor-house? The wages now paid are only sufficient for this, and to enable the prudent to make some savings for sickness, reverses, and old age. We are not, therefore, in favor of any system which contemplates a reduction of wages, and a consequent degradation of our working men. We believe that the consumption of every country is regulated by the wages of the laborer: if he is liberally paid, he will consume freely. The mass of the consumers in a country must be the laborers; and, when these are able to exact a fair compensation for their toil, all prices must soon be adjusted upon the same scale. The manufacturer will demand for his product a price proportioned to the cost of labor; the farmer must do the same, and so on through the whole circle of industry. The laborer himself contributes to sustain these prices by a consumption proportioned to IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 his income. All persons concerned in this adjustment being in a condition to ask and obtain justice, the whole system of consumption will be regulated by the rights of all and the means of all. In this state of things, the largest possible consumption can take place; because it will be the result of a fair exchange. The stimulus to exertion and increased production will be complete, because every product of industry can be exchanged, at a fair rate, for other products. If no disturbing cause intervenes, the production and consumption need have no other limit than the physical ability of the producing parties and their mutual wants. " In full activity of business in the United States, our consumption of iron has reached 100 lbs. for each person. If no disturbing cause had interfered, we should now be consuming 200 lbs. Our farmers could amply feed the laborers needful to such an increased production, and our machinists and mechanics could soon, under the operation of such a system, work up and prepare it for consumption. Every branch of industry would have all the rest for customers; and, if all measured their values by the same scale, all would be rewarded according to their industry. It is well known that low prices of iron are no boon to those who buy to work up and sell, and that the seasons of highest prices are often periods of largest consumption. In 1847, pig iron ranged above 30 dollars per ton in this country, yet at these high prices the whole stock of that year, estimated at 750,000 tons, was consumed; all the old stocks and remnants were swept off, and it was perfectly apparent to those well acquainted with the state of the market, that there 90 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, was an actual deficiency of supply to the extent of very nearly, if not quite, 100,000 tons. In 1849, with pig iron at 20 dollars, and bar iron at 50 dollars, the consumption of the country has probably fallen off one-third, and the production one-half. With this diminished production, domestic stocks are now accumulating rapidly. Of the amount imported this year, a very large proportion yet remains in the market. The quantity of iron now on hand in this country is estimated at 300,000 tons; and of this, one-half is British. The manufacturers of castings, of machinery and hardware, now find that the consumption of their articles is checked, and that the low price of their raw material is not only no benefit, but a positive evil, and they are ready, equally with the makers of iron, to ask for a remedy. A similar result will be found by comparing all the periods of high and low prices. "To whom, then, inures the advantages of cheap foreign iron? Abundance of food is no more beneficial to a man in the agonies of a fatal disorder, than cheap iron to a paralyzed industry. The ability of the country to consume iron depends on the vigor and activity of all departments of industry. If agriculture languishes, the consumption of iron is diminished; if the machinery of the North is idle, or partially so, the demand for iron falls off; and so, if cotton or sugar are selling at inadequate rates. "At the present moment, various interests are suffering from the utter stagnation of the iron trade, as the operatives in iron will this year, 1849, consume in supply of their wants some twelve millions of dollars less than in 1847. This alone is enough to carry serious injury into numberless channels of industry. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 91 It especially affects the consumption of cottons and woollens; for the use of these can be abridged to a greater extent than food. All interests are, therefore, bound together by common ties; when one suffers, all suffer. It is a great mistake to suppose that the producers of cotton, sugar, rice, and tobacco, have no special interest in the activity of manufacturing industry in other States. A very large proportion of the cotton crop is now consumed in the United States, and thus kept from the British market, already so liberally supplied as to give British merchants control of the price. When British iron is exported to us for want of a market at home, we take it at our own price; when we order large quantities of iron, we pay what they can exact. Our cotton is mainly exported, disgorged upon the British market, and the price is made in Liverpool. When British manufacturers shall be compelled to come hither for their cotton, the price will be made by the planters. The present supply is so large, that the price is yearly the result of mere speculation. What is sold in this country is clear gain to the planter, as the whole crop would sell for no more in Great Britain than the quantity which now goes there. If half the crop were consumed at home, the other half would sell for as much in Great Britain as is realized for the quantity now exported. This result is not only attainable, under favoring legislation, but it might have been attained before now, by that wise policy which stimulates home industry to its utmost capacities. By such a policy, the consumption of cotton and iron could be doubled in a few years, with immense advantage to the wealth and happiness of the whole population. It is the 92 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. interest of the planter not to struggle for that division of labor among nations; which makes one nation a planter of cotton, another of sugar, another a maker of iron, another a spinner, another a weaver, another a tailor, and so on; but that division of labor which mingles these pursuits in the same country, in the same county, in the same town, and, to some extent, on the same plantation. This is the division of labor which begets a vast production and consumption at home, and an internal trade with which no foreign commerce can ever vie. " Who can doubt, that if the planting States were legislating for themselves, their first care would not be to become more independent, to diversify their labor and vary its products? What such legislation would compel them to do, they can now do under that national legislation which is invoked by others. They are already entering upon that career-it will be found not only the sure road to prosperity for them, but also for us. We so fully confide in the doctrine of the division of labor at home, that we not only trust that the cotton planters will manufacture as much of their cotton at home as they can, and feed the operatives thus employed, but also manufacture as much of their iron as they can. There is room for all, work for all, and market at home for such a large portion of our products that the remainder will not overcharge the channels of foreign commerce, and be sacrificed for the advantage of foreign merchants and manufacturers. " We object to the doctrine that industrial pursuits are subordinate to foreign commerce; and that the latter is to be considered as the rightful patron of in IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 dustry. In our view, industry stands first in natural order, and should be the first care of the legislator. Commerce is merely an agency, the charges of which, as well as its powers, should be kept to the lowest point consistent with efficiency. It may suit those engaged in commerce to insist upon the'Let us alone' policy, for, doubtless, merchants can take care of themselves, and thrive not the less, when the producers, from whom their profits come, are suffering most. The manufacturer has, in all countries, asked for special legislation, and under its good effects, the present manufacturing system of Europe and this country have grown to their present magnitude. The relative importance of the domestic production of this country and its foreign commerce, may be seen in the fact that our foreign commerce yields from six to eight dollars' worth of foreign commodities to the consumption of each individual of our population; whilst the domestic industry of the country furnishes not less than from 75 to 100 dollars for each person. Shall we pursue a policy impairing the power that produces the larger supply, in the vain attempt to add the worth of a dollar or two a head, to the quantity of foreign commodities consumed? And be it noted, that every dollar a head added to our consumption of foreign goods adds over 21,000,000 dollars to our imports. "If an ample supply of iron be indispensable to national progress and national welfare, and if the whole of that supply cannot be imported as cheaply as it can be made at home, the principle which should govern legislation applied to this industry, and to others in like circumstances, is clearly discernible. 94 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. If home production, on which we rely for more than three-fourths of our consumption, is not sustained in that activity which insures its proceeding with economy and advantage, it must flag; and the product being diminished, a greater demand must be thrown upon the foreign market, enhancing the prices of importation. But if the home production is adequately sustained by a free market, it can supply all the channels of consumption. Legislation, marking closely the line of vigorous production at home, will encourage importation, with the double purpose of obtaining revenue, and keeping the manufacturers at home to fair prices. "Sustain the domestic manufacturer at the point of full production, and then admit the foreign article freely. The more closely our revenue enactments approximate this object, the more perfectly will they encourage domestic industry, obtain the largest attainable revenue, and best secure the interests of consumers. The manufacturer, constantly struggling to keep up his prices, will be as constantly met by foreign iron, selling at such rates as to keep him to the line of public advantage. It is the operation of a well-managed competition between the domestic and foreign producer, which results in the greatest benefit to the consumer. If the consumer is driven to a foreign market for his supplies, or for too large a proportion of them, prices will be inordinately advanced against him; while, if the foreign market is prohibited, or too heavily burdened, the same undue advance may take place at home. But if foreign iron is introduced at the point designated, it not only works no injury, but produces positive public good, as to IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 revenue and prices, and also as to the increased consumption of iron. There are certain average rates at which manufacturers of iron in this country can live and flourish, and these rates are very little, if any, above' those to which the often recurring fluctuations of prices in Great Britain are carried. At these rates, which are easily ascertained by the legislator, the line of competition can be established, with the greatest advantage to the consumer. They will not exclude foreign iron, but frequently attract it. During the last fiscal year, the very large importation of 315,000 tons of iron has taken place. Of this, much the larger proportion has probably been sent to us on foreign account, because there was no demand at home; it was sent to save the home market, already broken down, from further depression. It has broken down our markets; and if sold at present rates, will not yield the makers a penny of profit. This iron, coming thus to a bad market, came because it would have been worse for the holders to keep it at home. If previous legislation had shielded our market, so as to maintain prices remunerating to our manufacturers, the additional duty necessary for this purpose would not have deterred the export of iron to this country; for, while those who shipped it to our ports must have paid a higher duty, they would have realized better prices. A ton of iron rails, under the present tariff, at the prices prevailing in 1846 and 1847, was charged with the duty of twenty dollars, which was almost prohibitory, and therefore produced little revenue, making foreign rails cost 90 dollars per ton. During the year 1849, a ton of rails has been charged with only eight dollars, and has, of course, produced but 96 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. little revenue; whilst a ton of rails were laid down in our market at 45 dollars, injuring the domestic producer to an extent that is incalculable. A system of revenue which would meet the low prices by a proportionate increase of duty, and make provision for high rates by a like reduction, never excluding the foreign iron, would, we believe, meet the exigencies of domestic industry, and greatly increase the revenue. Whatever may be the advantages of the ad valorem system in other cases, they are more than neutralized by the fluctuations of the prices of British iron. It is true that a part of this objection applies with equal force to specific duties; for, when these are high enough to meet the difficulty of low prices, they become prohibitory when prices rise. These considerations furnish a strong inducement for special provisions in our revenue system in regard to foreign iron. A system could thus be devised which would give a mighty impetus to the production and consumption of iron, and to other dependent branches of industry. A home competition could be thus insured, which would, in the end, reduce the price of iron to the lowest limits consistent with undiminished production. Under such a policy, we should soon surpass Great Britain in the quantity of iron made and consumed, as much as we do now in the quality. We should employ hosts of laborers, and attract them hither from all quarters of the world; and for every million of people which this scene of industry would draw to our shores, we should be furnished with an additional home market, equivalent in amount, and far more remunerative, than the average export of our foreign trade. