Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/364

 THE ECONOMIC JOIJRNAL the West has put at a disadvantage the eastern steel 'establish- ments, which must use Bessemer ore, and must get it either by a long railroad haul from the west, or by importation from abroad. A strong movement has therefore set in among the iron and steel manufacturers of the east in fayour of the free admission of iron ore. Large steel works have already been established on the Atlantic seaboard, which use ore imported from Spain, Cuba, and Elba, and which are hampered by the present duty of 75 cents per ton on the ore. In most of the Eastern States a strong feel- ing exists against the retention of the duty on this most raw of raw materials. Remarks of the same sort may be made as to the retention of the duty upon coal. The production of coal in the United States is so enormous, the beds are so rich, and are situated so far in the heart of the country that any considerable importation of coal is out of the question. In certain smaller districts, and. more particularly in New England on the Atlantic coast, and in the northern stretch of the extreme Pacific coast, from San Francisco northward, the natural source for the supply of coal happens to lie across the Canadian border. In these two regions the duty upon coal has therefore some effect. That duty is a curiosity in economic legislation. If these regions of Canada had happened to become a part of the United States (and those who are familiar with our political history will know that there were dates when a strong possibility of this sort existed, espe- cially for the extreme western district), their supplies of coal would certainly have been considered a blessing for New England and for the Pacific coast. The accident of political separation has caused the duty to be imposed, which cannot be otherwise than a drawback, so far as it goes, upon the prosperity of these districts. In New England, which depends mainly upon its manufacturing industry, that drawback may be of some moment; though it must be said that the quality of Canadian coal available for New England seems not to be of the best, and that the remis- sion of the duty would probably have less effect than its advocates expect. But surely New England is entitled to any advantage which may be obtained in that direction, and the refusal to remit the duty in the McKinley Act (the duty remains as before at 75 cents per ton) was doubtless among the causes which contributed to the defeat of the Republican party at the last election. Another item in the class of mineral products was the subject of heated discussion. This was the increased duty upon tin plate. By what may be called an accident in the con-