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 "In closing this memorial, we ask your intervention in our favor, and the insertion of such provisions in our revenue laws as will'regulate commerce with foreign nations' in iron, and exclude from our markets the results of those destructive fluctuations and irregularities which originate in foreign causes, and should expend their force on foreign shores. This being done, we only ask further that such duties be imposed upon foreign iron as will bring the largest revenue to the public treasury." RESOLUTIONS. 1. Resolved, That a crisis has arisen in the iron business which calls for the immediate revision of the revenue laws, so far as that article is concerned, and that the number of establishments which have already been forced to suspend by the influx of foreign iron, proves that without such a change, the business cannot permanently sustain itself in its rightful position, as a great branch of our national industry. 2. Resolved, That the manufacture of iron is not a mere local or individual interest, but is of national importance, as affording a supply of a chief element of progress in time of peace, and an important engine of defence in time of war. 3. Resolved, That it has been the policy of every civilized govern. ment to extend a fostering care to the production of iron; and that the example of Great Britain is especially worthy of notice, who by an unwavering course of favoring legislation, sustained the business in its infancy, when its prospects, without that aid, were far less encouraging than they now are in this country, and never removed its protecting care, until it reached a development unparalleled in the history of trade; by which the consumer is supplied at the lowest rates, and the manufacturer defies the competition of the world. 4. Resolved, That in this country the development of its industry and of its various natural resources has been so rapid during the last few years, that the only remaining serious impediments to the establishment of the iron business here on a firm basis, lie in the high price of labor in this country, compared with that which rules in foreign 98 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. countries with which we compete, and in the enormous fluctuations which have prevailed in the price of iron. 5. Resolved, Thlat experience teaches that the difficulties produced by these causes cannot, in the present state of the trade, be overcome by any unassisted efforts on the part of the manufacturers; that the business is now prostrated, and wide-spread ruin threatened, because they are exposed to them, and that an efficient remedy is only to be found in the action of the general government. 6. Resolved, That in raising revenue by duties on imports, the government can readily apply this remedy, by imposing such a rate of duty as shall establish a fair competition with the foreign article, and, without prohibiting its introduction, build up such a domestic production as shall always keep the price of foreign iron in check; and that it is the manifest interest of the consumer of iron, who must in any event be taxed for revenue, to have this tax so framed, if possible, as to prevent the foreign maker from obtaining control of the market and fixing his own price, as he may do in the absence of domestic production. 7. Resolved, That the present ad valorein duty on iron might, as suggested by the late Secretary of the Treasury, be increased with advantage to the revenue, but that the ad valorem system cannot possilbly meet the true and mutual interest of consumer and producer, because the fluctuations in price are aggravated, instead of being relieved, by duties which increase as the price rises, and diminish as the price falls; thus subjecting the consumer, on the one hand, to supply his wants at extravagant rates, and the producer on the other, to a hopeless struggle against the cheap labor of Europe, combined with the immense capital accumulated in years of high prices at the expense of the unprotected consumer. S. Resolved, That the ad valorem system, moreover, operates Irecisely as if a new tariff were enacted at every change of price; tllt it encourages frauds upon the revenue, because a small invoice price produces a duty proportionably low; that it tends to throw the iLmporting business of the country into dishonest hands; that it offers a virtual bonus upon the consumption of inferior articles, and this operates to degrade the national taste, and retard the onward march of improvement, while, at the same time, its practical operation has not developed a single advantage which the " specific system " does not also possess. 9. Resolved, That specific duties, on the other hand, tend to coun IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 teract the fluctuations of trade, and insure regularity to the business of the country, as the producer can then calculate with comparative certainty upon the competition against which he has to contend, and can establish his production upon so firm a basis, that, on the average of years, as cheap, if not cheaper prices, are insured to the consumer. 10. Resolved, That the true test of national prosperity is to be found in the price of labor, which can only be maintained at a permanently high rate by opening every possible avenue of employment to receive the ever-increasing supply; that the ad valorem system of duties tends to narrow the field of labor, and consequently to reduce its reward. 11. ]Resolved, That the employment of labor in manufacturers, by diverting a large amount from agriculture, insures a home market and better prices to the farmer. 12. Resolved, That the cotton planter is equally interested with the farmer in securing large wages and diversified employment to labor. because it increases the ability of the community to consume, thus securing at the same time a large home market for cotton, and by reducing the quantity forced upon the foreign market, a higher price for that staple. 13. Resolved, Therefore, that the protection which this Convention desires, is protection for the government against frauds upon the revenue; for the importer against dishonest competition; for the producer against the unnatural fluctuations of trade; for the consumer against the high prices of iron, which are rendered inevitable by the absence of domestic production; for the laborer against the meagre rewards which a narrower field of employment must oocasion; and for the farmer and planter against the obvious disadvantages of a single market, and the loss of intrinsic value entailed upon his produce by the expense of transporting it abroad. 14. Resolved, Therefore, that it is the sense of this Convention, that stability and permanence in the tariff law, is the first and most essential requisite to a healthy state of the iron trade; and that, as manufacturers, we prefer the lowest duty that will enable us to prosecute our business, provided it be permanent, to a higher one with a prospect of a change in a few years, and that we are indifferent whether this object is effected by the imposition of specific duties, or the adoption of a sliding scale, so framed as to counteract the fluctnations in price. 100 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 15. Resolved, That this meeting expressly disclaims all political motives, and all desire to further the views of any party by its action; that it is our opinion that political agitation on the subject of a tariff upon iron should cease; that in all our efforts to secure the change which we ask for, we act only as business men, and that we stand ready to accept any fair compromise between the extremes of party, which will insure stability to the iron interest, and fair remuneration to the labor and capital engaged in it. THOMAS CHAMBERS, President. Cost of making a ton of Pig Iron on the Schuylkill River, at the Furnaces situated between Norristown and Spring Mills, in 1849. DATA. 22 tons of iron ore delivered at furnace,.... at $2 00 per ton, $5 33 2 " of coal in the furnace, i * " extra for steam, smith fires, etc., 2at 3 25 " 731 1 " limestone,..................... at 75 " 75 13 39 Furnace labor,................................ 2 00 Other expenses, labor, wear and tear, superintendence, interest, etc.,.............................. 2 11 4 11 $17 50 IRON ORE. Labor. Other items. Ore leave, 40 cts. per ton, at 21% tons, 1 06 Mining, $1 00 " 2 67 Hauling, 50 " 1 33 Weighing, etc. 10; 27 1 60+40 1 06+4 27=5 33 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 101 COAL. Labor. Other items. Rent,............... 35 cts. at 21 tons, 78Operators' profit,..... 18" " 40 Mining,............. 90 cts. " 2 021 Charges on lateral roads, at 25 cts.,........ 13 " 12 " I" 27 29~ Wear and tear, 15 cts., 12 " 3 " 6 27 Incidental labor,...... 7" " 153 Reading railroad, 1 30, 70 " 60 " " 1 25 1 571 Interest............. 5" " 114 192 1 33 299+432=-731 LIMESTONE. Labor. Other items. Quarry leave......... 10 cts. at 1 ton, 10 Quarrying,.......... 25 25 Hauling,............40 40 65 10 10 + 65 75 GENERAL EXPENSES. Labor. Other items. Furnace labor,......................... 2 00 Other labor and expenses,................ 1 11 + 1 00 Total general expenses,.................. 3 11 + 1 00 =$4 11 Forward Ore.......................... 4 27 + 1 06 = 5 33 " Coal,......................... 4 32 + 2 99 = 7 31 " Limestone,.................... 65 + 10 = 75 12 35+5 15 =17 50 The above shows the amount of labor represented by a ton of pig iron to be $12 35, and the amount of other items, not labor, composed of profits paid for the privilege of mining the minerals, coal operators' 102 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. profits, and interest on investments, etc., to be $5 15. Every anthracite furnace thus situated, making 5,000 tons of metal per annum, xvill benefit the folowing interests thus: Clear profits to the Reading and other lateral railroads, for transporting coal to furnace,. $1 62 $8,100 Rent to owners of coal lands,................ 3,925 Profit to the coal operators,................. 40', 2,025 Ore leave to owners of ore lands,............. 1 06 5,300 Quarry leave to owners of limestone quarries,.. 10 500 Capitalists and storekeepers,................ 1 18 5,900 5 15 25,750 Laborers engaged in mining and transporting, etc., and about the works,................ 12 35 61,150 17 50 87,500 Transportation to market, 75; and drayage, 50, 1 25) Selling and guarantee commission, 5 per cent.,. 1 00. 12,500 Storage, weighing, etc.,.................... 25) 5,000 tons pig iron cost when sold,........... 20 00 100,000 5,000 tons sold at present market price,....... 20 00 100,000 Profit to the manufacturer,........... 00 00 Cost of Merchant Bar Iron manufactured on the Schuylkill River, from Pig Iron costing 817 50 at the Mill. DATA. 1- tons of pig iron, at $1] 50,......................... $23 38 21 tons of coal at 3 25,......................... 7 31 Labor perton,....................................... 15 00 Interest, $1 00; wear and tear, $1 00; general expenses, $1 31,........................................... 3 31 $49 00 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 INTERESTS BENEFITED. Stockholders of Reading and lateral roads, clear profits for carrying coal, in making 11 tons pig iron, and in ByFurnace. ByRollingMill. Total. making one ton of bars,......... 2 16 1 62 3 78 Rent to owners of coal lands,....... 1 04* 79 1 83* Profit to coal operators,........... 54 41 95 Ore leave to owners of ore lands,.... 1 41 ~ 1 41* Quarry leave to owners of limestone lands,......................... 13~ 13~ Capitalists and storekeepers,........ 1 57~ 2 31 3 88* 6 87 + 5 13 = 12 00 LABOR. Coal miners and laborers,.......... 3 66 2 75 6 41 Labor for transporting coal........ 2 10 1 79* 3 89~ Mining, hauling, etc.,.............. 5 69 5 69 Quarrying and delivering limestone,.. 87 87 Furnace labor,................... 4 14 4 14 Mill labor, $15, and wear and tear, $1, 16 00 16 00 16 46 + 20 54 = 37 00 Brought down,................................... 12 00 49 00 Add transportation to market,............... $1 00 Porteragce, etc.,............................ 50 Corn. and guarantee, 5 per cent. on $55,.... 2... 2 75 Charges,................................. 50 475 53 75 Cr. by sales at $55 per ton........................... 55 00 Profit to manufacturer,...............................$ 1 25 104 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. Every complete establishment producing 10,000 tons of merchant bars per annum, pays to diversified labor, at..........$37 00 per ton, $370,000 To the owners of coal in the ground, at.. 1 831 " 18,350 To the coal operator, clear profit, at..... 95 " 9,500 To the owners of ore lands, for ore leave, at 1 41 " 14,100 To the owners of limestone quarries, for quarry leave, at............ 13~ " 1,333 To capitalists, for the use of money, interest, etc., at....................... 1 50 " 15,000 To Railroad and Canal companies, clear profits over and above expenses, for carrying coal to works, at.............. 3 78 " 37,800 To storekeepers and others, for merchandise, etc., oil, brass, fire-brick, etc., at.. 2 391 " 23,917 Cost at works, at.................... 49 00 " 490,000 Transportation to market, say at....... 1 00 " 10,000 Drayage and hauling, at......... 50 " 5,000 Storage and other expenses, at....... 50 " 5,000 Commission for selling and guarantee, at 5 per cent.,....................... 2 75 " 27,500 53 75 " 537,500 Cr. by sales at market price, at......... 55 00 " 550,000 Profit to manufacturer, at............. 1 25 " 12,500 Such is the catalogue of interests benefited by the manufacturer of iron; among which he distributes $537,500 in making 10,000 tons of bars, whether he derives any profit from his business or not. Is he not, therefore, emphatically wasting his time, money, and experience for the benefit of the public? To do this amount of business, his capital invested in buildings, machinery, and ready cash, must amount to $500,000; for which, on the supposition that he can sell his iron for $55 per ton, which is above the present market rates, he realizes about 21 per cent. per IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 annum. Such is the compensation he now receives, if indeed any, for keeping in motion a branch of industry which employs more labor, and disburses more money through the ramified channels of trade, than any other-actually creating capital which otherwise would never exist. When his works are in operation, he supports, directly and indirectly, more than 1,200 men, with their families, in all, not less than 6,000 people; whose aggregate earnings we have shown to amount to $370.,000 per annum. When such an establishment is closed by British competition, the means of living to these 6,000 people are suddenly cut off. Does any one, then, seriously assert that the laboring man and his family are not benefited by protection? The advocates of free trade, nevertheless, do not cease to tell them, either ignorantly or designedly, that it is the manufacturers only, as a class, who are benefited.* R REMARKS SUBMITTED BY THE AUTHOR OF THE MEMORIAL. A PROTECTIVE MARKET. There is great misapprehension on the subject of the PROTECTION asked for industry. The term is ill-chosen; because it implies special favor granted to particular branches of manufacture. But it is far from being a mere concern of individuals; it can be shown to be equally a matter of public policy. Suppose the makers of iron in Great Britain and the IJnited States to have equal advantages, and that the manufacture is carried to the utmost extent, and the lowest point of remuneration by the home competition in each country; and that the average price in each is the same. If any state of industry could, with advantage, dispense with protection, it would be the case supposed. But it would be clearly the interest of both countries to protect their home markets, even in this case of perfect equality. It would be sound policy to keep the manufacture of an article so important as iron in prime vigor and progress, that the quantit[might be increased, and the price reduced by the gradual process of home competition, which, in a protected market, is a severe but sure operation. One of the greatest trials the manufacturers encounter in such cases is, that fluctuation 106 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. The owners of coal lands in Schuylkill county, many of whom live out of the region, and are engaged in other occupations, derive an income of $1 83 per ton, on every ton of bar iron made; but when the works cease operating, this income is at an end. which occurs every few years in all mercantile communities. To bear up under all these, and maintain the full vigor of protection, is a hard trial upon makers of iron, the more so, as in their case their expenses do not admit of being abridged, nor can their manufacture be diminished under a limited demand without heavy loss. Seasons of depression must come in both countries in the case supposed-periods when the markets of each would reject and be unable to consume the ordinary quantity. It must be thrown somewhere, for neither makers nor merchants are able nor willing to hold the surplus of iron until business recovers its tone and makes its usual demand. If the iron thus remaining on hand in Great Britain is thrown into our markets, it will wholly break them down if firm, and increase and continue the depression if already down. Between the two countries, while prices were up, there would be no transactions in iron, but the conflict would be incessant in periods of depression. It may be safely assumed, however, that without help the manufacturers could never recover from such a conflict; a few years would end the struggle by prostrating a large portion of those engaged. The business would have to be reorganized. It would be sound policy, therefore, to protect each of these markets from the irregularities of the other. This course is best for the makers of iron, as well as for those who are special consumers, to whom it insures, in the long run, the cheapest supply. FOREIGN IRON-ITS INFIUENCE ON PRICES. As every country is dependent mainly on its own industry for its supplies, it is important that the industry which furnishes these supplies should be suitably sustained. The prices of the nine-tenths furnished at home should range at such rates as to keep the production active and increasing. Unless it can be demonstrated that the whole supply could be permanently imported cheaper, it would be suicidal to extinguish the industry on which we are dependent for nine-tenths, in a vain experiment to purchase cheaper elsewhere. The prices in the home market should be such as are made by fair competition in the home market, in which all parties interested can take care of themselves. If our iron is made at home, all the labor which goes into the cost should be adequately compensated; the farmer who furnishes food for man and horse, the manufacturer who furnishes raiment, the laborer and operative who are immediately employed in the production-all these and the consumers must settle the price; the elements are among them, and their combined action must maintain a result the nearest to justice, because they all look to their own interests. It is unjust and unwise to disturb and change this result by introducing a new IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 The coal operator, also, has a direct profit in every ton of bar iron made, to the extent of near one dollar per ton. The owners of ore lands and limestone quarries, who are in most instances farmers, may cultivate their fields, and raise vegetables for supplying the element in a supply derived without restriction or regulation from foreign trade. Upon that trade we are not in any sense dependent for pig and bar iron; we should, indeed, at this time, be makers and consumers of a much larger quantity than we have yet used, if we had not imported a ton of iron the last twenty years. We make the quantity we consume much cheaper than we could import it. Is it just that the tenth of our consumption which we import should regulate, to the injury of the makers of the other nine-tenths, the prices of iron in this country? Yet the price is for the most part controlled by the movements of foreign trade. It happens that our seaports are also the chief markets for distribution of our domestic iron. The prices of every country or district are made at its chief markets. If the consumption of iron on the seaboard is 300,000 tons per annum, the import of 50,000 of foreign iron will control the prices, because it comes in to be sold for what it will bring. It is at once offered below the domestic article, and consumers, seeing a disturbing cause in the market, pause until the effect is seen. A pause in the purchase of iron produces a fall, because some sellers must realize, and buyers take the advantage and keep it. The whole mass of the domestic iron is brought to market to keep pace with consumption, and the price demanded is a remunerating rate, and unless this is obtained the business must perish. The quantity imported is a mere overplus-a remnant from British markets, the sale of which at high or low rates is not a very important or vital matter to the manufacturers who sent it. At most, it is but 10 per cent. of their product, and may be considered as their profit, greater or less, as sold. What is vital to them is their home price; if that is fair on the average, they can afford to risk 10 per cent. of their production in our market. Let any one who knows how prices are made to vary, not only by actual events, but by rumors and suspicions, reflect upon the effect of an additional 10 per cent. of a foreign article thrown in upon a previously balanced market, and he will perceive not only the necessary depression, but the injustice of it to the industry affected. But there is a feature in foreign trade which greatly increases the mischief of leaving the market under its control. It is, to a most extraordinary degree, uncertain and fluctuating. The importing merchants are governed in some degree, doubtless, by the actual demand, and their imports might, if exhibited separately, show some regularity. But a large portion of the imports are sent upon speculation, and the quantity depends on markets abroad and the thousand contingencies which may determinelarger or less export to our shores. The irregularity of our imports of iron from Great Britain is so striking as to demonstrate the impolicy and injustice of making the prices of the domestic product subservient to it. Beginning with the year 1820, coming down to 1845, and 108 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. wants of the workmen, at the highest market rates, without the necessity of losing time and money in going to the city, and at the same time receive $1 56, from the iron manufacturer, on every ton of bars made, for the privilege alone of digging the ore and leaving out the fractional hundreds, the following figures exhibit the number of thousands of tons of iron of all kinds imported into the United States from Great Britain, each year in its order: Year. Tons. Year. Tons. Year. Tens. 1820,..... 8,000 1830,..... 21,000 1840,... 72,000 1821,..... 9,000 1831. 41,000 1841,..... 112,000 1822,..... 15,000 1832,..... 45,000 1842,..... 107,000 1823,..... 13,000 1833. 62,000 1843,..... 38,000 1824,.... 11,000 1834,... 47,000 1844,..... 102,000 1825,..... 13,000 1835,.. 63,000 1845,..... 68,000 1826,..... 12,000 1836,. 91,000 1846,..... - 1827,. 21,000 1837,. 54,000 1847,. - 1828,. 22,000 1838,..... 78,000 1848,..... 1829,..... 17,000 1839,...... 85,000 1849,. 315,000 These figures show a variation in the supply of iron derived from Great Britain of from 10 to upwards of 200 per cent., between one year and the next. Small as this quantity appears, compared with our whole consumption, it would always control the prices in New York, and thence those in the country. How little these fits and starts of commerce are like the sober pursuits of industry at home, where the annual product only varies to increase with the gradual increase of labor, capital, and consumption! How can it be just to make the laborer's wages depend upon the variable movements of foreign trade? MANUFACTURE OF IRON. We cannot manufacture iron in the United States as cheaply as it is made in Great Britain. Because: 1. The erection of furnaces and machinery costs from a third to a half less there. Iron enters largely into these constructions. The wages of all mechanics are not more than half our rates. 2. The wages of the operators in iron works are about half that which is paid here. 3. The cheapness of money there has etbled the manufacturers to prosecute their business with more vigor and more economy; and to introduce at once many modes of saving expense, the cost of which cannot be reached by makers here. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 109 quarrying the limestone, which, but for the iron works, would be utterly worthless. These advantages, however, result only when the works are in blast; for, when Free Trade puts out the fires, neither ore nor limestone are wanted, nor can the farmers sell their 4. The manufacture in its present improved processes has many years the start there. We might, and, with our home market secured to us, could soon equal them in all departments, as we do in many now. If we could import and pay for our whole supply at the low rates, it would be more difficult to refute the advocates of the cheap market. The iron market in Great Britain affords a spectacle of fluctuation and speculation which has scarce any parallel. The range of prices varies from below the cost of manufacture to 150 per cent. advance upon the actual cost. It has been with British manufactures, for the last twenty years, a constantly recurring feast or famine. Iron being an article not subject to deterioration, it is deemed safe to hold, and speculators step in when prices are at the lowest. Not only so, but at extremely low rates, iron enters into a large consumption for which it is too expensive at higher rates. At the low rates, this increased consumption begins; contracts are made, enterprises are commenced, plans and estimates are gone into, which produce, at last, an effective demand for iron sufficient to enable makers and holders to advance the rates in proportion to the wants of buyers, who hasten to supply themselves when the advance begins. These fluctuations in price cannot be wondered at if we note the progress of the manufacture. The following is the estimate of the quantity produced in the years named: Exported to all Year. Tons. the world. Consumed. Tons. 1810..................... 294,642 - 1820,.................... 368,000 91,766 276,234 1825,.................... 581,367 69,328 1830,.................... 678,417 130,417 - 1835,.................... 1,000,000 219,203 1840,.................... 1,500,000 268,328 1,231,672 The increase in product in 30 years was over 500 per cent.* The increase in the export was less than 300 per cent. The increased consumption was very nearly 500 per cent. There was in that period no parallel to this progress in the world. It is not hard to comprehend the share which this increased consumption of iron had in the material progress of Great Britain. If this manufacture is not overdone in Great Britain, it would be difficult to * The increase in 50 years was 100 per cent. 110 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, grain and vegetables to the workmen, whose ability to purchase departs with their occupation. The clear profit to the railroad and canal companies in carrying the one article of coal from the mines to the works, is $3 78 per ton of bars made, and when find any business overdone. It is only possible to keep up this large production through the operation of those fluctuations, by which, in times of depression, the iron is taken into a large consumption at the low rates, and by which the makers indemnify themselves for the losses of one period by the high prices of another. By this system, they export largely when they can do no better, and raise the prices so high at times, that exports must be greatly diminished. Upon this system of variation, the makers there thrive; but can these fluctuations be introduced elsewhere with advantage, or even without ruin? They are an incident to over-production there-they are an incalculable injury when brought to bear upon our industry. PROTECTION OF PRICES. As the progress of the manufacture of iron in Great Britain is one of the greatest achievements of industry in modern times, it may be worth while to consider what protection fostered and secured this wonderful growth. Previous to this growth, pig iron had been scarcely known in commerce. England had no rival in the production of that article that could disturb her markets. The price may be shown thus:.1782) (~3 00) to 20 years,..................... to Average 6E 00 1803) ~9 00) SO'3)( ~ 7 00 ) to o15 years,.................. { to Average~8 00 1818) ~9 00) s18) (~4 15) 1849) ~ 00, - l 0 to 2 9 years,...................... to Average e~3 5 1849 ~5 00 It will be seen that down to the year 1840 from 1782, in which period the production of iron in Great Britain had increased from 150,000 tons to 1,500,000 or tenfold, the makers enjoyed a price averaging over ~G, and very selden below a~5. Upon this price, the business flourished beyond precedent. After 1840, it became evident that there was an over production, and the British market broke down. The price of Scotch pig, which, after 1840, controlled the market, fell to ~2, and even below that rate. It became the subject of speculation and fluctuation beyond any article of commerce. It was the protection of this continued high price, for 50 years which stimu IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 111 such an establishment, situated on the line of these improvements, stops for a year, the loss to the stockholders and bondholders of these improvements amounts to $37,800 per annum. Besides coal, there is an additional profit in transporing other raw matelated the production of pig iron. The revenue duty of 27-1 per cent., was of no consequence; the importations of pig iron were too small to have any effect upon the markets. Large importations of bar iron were made into Great Britain between 1782 and 1840; but that it may be clearly seen how far this importation interfered with the domestic product, note the prices of Russian and Swedish bars, the only kinds largely imported. Russian bars.-1782 13 arom 0 15 00 t 19 13 yearse, frm ~16 00 Ar ~ 00 lo 8 years......... from ~15 00 Average ~21 00 1803 ) fom ~5 1803 (1210,, 18'20 017 years,.. from l.12 0 Average ~1. 6 00 1820 0 y er s00 520 y 9ears........om 00 Average 19 00 Swedish bars.-1782 fro ~14 15 e 16 00 "..fro ) ~19 00 Average ~2 1"..........from G 6 ~ ~ Average ~22 10 "r Iss ~ 180 so loy e ars,..... ~2 1. from. Average ~17 00 Since IS20 the average has been about.............. 13 00 The above prices are exclusive of duty, which was increased from ~2 16s. 6d., in 1782, by ten different advances, to ~G 10s. (and ~7 18s. 6d., in foreign ships), in 1820. These prices were, indeed, in no degree an obstacle to the British manufacturers; they were, in fact, so high that no heavy importations could take place. The largest importation in any year between 1800 and 1814 of bar iron, was 52,873 tons in 1802; during the nine years of that period the importations did not reach 30,000, and was sometimes below 20,000 tons. From 1815 to 1840, the largest quantity of bar iron imported into Great Britain was 25,033 tons, in 1836, but the average for the whole period was considerably below 20,000 tons. The British manufacturers required no legislative aid after 1800, yet such caution was used that the duties were increased from time to time to 1820, and were not removed until 1825. 112 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. rials, miscellaneous articles, the manufactured iron, and passengers to and from the works. Again, the capitalist and owners of bank stock, who PROTECTION IN UNITED STATES BY PRICES. The British maker had competitors who furnished iron exclusive of duty at from $65 to $100 per ton. The competitor of our manufacturers has furnished bar iron From 1815 to 1830 at $50- Highest $72 00 Lowest 31 00 From 1830 to 1849 at 38 Highest 55 00 Lowest 22 00 But low as the averages are, compared with those against which the British manufacturer had to contend, they afford an inadequate idea of the destructive effect of this competition. The averages are comparatively high from the excessive range of the fluctuation. For three years, from June, 1820, to July, 1824, the price did not exceed $46, and did not average over $42. From March, 1827, to July, 1836, the price did not exceed $46. From April, 1829, to October, 1835, the price did not exceed $37. From March, 1830, to March, 1833, the price did not exceed $33, and for a year of this period it was under 827. For three years, including 1841 to 1843, the price was at $24, and during 1842 as low as $22. It is such prolonged depressions as these which seriously injure, if they do not ruin, the maker of iron in the United States. He cannot meet such exigencies, either by reduction of his expenditures, by reducing wages, or by diminishing the amount of his product. He must continue his business at a serious loss for years, or he must stop and be ruined. It cannot be doubted that these periods of low prices have hindered the progress of this branch of industry to a very important extent. It is scarcely extravagant to say that with the same comparative protection which has been enjoyed in Great Britain, the product here would now have been scarce less than that of that country. If the home market had been equally secure to the makers here, as that of Great Britain was to the makers there, the consumption of iron here might now be 1,500,000 tons. The higher price would have been no obstacle, for where all labor receives a corresponding compensation, the price is no obstacle in the exchange of labor. These fluctuations in prices, introduced from Great Britain, have proved an incalculable evil to the whole industry of the country. The fact that a portion of our annual supply has been imported at a very low cost, much lower than it could be produced for here, is no alleviation. Instead of consuming more, we have consumed less. Our consumers say that they work up far less iron at the low rates than when business is proceeding on the basis of home prices. If, owing to the low prices of British iron, we consume 200,000 tons less of IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 113 discount the business paper of the manufacturer, pocket $1 50 for every ton of bars made. Besides the above-named, the draymen and the domestic iron, we prevent the circulation of a value of $10,000,000, which, at $50 as the average per ton of pig and bar, would be its cost in food, labor, clothing, etc. All who are concerned in this great exchange are thrown out of their usual routine of employment. The farmer loses his market-the laborer his wages-the manufacturer his living-all are made less able to consume, and of course others who are dependent on them feel and suffer by the change, until the $10,000,000, by endless ramifications of the channels in which its benefits would have been felt, becomes hundreds of millions in its consequences. The effect of stopping the domestic manufacture is to throw business entirely out of the usual channels. It is too absurd to be held by any one, that the elements which would go to make 200,000 tons of iron in the United States, could be made available to import that quantity and pay for it. If imported, it must be paid for in something else than iron ore, coal, wood, veal, mutton, potatoes, turnips, oats, rye, corn, and American labor. FREE TRADE. It is a strange feature of Free Trade doctrines, that while they regard commerce as the great patron and regulator of industry, they wholly omit to make any allowance for the effect of commercial movement upon prices. The ability to make goods cheaply implies, with them, a willingness to sell them cheaply, without change of price. If all taxes, duties, and restraints were removed from commerce, the advocates of free trade seem to think the very facility of movement and transportation would furnish all the stimulus industry requires. They omit -all notice of the fact that merchants, to whose tender mercies the producing classes are invited to commit themselves, are as much addicted to habits of thrift as other people; and that prices fluctuate more by these movements, and are more influenced by their operations, than by the efforts of producers. Merchants, in proportion to their number, are far better paid than manufacturers, and when the latter are starving, the former are often making large profits. It is quite as acceptable to the merchant to make a large profit on a few goods, as a small one upon many. The interest of the producing classes is to furnish a large product and a large exchange, that the comforts, luxuries, and benefits of mutual industry may be extended to the largest number. It is their interest to reduce commercial power and influence to its just minimum, because it is a charge upon industry. All the profits of the merchant are laid upon the consumer, and proportionably reduce the ability of the consumer to increase his consumption, and thereby make a large demand upon the producer. The truth is, that merchants have grasped a power and wield it for their own benefit, which enables them to oppress both producer and consumer. However necessary this may be, the merchants are certainly not the appropriate patrons of industry; they, as shrewd men usually do, take care of themselves, and whether 8 114 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. laborers along the wharves derive a benefit, and last of all, the. commission merchant is sure to secure a handsome living out of the enterprise of the manufacturer. All these vast interests are secured in their profits, trade is free or not, no men can be in a better position to keep guard over their own interests. They survey the whole field of trade; occupying an intermediate post between consumer and producer, it is their interest to buy as cheaply as possible and sell as dearly. It is at their instigation that the doctrines of fiee trade are so loudly proclaimed. They and their friends are no doubt sincere. There is one great fact, however, which cannot be explained upon their principles-that industry, widely diffused industry, manufacturing industry upon the mighty scale now seen in Europe and the United States, has grown up under the protection of commercial restrictions. The productive powers of man were never exhibited before the days of the protective duties as they have been since. Commerce was free when Tyre, Carthage, the Grecian cities, Alexandria, Venice, Genoa, the Hanse towns, Holland, at their several periods of prosperity usurped the trade of the world. The merchants were then all in allthe merchants were princes, the producers slaves. Free trade would rapidly tend to the same results now. If the question related solely to the prosperity of trade, there might be force in the position, that men in trade should be allowed to take care of themselves. The problem for solution is not what will most promote the interests of those engaged in commerce, but what will best promote the interests of all. So far from being that department of industry which most requires the care of government, or rather best deserves to have its wishes granted, commerce is really a tax, an incumbrance upon industry, to be reduced as far as practicable. It is the expense incurred in distribution-an expense which, like all other mere expenses, should be kept at the lowest point consistent with the end in view. What, then, will most promote the comfort and material well-being of the mass of the people? We reply, that industry which furnishes the largest product for the consumption of the masses, whilst all the producers receive, by a fair exchange for their labor, their full share of those articles which minister to comfort and physical well-being-that industry which, while it is thus successful in securing physical benefits, has a surplus large enough to maintain a good and efficient government, and all the advantages and enjoyments which belong to education, morality, philanthropy, and religion. Are these benefits to be obtained by merely removing restraints from the plans and movements of men in trade? This is no more true nor wise than to say that there should be no checks or locks upon the wheels which carry the goods to market. We must inquire what are the circumstances in which men will and can exert their utmost productive powers. Clearly, where they consider their compensation most secure, and where the division of labor can at once, and in the same IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 115 before the manufacturer can receive a dollar for himself. Are they not all, then, as much interested in the success of the business as he? Not less than forty millions of dollars are paid out every year in this manner to the public, through the locality, be carried to such a point that a large exchange of labor can be effected, free from the expenses of transportation and intervening profits. Producers being consumers, and these being also producers, that is their best business which is done most directly, because it is that in which they are most likely to obtain mutual compensation in the results of their mutual labor. In all large manufacturing operations, one of the first considerations entertained by those who contemplate such undertakings is, the facility of selling the products in such quantities as may enable the manufacturer to sustain his business at the low prices to which competition may force his sales. The ready sale of the product is vital to the business, even if the profits are reduced to zero. The annual expenses of a blast furnace are from $200 to $300 each day-an expenditure which will rapidly absorb the working capital of its owner, if not replenished by corresponding sales. LIn many of the iron establishments of this country, the daily outlay is equal to, and in some over $2,000. A regular market is, therefore, indispensable. The manufacturer may estimate with reasonable correctness the demand and the competition of the home market, but must be wholly at fault in conjecturing what interference may come from abroad. He knows that his market at home may be disturbed, and, for a time, destroyed by any undue ingress of the foreign article; for experience has taught him that his sales are at an end for a time, when a cheaper article appears. When this happens, buyers become "bears, and operate for a decline," and this they effect by ceasing further purchases, until the market finds its lowest point-that is, until the necessities of the manufacturer compel him to come to the terms of the buyers. NECESSITY OF A HOME MARKET. The necessity of securing the home market to the home producer may be thus stated. A manufacturer has observed that his country has, for a long period, been supplied with a certain article at a range of prices at which he thinks he could furnish it. He consults the consumers of the article, and they encourage him to go on, agreeing to give him the preference. He makes a large outlay, and begins his work. His goods go off freely, and he has the market. The foreign article must now be withdrawn or reduced in price; it cannot be withdrawn, for there is no other market, and the price is reduced. The home producer is now receiving his first lesson, and he must reduce his rates also, at the first stage of his operations; the foreigner only after a long period of success. It becomes now a struggle for existence, the foreigner having the accumulated wealth of a long career, determines to extinguish his young rival, and again reduces the price. The home producer 116 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. operations of all the iron works in the United States, when the business is prosperous. With what truth can it be said, then, that protection is a tax upon the many for the benefit of the few? It is true that iron, at the present time, is furnished at low prices by Great Britain, but let the home manufacture be deapplies to the government for protection, and though the whole array of free trade arguments are brought to bear against the application, it prevails, and a specific duty is laid which gives the producer a price at which he can maintain his production in full vigor. The foreigner, determined still to conquer the market, reduces his price according to the duty, or in other words, pays the duty and enters the lists again. At this stage of the struggle, the whole quiver of free trade weapons are let loose upon the monopolist, who is charged with receiving a premium to the whole amount of the duty, to sustain a manufacture that ought never to have been started. The absurdity of not buying altogether in this cheap market, strikes the philosophers of the closet so strongly, that they cannot express their surprise at the dull intellects of mere men of business. To resume our case: the home producer is again forced to ask further protection, and to say that his business must perish if he does not obtain it. Again common sense prevails over theory; a heavier duty is laid, and his business revives, though suffering severely from these interruptions, and by no means in the state of efficiency it would have been but for their influence. If it be supposed that the foreigner is unable to continue the struggle unaided, he applies next to his government for the removal of certain taxes, charges, duties, which bear upon his products, for the avowed object of enabling him to retain the foreign market, of which he is deprived. Thus may a struggle be carried on for many years, to the serious injury of both parties-perhaps to their ruin. The operatives engaged in the home product, thus injured, must suffer severely; while the advocates of free trade cry out "let them fight it out," the merchants, who are the real purchasers, find their interest greatly promoted by the contest, as the lion's share falls to them. It is thus, too, that the cheapness of a foreign market, which makes it the very climax of free trade arguments, is caused by want of demand for its goods; that want of demand arises from home production, which deprives the cheap market of their customers. The more the foreign market is thus cheapened by home production, the more the necessity is increased to afford protection to that market, on which the home production is mainly dependent. Individual merchants and consumers are always prompt enough to avail themselves of a cheap market when it offers; but nations should never commit their people to the absurdity of relying upon any market because it is cheap. The policy of a nation cannot be changed with the productions of a market, but it is the business of individuals to watch the market and operate wherever advantage calls them. The United States cannot obtain her whole supply of iron from Great Britain in one quarter of the year, make it at home the next, and go abroad for IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 stroyed, and it will immediately be dear again. It cannot be doubted, that if all the iron works in the United States should be closed for only one year, and we should depend upon England for our entire supplies, British bar iron would bring $100 per ton in New York, in less than six months, and the country at the end of the year would be bankrupt, by the drain of $40,000,000 of specie, to pay for it. it the next: nor can this be done if the quarters are extended to years, or to periods of five years. It is worthy of remark, that while free trade theorists cry out laissez faire, as summing up all the wisdom needed by governments in the management of trade, they stop the mouths of laborers, artisans, and manufacturers as not knowing, or not to be trusted with their own interests. Who are to be " let alone?"-the merchants. These agents, these buyers, transporters, and sellers of the products of industry ask, by their friends of the free trade philosophy, to have the whole business committed to them-to be let alone-while they exert every faculty, every nerve, and all the shrewdness, superior knowledge, and address they possess, under the stimulus of all the selfishness of human nature in the prospect of gain, for their own benefit. But let it be noted that the producers and the manufacturer do not cry " let us alone "-their cry in Europe for the last century and more has been for protection, and it has been accorded. Under this protection the products of Europe have increased at a rate fivefold the increase of population. But this let-us-aclone policy is put forth only in behalf of the foreign merchants; the merchant of the domestic products unites with his special patrons. The foreign merchant, whose business represents but a tithe of the business of the country, asks to have the interest of the ninetenths committed to him. This cannot be denied; let the manifestos of free trade be examined, and it will be found that they mock at the manufacturer, scoff at his statements, complaints and petitions. It has been so for a century; yet the doctrine of protection has been in the main the policy of every modern civilized nation during that period, in which industry and the arts have made more progress in one century than in thousands of years before. It is true, that in England, and in some other countries, some departments of industry have been so long and so fully protected, that, with the advantage of cheap labor and cheap capital, they no longer require protection; and the persons interested in these branches of production may now join in the cry of free trade, as they naturally wish to remove all obstacles to carrying their goods to all the markets of the world. These exceptions only prove their rule; they are exceptions only because the rule existed. Let manufacturers, small and great, then, be heard, not only in their defence, but permit them to state what is required for their security and their success; let them be heard and regarded as representing the producing classes-the industry of the country. 118 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. "But," say the advocates of free trade, "not so, we would pay for it by the exportation of our breadstuffs." Let us see. Political economists usually allow, for each individual in this country, a consumption of the products of the land to the value of $50 per annum. The number of people supported by the iron business of the whole country, is ab ovo usque ad malzrn about 600,000, who, at $50 per head, consume annually $30,000,000 worth of breadstuffs. If these cannot find employment in manufacturing, they must become producers, and thus is a home market to this immense amount lost to the present producers. The total exports of breadstuffs from this country to all the world, for the year ending December 24th, 1849, amounted to only $22,895,783, of which Great Britain and Ireland took $14,157,666, not equal in value to the iron we imported from that country last year. Thus it would appear that the iron business furnishes a larger market to the farmer at home, and at better prices than all the world beside. And furthermore, that Great Britain, which offers to make all our iron and everything else, takes less than the moiety of the farmers' products consumed by the iron manufacturer at his side. Instead, then, of discouraging the progress of the home manufacture of iron, as the advocates of free trade propose to do, for the avowed benefit of the farmers, no policy having this tendency could be devised more injurious to the great agricultural interest. On the contrary, that policy would be the best for the producers of this country which would tend to double IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 119 the present home manufacture of iron; in accomplishing which, they would at once make 600,000 new customers entirely dependent upon them for $30,000,000 of breadstuffs, which is more than the boasted market of the world took from them last year. Every complete iron works, capable of producing 10,000 tons of bar iron per annum, supports, as we have said before, 6,000 people, and makes a market to the farmers in the sphere of its influence to the extent of $300,000 per annum. Suppose 1,000 farmers to participate equally in the advantages of this market, supplying beef, mutton, pork, butter, eggs, vegetables, etc., this will give to each ready sales to the extent of $300, one-half of which will be for perishable produce that will not bear exportation. "But," says the opponent of protection, "it is unjust to tax the farmer for the iron used in making his hoes, harrows, ploughs, axes, etc." Let us see what this tax amounts to among these 1,000 farmers. One thousand pounds per anuum is a large allowance for the average consumption of iron among farmers; this is sold to the blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and makers of hoes and harrows, by the manufacturers, at say three cents per pound, which is $30 for each. Beyond this, the farmer is not interested in the enhanced prices caused by a protective duty on iron, because the main cost of his agricultural implements is made up of the additional labor put upon them. Now, if the duty is added to the price, assuming it to be at the rate of $17 per ton, 1,000 lbs. would pay a duty of $7 60, which, deducted from $30, would, if sold at cost of importation, make the foreign article worth $22 40. This difference, then, 120 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. of $7 50, is the utmost possible injury the farmer can sustain; while in compensation for this, if he can only supply all the workmen engaged in getting the materials, transporting, and manufacturing but 10 tons of bar iron per annum, he will sell them $300 worth of pork, butter, eggs, vegetables, and other products of the farm, besides making a market for his limestone, iron ore, lumber, and many other articles necessary in the construction and operation of an iron works. The loss to the farmer in time alone, not to speak of other expenses, in disposing of $300 worth of produce in a distant market, far exceeds the nominal tax he is supposed to pay for preserving a never-failing and invaluable home market, such as the iron manufacturer affords him. If we resolve our importations of iron and manufactures of iron and steel into their original elements of cost, we shall find that in this shape we have been large importers of British breadstuffs, coal, iron ore, limestone, labor, etc. Let us examine into this matter. The imports into the United States from Great Britain for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1849, were as follows: Tons. Value. Bar iron,............................ 173,473 $6,060,068 Hammered iron,...................... 10,595 525,770 Hoops and sheets,.........;.......... 11,174 543,256 195,242 7,129,094 Pig iron,..................... 105,632 1,405,613 Steel,............................... 6,690 1,227,138 Manufactures of iron and steel, etc.,..... 11,824 5,297,116 319,391 15,058,961 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 COAL USED IN THE MANUFACTURE. Tons. Of 195,246 tons of bar iron, ham'd, etc., at 5 tons per ton, 976,225 Of 105,632 " pig iron, at 2.......... " 264,080 Of 6,690 " steel, at 8.............. " 53,520 Of 11,824 " manufactured, at 10...... " 118,824 Total coal imported in the form of iron,.............. 1,412,649 IRON ORE USED. Tons. For bars, ham'd iron hoops and sheets, at 34~ tons,....... 650,817 For pig iron, at 22 tons,............................. 281,686 For steel, at 5 tons,............................... 38,468 For manufactures of, etc., at 7 tons,............... 82,768 Total ore imported in the form of iron............. 1,053,739 LIMESTONE USED. Tons. For bars, ham'd iron hoops and sheets, at 1 tons........' 260,32 For pig iron, at 1 ton,.......................... 105,632 For steel, at 24 tons............................... 14,216 For manufactures of, etc., at 242, tons,.................. 31,531 Total limestone imported in the form of iron.......... 411,706 BRITISH LABOR EMPLOYED. Three-fourths of $15,058,961,.....................$11,294,221 Number of workmen earning say $200 per year (which is fully 25 per cent. above the average of wages in England), gives.................................... 56,471 Persons supported, allowing 5 per head, gives......... 282,355 CONSUMPTION OF BREADSTUFFS. In Great Britain the average consumption of breadstuffs per head may be $30* per annum, which will give us * The average consumption of breadstuffs in the kingdom is set down by British writers at $38 per head, which would represent at that rate a total of $10,729,490. 122 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. the entire quantity of British breadstuffs imported in the form of iron for the last fiscal year, at.......... $8,470,650 The same number of people engaged in manufacturing a like quantity and description of iron in this country, would have consumed each $50 worth of the farmers' products, or................................ $14,117,750 which is almost identical in amount with our total exports of breadstuffs to Great Britain and Ireland for the last fiscal year. But it is not the American agriculturists alone whose interests have been seriously prejudiced by a policy which discourages the home manufacture of iron, and permits the British manufacturer to supply us with $15,000,000 worth of iron per annum. If we assume a locality in this country for the sake of estimating its value, where we may suppose this vast amount of iron and iron wares to be manufactured, we shall see that others who are interested in understanding the true policy of this country, have lost far more than they have gained, by depending on England for their iron. Let us suppose this locality to have been on the Schuylkill River, near Philadelphia, than which none other could be selected more favorable to the English side of the question. Profits to Reading and lateral roads, and Schuylkill Navigation, in transporting 1,412,649 tons of coal, at 72 cts., $1,017,107 Rent to owners of coal lands on do. at 35 cts.,........ 494,427 Profits to coal operators on do. at 18 cts.,............ 254,276 Ore leave to owners of ore lands on 1,053,739 tolls iron ore, at 40 cts.,................................. 421,495 Carried forward,........................... $2,187,305 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 Amount brought forward,................... $2,187,305 Quarry leave to owners of limestone quarries on 411,706 tons of limestone, at 10 cts.,..................... 41.170 Interest to owners of bank stock, profits to dealers in merchandise, oil, brass, etc., etc., belonging to the head of general expenses and interest, on 319,375 tons of manufactured iron, at $4,........................ 1,277,500 Total loss to the above interests in one year,........ $3,505,975 We need say nothing further of lost benefits, in carrying the manufactured goods to market; the passenger and merchandise traffic created by such an immense business and such a large dependent population; nothing of the enhanced value it would have added to all kinds of property; nothing of increased revenue to the State, arising from increased population and new taxables, as well as that which would accrue from increased tolls on her internal improvements; nothing of the immense advantage to the whole country of keeping $15,000,000 of money at home, to be used in developing the great resources of our own country in constructing railroads and canals to cheapen and facilitate intercommunication among our own people, instead of sending that much specie every year to England, the effect of which is to derange the regular business of the country, by distributing that great lever of trade-the currency. It would be impossible to calculate the loss which these and many other interests have sustained by discouraging the progress of the home manufacture of iron, under the delusive idea that it is the best policy to buy in the cheapest market; in which the money price, and nou the labor price, is regarded as the criterion of cheapness. 124 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. STATEMENT Showing the cost of making Anthracite Pig Iron in Wales, in 1849. ~ s. d. 2 tons of clay ironstone, at los.,............. 1 0 0 15 cwt. hematite ore, at 22s.,........... 16 6 2 tons coal in the furnace, at 5s.,............ 10 0 1- ditto, steam, hot-blast, roasting ore, etc., at 5s. 7 6 10 cwt. limestone, at 3s.,.................... 1 6 Wages,.................................. 9 0 General expenses,.......................... 6 0 Cost at the furnace per ton,................ ~3 10 6 Cost of making Coke Pig Iron in Wales. s. d. I ton of clay ironstone,...................... 10 0 1 ton of cinder,...................... 5 0 15 cwt. of red hematite * ore from Whitehaven, at 22s. per ton,.............................. 16 6 3 tons of coal for coking, at 4s.,............... 12 0 17 cwt. of coal for the engine and hot-blast, at 2s.,. 1 9 10 cwt. limestone,t at 2s.,..................... 1 6 Carried forward,........................ ~2 8 9 * As the price of this ore may be doubted by some persons, the items of cost are given as follows: The price on board the vessel at Whitehaven, reduced in s. d. August, 1849, from 12s. to.......................... 11 0 Freight from Whitehaven to Cardiff................... 7 0 Railroad from Cardiff to Merthyr, 25 miles,............. 2 6 Loading and unloading railroad wagons,............... 6 Tram way from railroad to furnaces, loading and unloading tram wagons,.................................. 1 0 Cost at the furnace per ton,.......................... ~1 2 0 It is very generally used throughout Wales and Staffordshire, to mix with the clay ironstone of the coal measures. + At Merthyr, the limestone costs about Is. 6d. per ton, but along the valley above Newport it costs 4s. 6d. per ton. Three shillings is given as the average..In some places they use the blast furnace cinder for a flux instead of lime IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 125 Amount brought forward,................ 2 8 9 Wages,............................ 6 0 General expenses,...... 6 0 Cost at the furnace per ton,.................. 3 0 9 STATEMENT Of the cost of making Pig Iron in Scotland s. d. 2 tons of raw coal, 4s,........................ 8 0 3' tons of raw ore (equal to I ton 15 cwt. roasted), 5s., 17 6 6 cwt. limestone, 7s.,.......................... 2 1 Coal for engine and hot-blast 1 ton, 2s.,.......... 2 0 Labor at the furnace,......................... 5 0 General expenses,........................... 5 8 Cost at the furnace per ton................... 2 0 3 STATEMENT Showing the cost of converting Pig Iron to Rails, in Wales. Per Ton. Assuming the cost of Pig Iron to be....... ~3 0 9 Refining —Fuel, 10 cwt. coke, at 9s.,....... 4s. 6d. Wages, refiner and helper, per ton..... 11 Breakincr and wheeling metal to forge,.. 1 13 per cent. loss on pig, at ~3 0 9,.... 7 10Cost of fining,.....................13 5~- 13 51 Cost of plate metal,.......................... 3 14 31 Puddling —15 cwt. coal to puddler, at 4s.,... 3s. Od. 3 cwt. coal to engine, at 2s.,.... 8 3 8 Paddler and helper,............ 6 0 Squeezer,......................... 4 Carried forward,................ 6 4 ~3 17 112 stone, because of the high price of the latter. No account is taken of that, as the loss in the quality of the iron is more than the gain by using the cinder. 126 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. Per Ton. Amount brought forward,......... 6 4 ~3 17 11 Rolling puddled bar.......... 8 1 extra boy at train, per day,... 2s. 2d. 2 ditto, Udragging out, at 11Id., 1 11 2 men weighing,.......... 3 6 1 man wheeling cinder,........ 2 1 30)9 8 3 — Average quantity rolled per day 30 tons. Ash fillers..........................- 7 4 Loss 6 per cent. on plate, at ~3 14 2~-, 4 51 Cost of puddling,.................. 15 5~ Cost of puddled bar per ton..................... ~4 9 8 The top and bottom of the rail is made from puddled bar re-heated and rolled, which costs as follows: Fuel-12 cwt. coal to furnace, at 4s.,...... 2 43 3 cwt. coal to engine, at 2s.,...... 8 - 3 03 Wages-Rolling per ton,................ 1 3} Heating "................ 1 81 3 0 Loss 10 per cent. on puddled bar at ~4 9 8, 8 114 Cost of making tops and bottoms,..... 15 04 Cost of tops and bottoms per ton,.............. ~5 4 84 A rail pile is 4 tops and bottoms, at ~5 4 84- ~1 6 2 3 puddled bar, at 4 9 8 3 7 3 Cost per ton of rail piles,............. 4 13 5 Finishing Rails. Fuel-12 cwt. coal to furnace, at 4s.,.. 2s. 4`d. 3 cwt. coal to engine, at 2s.,... 8 -... 3 03 Carried forward,.................4 16 5-4 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 127 Per Ton. Amount brought forward,.......... 4 16 54 Wages-Cutting, wheeling, and piling iron, 6d. Rollerman,........................ 5 Roughing down,................... 4 Catching,......................... 3 Hooking in,........per day, 2s. 9d. Heave up roughing,.. " 2 3 Ditto finishing,.. " 1 6 Catcher ditto.... " 2 0 30)8 6= 31 Heating, including helper,.......... 1 81 extra helper to charge,..... 2s. 6d. 1 ditto, coach,...... 2 6 30)5 0= 2 Wages to heat and roll,............ 3 8 ~5 0 I1 Sawing and hot straightening. 1 man, " 2s. 9d. 3 men, " 3s., 9 0 1 man, " 6s., 6 0 30 tons per day,....... 30)23 9 = 10d. Filing saws,.............. Cold straightening,..10 Dressing......................... 4 Patching,......................... 1 Inspecting........................ 1 Total-Hot and cold straight'g and finishing, 2 3 Loss 10 per cent., at ~4 13 5,....... 9 4 Cost of rolling and finishing, per ton,.. 18 3 _ Carried forward,................. ~5 11 84 128 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. Per Ton. Amount brought forward,......... ~5 11 83 General expenses —such as; superintendence of mills, engineers, firemen, masons, blacksmiths, fire-bricks, oil, grease, fuel for smiths, iron and steel to mend tongs, heaters' and puddlers' tools, sand, cinder and ore to line and repair the furnaces, renewal of castings burned and broken,......... 6 0 Cost at the mill,................... ~5 17 8SFreight from Merthyr to Cardiff,..... 2 6 Cost of i ton rails at Cardiff........ ~6 0 21 STATEMENT. Being a summary of the preceding Statement, showing the cost of Fuel, Wages, etc., to the ton of Rails. Pig at............................... ~3 0 9 Fuel-Finery, 10 cwt. coke, at 9s.,........ 4s. 6d. Puddling furnace, 15 cwt. coal, at 4s.,.. 3 0 Do., engine, 3 cwt. coal, at 2s.,... 8 Tops and bottoms, 12 cwt. coal, at 4s.,...... 2 41 Engine, 3 cwt., coal, 2s.,.... 8 4)3 0 - = 1 Rail finishing, furnace, 12 cwt. coal, 4s.,................. 2 42 cwt. coal, engine, at 2s.,........ 8 Total cost of fuel to the ton of rails,... 12 0 Wages-Finery,....................... 1 03 Puddling and rolling puddled bar,..... 7 4 ~ wages tops and bottoms,..4)3 0 = 9 Heating and rolling rails,............ 3 8 Straightening and finishing rails,...... 2 3 Total cost of labor to the ton of rails,. 15 0,Carriod forward,................. 7 )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~' IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 129 Amount brought forward,......... ~4 9~ This amount was reduced 10 per cent., on account of the selling price of rails going below cost-15s. O0d. less 10 per cent., or Is. 6d. = 13s. 6Od., which is the present actual cost of labor per ton of rails finished. Losses in Manufacture, s. d. Finery, 13 per cent. on Pig at ~3 0 9 = 7 101 Puddling, 6 per cent. on Plate at 3 14 21- 4 54 tops and bottoms 10 per cent. on puddled bar at,......... 4 9 8 = 2 2 Rails, 10 per cent. on rail piles, 4 13 5 = 9 4 Total cost of losses,................ 1 3 11 General expenses, as before,.......... 6 0 Cost of the mill,................... 5 17 81 Freight,........................... 2 6 Cost of 1 ton rails at Cardiff,........ ~6 0 21 S TA TEMENT showing difference in cost in English and American Labor in the Rolling Mill.. l LABOR. - i i Puddler and his helper......... $3 50 6s. Od. $1 291 Rolling and puddled bar........ 72 8 141 Sundry labor,................ 82~ 1 8: 37~ Shearing iron for piles,......... 21 6: 11 Heater and his helper.......... 87 1 81 37 Rolling..................... 85 1 42 Straightening and finishing,..... 1 31 2 48 Sundry labor................ 1 25-1 3 5 American labor to ton iron,........ $9 61 English labor to ton iron, 1848,...... 15 0 English labor to ton iron, 1849................ $3 251 9 130 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. This does not show the entire labor in the rolling mill to the ton of iron, as in England they include engineers, overseers, firemen, masons, etc., etc., with materials, grease, oil, etc., all under the head of General Expenses. To make the American account correspond, these items have been omitted: They amount to........................ $1 38Add as above,.......................... 9 61American cost of labor,.................. $11 00 And by proportion the English labor,....... 3 11 Or very nearly i the amount paid in this country. Average and Comparative View of Prices of Pig Iron in Glasgow, for the last twenty years. Year. ~ 8. d. Year. ~ s. d. Year. ~ 8. d. 1830,.... 5 0 0 1835,..... 4 10'0 1840,..... 3 15 0 1831,.... 4 10 0 1836,..... 6 15 0 1841,..... 3 0 0 1832,.... 4 10 0 1837,..... 4 0 0 1842,...... 2 10 0 1833,.... 4 0 0 1838,..... 4 0 0 1843,..... 2 16 0 1834,.... 4 5 0 1839,..... 4 10 0 Month. 1844. 1845. 1":.M 1847. 1848. 1849. ~ 8. d. ~ 8. d~. ~ 8. d ~ 8. d. s. d. January,.. 2 0 0 3 5 0 4 0 0 3 13 4 2 7 8 2 7 0 February,. 2 5 0 3 14 0 3 17 6 3 13 4 2 9 8 2 11 7 March,... 2 10 0 5 5 0 3 10 0 3 11 1 2 4 6 2 9 9 April,.... 3 5 0 5 7 6 3 6 0 3 10 8 2 1 8 2 8 0 May,. 3 5 0 4 8 0 3 10 0 3 5 3 2 4 2 2 3 9 June,.... 3 5 0 3 5 0 3 8 0 3 5 0 2 3 0 2 4 4 July,..... 3 0 0 3 5 0 310 0 3 8 1 2 5 3 2 6 0 August,... 2 15 0 3 7 6 3 15 0 3 7 9 2 4 6 2 5 4 September, 2 10 0 4 2 0 3 13 6 3 6 0 2 410 2 4 0 October,.. 2 12 6 4 10 0 3 9 6 2 19 10 2 2 9 2 210 November, 2 12 6 3 17 6 3 9 0 2 11 0 2 1 9 2 4 3 December, 2 17 6 3 16 0 3 12 6 2 7 6 2 2 0 2 7 2 Average, 2 14 0 4 0 3 3 11 9 3 5 0 2 4 4 2 6 1 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 Average price for the five years, 1840 to 1844,...... 59s. 2d. it" " 1845 to 1849,...... 61s. 5d. 6" ten years, 1840 to 1849,...... 60s. 3d. In the same year, the iron masters of Pennsylvania memorialized Congress; those of Maryland also held a meeting to examine into and report upon the cause of the depressed condition of the iron manufactures of that State. This report states, " that, previous to the passage of the tariff of 1846, there were in Maryland thirty-one furnaces and five rolling mills (of these, eleven furnaces and four rolling mills had been stopped), which produced, when in operation, 55,000 tons of pig iron, and 20,000 tons of bars and rails, per annum; the manufacture of which gave support to upwards of 50,000 persons; while in the coasting trade incident to it, a large number of men and vessels were employed in transporting a great proportion of the pig iron and rails to other States in the Union. That the chief cause of this extraordinary depression of the iron trade could be traced to the surplus production thrown upon the American market in 1848 and 1849 by the English manufacturer, glutting it, and thereby causing the stoppage of most of the iron works of that State. That the English and Scotch iron masters have perfect control over their labor, until it is reduced almost to the point of subsistencewhile in the United States, the demand for labor is such that the iron masters cannot reduce wages below the price paid to laborers in other branches of business. At the regular quarterly meetings of iron masters in England, the price of iron, for the ensuing quarter is always declared, and the price paid for labor depends upon the price of iron so declared. The 132 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. power which they possess over their labor in their ability to reduce the price, as the necessity of the case may require, and still continue to manufacture it. For example, during the years 1845, 1846, and 1847, the price of bar iron in Liverpool averaged respectively ~9 4s., ~9 13s., and ~9 17s.; and before the close of 1848, the price was reduced to ~4 15s., showing a reduction in less than one year of nearly fifty per cent. In Scotch pig iron, the average price in 1845 was ~4 5s., and in 1848, ~.2 2s. From the most reliable information, the cost of charcoal pig iron in the vicinity of Baltimore was from $22 00 to $23 50 per ton. The experience of the last four years has shown that the ad valorem duty, without a minimum, as laid by the tariff of 1846, has operated very injuriously to the interests of the American manufacturer. For, when the price of iron is high abroad, the duty is high at home, giving to the American manufacturer an incidental protection, which continues so long as the foreign market remains high; but as soon as the foreign market fluctuates, the duty falls with it; so that at the time when the highest duty is needed to enable the American manufacturer to sustain a competition with the foreign manufacturer, the protection is taken away-thus acting as a sliding scale against the American manufacturer. When the tariff act of 1846 was passed, the thirty per cent. duty on the price of iron at Liverpool ($50) was $15 per ton: the cost and duty added, made the price $65. But, for the last two years, the price has fallen from $50 to $27 per ton, and the duty from $15 to $8 per ton, making the cost of iron and duty $35 per ton, a fluctuation of $30 per IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 133 ton. To sustain the American manufacturer he requires the reverse of the operation of the present ad valorem duty. When the price abroad is highest, he needs the least duty; and when it is lowest, he requires the highest. It is of the greatest importance to the prosperity of the American manufacturer that the fluctuations of the foreign market should have as little effect as possible upon the American. They may be lessened by a fixed specified duty on the part of the American government, or by a sliding scale of duties in favor of the American manufacturers-not against them, as the present ad valorem duty produces. Availing themselves of the low duties, the English manufacturers have sent large stocks of iron to the United States, which, from the very low rates of interest on capital at home, they can afford to hold until the regular wants for consumption absorb them." In 1849, the depressing effect of the free-trade tariff on the manufacturing industry of the country was severely felt. The power to import was chiefly maintained by large remittances of railroad bonds and other evidences of debt in place of the specie which was daily diminishing in the vaults of the banks. The price of labor rapidly fell, and thousands of persons were thrown out of employment. A financial crisis was evidently approaching, when, fortunately for the advocates of free trade, the war with Mexico, and the acquisition of the gold mines of California gave a fresh stimulus to commerce and manufactures, which postponed for a few years the financial revulsion of 1857. But how different would have been the condition of the country, if the tariff of 1842 had 134 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. remained in full operation a few years longer! In no part of the world had iron manufactures made more rapid progress, and in none were there so many improvements made in its production and manufacture. Furnaces were made to yield double the quantity, and the production would soon have exceeded the consumption; but, just at the time when iron manufactures needed most protection and were recovering from their depressed condition, the free trade theory of 1846 was adopted, which has ever since inflicted the most serious injury on the iron industry of the country, and retarded its growth fifty years. Everything now, however, indicates that sooner or later the protective system will again raise its head in the United States, and become a settled policy. Whatever may have been the exertions of the English to diminish, or to temper the commercial revulsions in the United States, and however considerable the capital they send here to purchase public stocks and securities, the want of equilibrium, ever subsisting and continually increasing, between the value of exports and imports, which can never be reestablished in that manner, and the consequent formidable revulsions, and their increasing violence, cannot fail to awaken every American to a full knowledge of the causes of the evil, and make him willing to apply the proper remedy. The following tables, collected with great care from the official returns made to the Treasury Department, show the actual condition of the iron manufactures of the United States for 1850. IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 135 S TA TEMENT showing the population and valme of the Iron Manufactures of the United States and Territories, for the year 1850. STATES. i' 0 Alabama,...... 771,623 $22,500 $271,126 $7,500 Arkansas,...... 209,897 - - California, 92,597...20,740 Columbia, Dis. of, 51,687 - 41,696 Connecticut,... 370,792 415,600 981,400 847,196 Delaware,..... 91,532 267,462 38,200 Florida,....... 87,445 - Georgia,...... 906,185 57,300 46,200 12,384 Illinois,....... 851,470 70,200 441,185 Indiana,....... 988,416 58,000 149,430 11,760 Iowa,......... 192,214 - 8,500 - Kentucky,..... 982,405 604,037 744,316 299,700 Louisiana,..... 517,762 - 312,500 Maine,........ 583,169 36,616 265,000 Maryland,..... 583,034 1,056,400 685,000 771,431 Massachusetts,.. 994,514 295,123 2,235,635 3,908,952 Michigan;,..... 397,654 21,000 279,697 - Mississippi,.... 606,526 - 117,400 Missouri,...... 682,044 314,600 336,495 68,700 New Hampshire, 317,976 6,000 371,710 20,400 New Jersey,... 489,555 560,544 686,430 1,079,576 New York,.... 3,097,395 597,920 5,921,980 3,758,547 North Carolina,. 869,039 12,500 12,867 331,914 Ohio.......... 1,980,329 1,255,850 3,069,350 127,849 Pennsylvania,.. 2,311,786 6,071,513 5,354,881 9,224,256 Rhode Island,.. 147,545 - 728,705 223,650 South Carolina,. 668,507 -- 87,683 Tennessee,..... 1,002,717 676,100 264,325 670,618 Texas,........ 212,592 - 55,000 Vermont,...... 314,120 68,000 460,831 127,886 Virginia,...... 1,421,661 521,924 674,416 1,098,252 Wisconsin,..... 305,391 27,000 216,195 [ Minnesota,. 6,077' New Mexico, 61,547 - Oregon,.... 13,294 - - [ Utah,...... 11,380 - Total,....... 23,191,876 12,748,727 25,108,155 22,628,771 136 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. The census returns of 1850 show a deficit, under the free-trade tariff of 1846, in the manufacture of pig iron of nearly two hundred thousand tons, since it went into operation, which was supplied by importations from Great Britain. The pig, bar, and wrought iron, steel and other iron manufactures imported into the United States, in 1850, amounted to $17,524,459; and the total amount of pig iron consumed, 1,042,929 tons. Actual condition of the Iron M/Ianufactures in the United States, in 1850. PIG IRON. Number of establishments in operation, 377; capital invested, 17,346,425 dollars. Materials used, and value: Ore,................ tons, 1,579,318 Coal,............... " 645,242,005,289 dollars. Coke and Charcoal,.. bush., 54,165,236 ) Number of persons employed, 20,298; average wages per month, 20 dollars 76 cts. Pig iron made, 563,755 tons; value, 12,748,727 dollars. CASTINGS. Number of establishments in operation, 1,391; capital invested, 17,416,361 dollars. Materials used, and value: Pig iron,......... tons, 345,553' Old metal,......... " 11,416! Ore,.............. " 9,850 10,346,265 dollars. Coal,.............. " 190,891 Coke and Charcoal, bush., 2,413,750 J Number of persons employed, 23,541; average wages per month, 27 dollars 38 cts. Castings made, 322,745 tons; value, 25,108,155 dollars. WROUGHT IRON. Number of establishments in operation, 552; capital invested, 17,033,279 dollars. Materials used, and value: IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 137 Pig metal,.......... tons, 251,491 Blooms,............ " 33,344 Ore,............... " 78,787 13,524,777 dollars. Coal,.............. " 538,063 Coke and Charcoal, bush., 14,510,828 J Number of persons employed, 16,110; average wages per month, 25 dollars 41 cents. Wrought iron made, 278,044 tons; value, 22,628,771 dollars. The total amount produced from the three descriptions of iron manufactures, in 1850, were as follows: Pig iron,.........$...........12,748,727 Iron castings,................ 25,108,155 Wrought iron,............... 22,628,771.... - $60,486,652 From which deduct the cost of raw materials, viz.: Pig iron,.................... 7,005,298 Iron castings,................ 10,346,265 Wrought Iron,............... 13,524,777...- -30,876,340 Total produce of iron manufactures,........ 29,610,312 Comparison of the principal results of the census of 1840 and that of 1850: Census of 1840. Census of 1850. Number of blast furnaces,........ 804 377 Tons of pig iron produced,....... 286,903 563,755 Rolling mills, bloomeries, and forges, 795 552 Tons of wrought iron produced,... 197,233 278,044 Out of the thirty-one States, at this period, ten had no blast furnaces, and twelve no works for the manufacture of wrought iron, although they contained large deposits of iron ore and some extensive coal fields. The day must, however, come when these will also take their places among the first in this branch of manufactures. STATEMENT of Pig Iron produced in the United States in 1850, together with the value of the production of the I" same article for 1840, the increase in ten years and the decrease in ten years. Go Raw Material Used. cie STATES. Census of 1850. Capital. a | Tons of Ore. Value. W Alabama,............ 771,623 3 $11,000 1,838 $ 6,770 40 $17 60 Connecticut,.......... 370,792 13 225,600 35,450 1 289,225 148 26 80 Delaware,............ 91,532 - o Georgia,......... 906,135 3 26,000 5,189 l 25,840 135 17 44 Illinois,.......... 851,470 2 65,000 5,500 15,500 150 22 06 Indiana,......... 988,416 2 72,000 5,200 24,400 88 26 00 Kentucky,............ 982,405 21 924,700 72,010 260,152 1,845 20 23 Louisiana,............ 517,762 -z Maine,............... 583,169 1 214,000 2,907 14,939 71 22 00 Maryland,............ 583,034 18 1,420,000 99,866 560,725 1,370 20 14 Massachusetts,........ 994,514 6 469,000 27,909 181,741 263 27 52 Michigan,............ 397,654 1 15,000 2,700 14,000 25 35 00 H Missouri,............ 682,044 5 619,000 37,000 97,367 334 24 28 New Hampshire,...... 317,976 1 2,000 500 4,900 10 18 00 New Jersey,........ 489,555 10 967,000 51,266 332,707 600 21 20 New York,........... 3,097,394 18 605,000 46,385 321,027 505 25 00 North Carolina,....... 869,039 2 25,000 900 27,900 26 8 00 Carried forward,..... 15,039,820 106 5,660,300 394,620 2,180,193 5,610 STA TEMENT of Pig iron produced in the United States in 1850, together with the value of the production of the same article for 1840, the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years-continued. -d Raw Material Used., e 0. Z~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STATES. Census-of 1850. Capital.' 0 c Tons of Ore. Value. Brought forward, 15,039,820 106 5,660,300 394,620 2,180,193 5,610 Ohio,.............. 1,980,329 35 1,503,000 1't0,610 630,037 2,415 24 48 Pennsylvania,.2,311,786 180 8,570,425 877,283 3,732,427 9,285 21 65 Rhode Island,......... 147,545 South Carolina,........ 668,507 - - - - - - Tennessee 1,002,717 23 1,021,400 88,810 254,900 1,713 12 81 Vermont,............. 314,120 3 62,500 7,676 40,175 100 22 08 Virginia..............1,421,661 29 513,800 67,319 1 158,307 1,115 12 76 Wisconsin............ 305,391 1 15,000 3,000 8,250 60 30 00 Total............. 23,191,876 3.7 17,346,425 1 579 318,,005 289 20 298 td STA TEMENT of Pig Iron produced in the United States in 1850, together with the value of the production of the A same article for 1840, the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years-continued. Annual Product. 1850. 1840. Increase in Ten Decrease In Ten x STATES. Tons of Pig Iron Other Products. Total Value. Products. Years. Years. Tons of Pig Iron. Other Products. Alabama,.522 $ 5,000 $ 22,500 $750 $21,750 -' Connecticut,.......... 13,420 20,000 415,600 162,375 253,225 -M Delaware,............ -- - 425 $425 o Georgia,............. 900 28,000 57,300 12,350 44,950 - Illinois,.............. 2,700 - 0,200 3,950 66,250 z Indiana,............. 1,850 -- 58,000 20,250 37,750 _ - Kentucky,............. 24,245 10,000 604,037 730,150 126,113 Louisiana,-........._ 35,000 35,000 Maine,............... 1,484 — 36,616 153,050 - 116,434 Maryland,............ 43,641 96,900 1,056,400 221,900 834,500 -- Massachusetts,........ 12,287 295,123 233,300 61,823 -- Michigan,............ 660 6,000 21,000 15,025 5,975 9Missouri,............. 19,250 - 314,600 4,500 310,100 - New Hampshire,...... 200 6,000 33,000 - 27,000 M New Jersey,.......... 24,031 - 560,544 277,850 282,694 -, New York,........... 23,022 12,800 597,920 727,200 - 129,280 North Carolina,....... 400 - 12,500 24,200 - 11,700 Carried forward,..... 168,612 177,800 4,128,340 2,655,275 1,919,017 455,952 STA TE1TIENT of Pig Iron produced in the United States in 1850, together with the value of the production of the same article for 1840, the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years-continued. Annual Product. 1850. 1840. Increase In Ten Decrease in Ten STATES. Tons of Pig Iron. Other Products. Total Value. Products. Years. Years. Brought forward,. 168,612 177,800 4,128,340 2,655,275 1,919,017 455,952 Ohio,............. 52,658 1,255,850 880,900 374,950 - Pennsylvania.......... 285,702 40,000 6,071,513 2,459,875 3,611,638 - Rhode Island,......... 103,150 103,150 South Carolina,....... 31,250 31,250 Tennessee............ 30,420 41,900 676,100 403,213 272,887 - Vermont,........... 3,200 68,000 168,575 100,575 Virginia.............. 22,163 521,924 470,262 51,662 - Wisconsin,........... 1,000 - 27,000 75 26,925 Total,............. 563,755 259,700 12,748,727 T,172,575 6,257,079 680,927 r12 b-s 142 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES, STATEMENT of Iron Castings produced in the United States in 1850, together with the value of the production of the same artide for 1840, the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years. STATES. Capital..g Capital~.! _w~ ~0 i Alabama,......... 10 $216,625 2,348 $102,085 212 Arkansas,...... California,......... 1 5,000 75 8,530 3 Columbia, Dist. of.. 2 14,000 545 18,100 27 Connecticut,....... 60 580,800 11,396 351,369 942 Delaware,......... 13 373,500 4,440 153,852 250 Georgia,.4 35,000 440 11,950 29 Illinois,.......... 29 260,400 4,818 172,330 332 Indiana,.......... 14 82,900 1,968 66,918 143 Iowa............. 3 5,500 81 2,524 17 Kentucky,........ 20 502,200 9,7.31 295,533 558 Louisiana,......... 8 255,000 1,660 75,300 347 Maine,............ 25 150,100 3,591 112,570 243 Maryland,......... 16 359,100 7,220 259,190 761 Massachusetts,..... 68 1,499,()50 31,134 1,057,904 1,596 Michigan,......... 63 195,450 2,494 91,865 337 Mississippi,.8 100,000 1,197 50,370 112 Missouri,.......... 6 187,000 5,100 133,114 297 New Hampshire,.... 26 232,700 5,673 177,060 374 New Jersey,....... 45 593,250 10,666 301,048 803 New York,........ 323 4,622,482 108.945 2,393,768 5,925 North Carolina,.... 5 11,500 192 8,341 15 Ohio,............. 183 2,063,650 37,555 1,199,700 2,758 Pennsylvania,..... 320 3,422,924 69,501 2,372,467 4,782 Rhode Island,...... 20 428,800 8,918 258,267 800 South Carolina,.... 6 185,700 169 29,128 153 Tennessee,........ 16 139,500 1,682 90,035 261 Texas,............ 2 16,000 250 8,400 35 Vermont,......... 26 290,720 5,279 160,603 381 Virginia.......... 54 471,160 7,114 297,014 810 Wisconsin,......... 15 116,350 1,371 86,930 228 Total,.......... 1,391 17,416,361 345,553 10,346,265 23,541 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 143 STATEMENT of Iron Castings produced in the United States in 1850, together with the value of the production of the same article for 1840, the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years-continued. 0 1850. 1840. STATES. aZ Products. Products. e p e Alabama,...... $30 05 $271,126 $27,700 $243,426 Arkansas,...... 1,240 $1,240 California,..... 23 33 20,740 - 20,740 Columbia, Dis. of, 27 05 41,696 68,000 - 26,304 Connecticut,.... 27 02 981,400 1,733,044 - 751,644 Delaware,...... 23 36 267,462 10,700 256,762 Georgia,....... 27 43 46,200 5,350 40,850 Illinois,........ 28 50 441,185 41,200 399,985 Indiana,....... 25 74 149,430 14,580 134,850 Iowa,......... 32 35 8,500 4,000 4,500 Kentucky,..... 24 89 744,316 164,080 580,236 Louisiana,..... 35 60 312,500 - 312,500 Maine,........ 29 00 265,000 56,512 208,488 Maryland,...... 27 50 685,000 312,900 372,100 Massachusetts,.. 30 90 2,235,635 1,798,758 436,877 Michigan,...... 28 68 279,697 57,900 221,797 Mississippi,..... 37 91 117,400 36,900 80,500 Missouri,....... 19 63 336,495 60,300 276,195 New Hampshire, 33 05 371,710 136,334 235,376 New Jersey,.... 24 00 686,430 405,955 280,475 New York,..... 27 49 5,921,980 2,512,792 3,409,188 North Carolina,. 23 46 12,867 16,050 -- 3,183 Ohio,.......... 27 32 3,069,350 784,401 2,284,949 Pennsylvania,.. 27 55 5,354,881 1,262,670 4,092,211 Rhode Island,.. 29 63 728,705 147,550 581,155 South Carolina,. 13 59 87,683 - 87,683 Tennessee,..... 17 96 264,325 100,870 163,455 Texas,......... 43 43 55,000 - 55,000 Vermont,..... 28 27 460,831 24,900 435,931 Virginia,....... 19 91 674,416 128,256 546,160 Wisconsin,..... 26 73 216,195 3,500 212,695 Total, 25,108,155 9,916,442 15,974,084 782,371 S TA TEMENT of Wrought Iron Manufactures produced in the United States in 1850, together with the value of the -' production of the same article for 1840, the increase in ten years, and the decrease in ten years. r. 06 1850. 184 0. Rhode Island,... 2 209,400 112,123 222 27 85 223,650, 223650 M South Carolina, Capital. i n Decrease in75,725 75725 Material. I n P rroduct. 1'roduct. Ten Years. Ten Years. Anelabama.se3 $7,000 $3,355 34 $15 29 $7,500 $4,875 $2,625 - Connecticut,.... 20 601,000 517,554 394 31 59 847,196 235,495 611,701 - Delaware,...... 3 75,000 35,410 47 25 53 38,200 29,185 9,015 - Georgia,....... 3 9,200 4,136 26 11 35 12,384 - 12,384 - 9 Indiana,....... 4 17,000 4,425 22 27 45 11,760 1,300 10,460 - Kentucky,..... 4 176,000 180,800 183 32 06 299,700 236,405 63,295 -- Louisiana,. - -. 88,790 - $88,790 I Maryland,...... 17 412,050 386,216 468 24 31 771,431 513,500 257,931 -- Massachusetts,.. 58 2,561,100 2,430,533 2,472 29 46 3,908,952 390,260 3,518,692 - Missouri,....... 2 42,100 24,509 101 30 00 68,700 7,670 61,030 New Hampshire, 3 7,000 11,575 9 31 34 20,400 8,125 12,275 - New Jersey,.... 64 1,300,393 566,865 932 27 31 1,079,576 466,115 613,461 - New York,...81 1,871,650 2,305,441 2,130 28 91 3,758,547 3,490,045 268,502 - North Carolina,. 30 170,609 50,089 262 10 43 331,914 62,595 269,319 - Ohio,......... 6 164,800 193,148 276 29 58 127,849 485,290 - 357,441 H Pennsylvania,.. 162 7,828,916 5,698,563 6,591 28 31 9,224,256 5,670,860 3,553,396 Rhode Island,... 2 209,400 112,123 222 27 85 223,650 - 223,650 - South Carolina,. - -. — 5,725 - 75,725 c Tennessee,..... 42 7/55,050 385,616 731 15 20 670,618 628,745 41,873 - Vermont,...... 10 77,200 83,094 79 32 08 127,886 42,575 85,311 Virginia,....... 38 747,811 531,325 1,131 25 41 1,098,252 382,590 715,662 - Total,........ 552 17,033,279 13,524,777 16,110 22,628,771 12,820,145 10,330,582 521,956 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 In 1851, the United States produced but 413,000 tons and imported 464,559 tons of all descriptions of iron, showing a falling off of more than one-half of the production of 1846-7. In 1852, the production of pig iron reached 540,755 tons, and the importation 501,158 tons, which was nearly one-half of the entire exports of Great Britain for that year. Statement showing from what countries the deficiency of iron was supplied for the year 1852. Imported from Kind. Tons. Value. Great Britain,...... Pig.......... 91,149 $927,055 Old and Scrap,. 6,049 81,554 "...... Castings,..... 351 18,114 "...... Bar,......... 318,236 8,967,669 "...... Steel,........ 8,550 1,629,222 9"...... RI ods, hoop, sheet 19,125 789,140 "...... i Manufactures, 76, 823 6,065,918 France,............ Manufactures,. - 240,'790 Sweden and Norway,. Bar,......... 14,104 751,050 " it Steel,........ 365 22,624 Russia,............ Bar,......... 142 7,984............ Sheet,........ 2,315 312,106 Belgrium,.......... Manufactures,. - 424,029.........Others,...... 698 Other countries,..... Manufactures,. 411,982 Total,............................ $20,661,592 This great increase in the imports of iron and steel must not, however, be attributed so much to the rapid increase of population, as to the combined effect of the free trade tariff of 1846 and the great influx of gold from California, which gave a stimulus to commerce and manufactures. In the same year, Mr. Renton, of New Jersey, took out a patent for reducing the ores directly into malleable iron, which was afterwards carried out extensively in several of the States. 10 146 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. Comparative Statement of the Qwarterly Price of.Refined Bar Iron at the Ports of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore; with the Quarterly and Annual Average Price at the above four Ports for the last seventeen years. 1840. 1841. PORTS. Philadelphia,.. _ _ Baltimore,.... - - - Av'ge of4 ports, 101 001 95 25 89 75 84 00 81 25 81 25 78 50 78 50 Yearly average, - - - 92 50 _ _ _ 79 87 1842. 1843. PORTS. s d New York,..... Philadelphia,.. Baltimore,.......... Av'ge of 4ports, 71 25 75 75 67 25 70 75 69 25.69 50 64 501 69 50 Yearly average, - - - 71 25 - - - 68 19 1844. 1845. PORTS. h Boston,...... $67 50 $72 50 70 75 $71 75 $78 25 $93 75 $81 50$92 50 NewYork.... - - - 77 50 80 00 82 50 Philadelphia,.. - - Baltimore, - - -.- - Av'geof4ports, 6'7 50'72 50 o70 75 71'75'78 25 85 62 80 75 87 50 Yearly average, - - | -' 70 62| - - I - - 83 03',',,=,.,.y=,,,,r=~,,,,....~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 Comparative Statement of the Quarterly Price of Refined Bar Iron at the Ports of Boston., New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore; with the Qiarterly and Annual Average Price at the above four Ports for the last seventeen years-continued. 1846. 1847. PORTS. _ _ o.... Boston....... $s88 00 $89 50 $86 00 $89'75 $82 75 $79 00 $79 75 $82 00 NewYork,..[ 82 50 89 50 86 00 82 50 75 00 77 50 75 00 75 00 Philadelphia,... - 73 97 75 79 77 00 76 40 76 40'77 00 Baltimore,..... - 80 00 75 00 70 00 75 00 72 50 72 50 Av'geof4ports, 85 25 89 50 81 49 80 76 76 19'76 98 75 90 76 62 Yearly average, - - - - 84 22 - - - 76 45 1848. 1849. PORTS. Boston......... $75 5$68 50 $60 25$ 60 25$:59 25$62 25 $49 00 $48 00 New York,.... 75 00 68 00 59 00 60 00 60 00 60 00 48 00 49 00 Philadelphia,'... 63 75 64 36 56 24 56 84 55 43 58 45 47 81 47 17 Baltimore,..... 75 00 75 00 72 50 70 00 70 00 62 50 65 00 60 00 Av'geof4 ports, 72 31 68 96 62 00 61 77 61. 17 60 80 52 45 51 04 Yearly average, 66 26 56 36 1850. 1851. C, P, o p,-Co 0 Boston.......$ $60 25 $55 75 $54 50 $51 25 $51 50 $51 00 $47 75 New York,...... 47 50 45 00 43 50 51 00 00 40 00 40 00 42 00 Philadelphia,... 48 38 48 38 46 815 46 57 44 96 47 171 46 571 46 57 Baltimore,..... 60 0 57 50 57 50 57 00 57 50 55 00 55 00 55 00 Av'geof4 ports, 754 13 51 66 50 38 51 58 50 24 48 29 47 52 47 83 Yearly average, - - - 51 94 -48 47 148 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. Comparative Statement of the Quarterly Price of Refined Bar Iron at the Ports of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore; with the Quarterly and Annual Average Price at the above four Ports. for the last seventeen years-continued. 1852. 1853. PORTS. Ne o.... Boston,....... $46 50 $46 00 $49 001$60 50 $74 75 $72 00 $64 50 $74 50 Newt York,.... 43 00 41 501 47 75 60 50 81 00 80 00 63 00 71 00 Philadelphia,... 45 56 44 18 47 97 62 32 81 23 81 83 67 72 72 56 Av'geof4ports, 46 89 46 04 49 31 60 83 79 25 80 33 70 05 74 51 Yearly average, - - - 50 77 - - 76 03 1854. 1855. PORTS. Ca -.._... a k0 CS | o cast. shear, German, and other steel, in the United States, for the years 1840 and 1850, wi/h anx estizmate the1reof Jfor 1855, on the samne rahtio ofJ' increase as between the years 1840 and 1850-continuled.'510 r4'0 O 11.5 P 0 n PCZ0 o. 7 _ e e, >' W _ _CD m CDc C CD C - m-uo ~ Y~,,,-.' i:.,;~~o~o ~'m CD..,- go r:,- "'' 02 1840(,.................. $5. 5,984, 2 $7,179 2,,5 75 89,916,442 $12,820,145 $29,909,162 $28,804,'707 $35,398,691 $35,893,446 185.0................. 1 15,613,189 1 12,748,72M7 1 25,108,155 1 22,628,7711 60,485,653 58,574,333,-74,806,732 76,098,792 1855,................., 20191,802 16,016,910 34,012,021 28,377,607 78,406,538 74,653,066 96,068,271 98,598,340 |..c 176 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.'. x - ~ ~ Allotment per capita of the consumption cc Cq oo'" 52 W3 u of foreign and domestic iron, and man-Z2 < >,ufactures of iron and steel; also cast, o ci - Q shear, German, and other steel, in the ~, ~ o *s United States. C6 u 6 >3 9 Total consumption of foreign and do- " m c b x. mestic iron, and manufactures of iron CfD c oo 00...0 and steel; also cast, shear, German, O z ". and other steel, in the United States. cD -^ O > o > cQ Allotment per capita of home consump- c c~ oo cu ~ c ~ ~ tion of foreign importations of iron, C o0.,- -! 0 and manufactures of iron and steel, - cc - s c00 and cast, shear, German, and other s 0', ^ steel. " $ v> t - Home consumption of foreign importa- - 4 > s tions of iron, and manufactures of iron'rt3~J* > >and steel, and cast, shear, German, and c s cd ues ~' -3 other steel. a- s- c O- eC O. *C * a Ia eO NUs Ck C Allotment per capita of the value of the t- 0 co' sD & @.t consumption of domestic iron, and the cc ci + o ~OD manufactures thereof, in the United 0 0 O usC States. C< pig iron of domestingsc iron, and th 5' X c and manufactures thereof, in the United o the United States. o cN's Q s o Allotment per capita of the product of pig iron, iron castings, wrought iron, ~ 6 ~3 Ou ~~ h and manufactures of wrought iron, in a- cc h~3 ~C3 o the United States. - 5 0 Total product of pig iron, iron castings, " co 0 o -> >wrought iron, and manufactures of C'55'- w - ~, 7 wrought iron, in the United States. 0. ci'&c'Zo 0 9 s _ _ S _ _ < i-o^ * ~I. ~ Ie u H ruh rn nteUie tt ~cc )3 ~~~~~ ~~~:: ~.~ ~ *3.. G ~~ ~ 2~2D ~ IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 177 S TA TEMENT exhibiting the yearly value of iron, and manufactures of iron, and iron and steel, cast, shear, German, and other steel, imported from and exported to foreign countries; domestic exports of like articles; home consumption of foreign iron, and manufactures of iron, and iron and steel; home consumption over the domestic exports of the same articles, and the total consumption of foreign iron, manufactures of iron, and iron anzd steel, cast, shear, German, and other steel, over domestic exportations, for the last seventeen years, and the yearly average for the aforesaid period. IRON, AND MANUFACTURES OF IRON, AND IRON AND STEEL. YEAR1850,. 100 4) 4) oOd 1840......... 6,50,099 156,115 872$14,2104,455 $628,593,984 5,489,529 184155,........ 228,914,425 1,56534,316 53,472 21,045,264 8,780, 1 7,734,845 1842......... 6,988,965 177,381 1,109,522 6,811,584 5,702,062 1843......... 1,903,858 50,802 532,693 1,853,056 1,320,363 1844......... 5,227,484 107,956'716,332 5,119,528 4,403,196 1845......... 8,294,878 91,966 845,017 8,202,912 7,357,895 1846........,835,832 122587 1,151,782 1,713,245 61,561,463 1847,......... 8,781,252 63,596 1,167,484 8,717,656 7,550,172 18481......... 12,526,854 98,295 1,259,632 12,428,559 11,168,927 1849Yearly average, 13,8319,59823 109,439 1,096,804172 13,57522,384 12,626,212 1850......... 16,333,145 100,746 1,911,320 16,232,399 14,321,079 1851........ 17,306,700 100,290 2,255,698 17,206,410 14,950,712 1852t......... 18,957,993 134,937 2,303,819 18,823,056 16,519,237 1853.. 27,255,425 262,343 2,499,652 26,993,082 24,473,430 1854......... 29,341,775 795,872 4,210,350 28,545,903 24,335,553 1855.......... 22,980,728 1,565,523 3,753,472 21,415,205 17,661,733 1856......... 22,041,939 423,221 4,161,008 21,618,718 117,457,710 Yearly average, 13,839,598 264,434 1,830,804 13,575,164 11,744,360 Nothing is better calculated to show the material progress of the iron trade of the United States, than the above and following statements, notwithstanding the blighting effect of the free-trade principles upon 12 178 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. its production. In 1846, the production of pig iron was estimated at 765,000 tons, yet, in 1856, it had only reached 782,958 tons, showing an increase of only 17,958 tons, in face of a consumption of more than a million and a half of tons, the deficiency being supplied principally by Great Britain, without cheapening the price to the consumer. S TATENEX7VT exhibiting the yearly value of cast, shear, German, and other steel, imported fronm and exported to.foreign counztries; domestic exports of like articles; and the total consumption of foreign cast, shear, German, and other steel, over domestic exportations, for the last seventeen years, and the yearly average for the aforesaid period. CAST, SHEAR, GERMAN, AND OTHER STEEL. o 3 E A. _____ - ____ i- ki * ti YEARS. C ~184(),............528,716 ~33,61 494,755 7,088,739 C984,283 CE~s C~F~a) FCe W4 E4 ccC EI 1841,......... 609,201 24,848 584,353 9,364,462 8,319,198 1842......... 597,317 18,447 578,870 7,390,454 6,280,932 1843,......... 201,772 59,133 142,039 1,995,095 1,462,402 1844,....... 487,462 15,415 472,047 5,591,575 4,875,243 1845.......... 775,675 20,052 755,623 8,958,535 8,113,518 1846,......... 1,234,408 32,564 1,201,844 8,915,089 7,763,307 1847,......... 1,126,458 19,218 1,107,240 9,824,896 8,657,412 1848,......... 1,284,937 41,397 1,243,540 13,672,099 12,242,467 1849,......... 1,227,138 55,044 1,172,094 14,894,478 13,798,306 1850,......... 1,332,253 40,193 1,292,060 17,524,459 15,613,139 1851,......... 1,570,063 38,371 1,531,692 18,738,102 16,482,404 1852,......... 1,703,599 31,569 1,672,030 20,495,086 18,191,267 1853......... 2,970,313 31,637 2,938,676 29,931,758 27,432,106 1854,......... 2,477,709 53,247 2,424,462 30,970,365 26,760,015 1855,......... 2,593,137 63,068 2,530,069 23,945,274 20,191,802 1856,......... 2,538,323 25,598 2,512,725 24,131,443 19,970,435 Yearly average, 1,368,146 35,551 1,332,595 14,907,759 13,076,955 IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. 179 In conclusion, the iron production of the United States may be classed under three different heads: 1. The blast furnaces, using either anthracite, charcoal, raw or coked bituminous coal. 2. The bloomeries or mountain forges, which turn ore or cast iron into blooms or malleable iron. 3. Rolling mills, which convert these into bar, rod, sheet, and nail plate iron. Statement showing the entire production of Pig Iron in the Uzited States, in 1854, 1855, and 1856. FURNACES. 1854. 1855. 1856. Anthracite Furnaces. Tons. Tons. Tons. In Pennsylvania,............... 208,703 255,326 306,966 Out of Pennsylvania,........... 99,007 87,779 41,573 Charcoal and Coke Furnaces. East Pennsylvania,............ 62,724 60,596 51,775 N. W. Pennsylvania............ 78,927 59,388 59,587 S. W. Pennsylvania,........... 11,052 18,217 29,400 Charcoal Furnaces. East of the Hudson,........... 30,420 30,926 27,837 Northern and western New York,. 19,197 19,736 18,847 Southern N. York and N. Jersey,. 13,435 7,901 5,683 Maryland..................... 35,658 36,309 30,998 N. Western Virginia,..... 1,930 2,342 1,467 Eastern and middle Virginia,.... 5,880 6,926 5,730 North and South Carolina,...... 1,820 1,830 1,926 Georgia and Alabama,.......... 3,604 3,682 4,302 Tennessee,.................... 38,596 30,000 30,000 Missouri,.................... 5,213 6,000 13,201 West Kentucky,............... 5,000 5,000 5,000 East Kentucky,................ 22,830 15,580 21,160 S. Ohio (charcoal and coke),.... 56,081 47,182 69,605 N. Ohio ditto,.... 8,289 6,025 7,901 Illinois, Indiana, Michigcan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota,........... 5,000 5,000 50,000 Total tons,................. 713,366 705,745 782,958