UVV. OF MICOH.
MAY 7 1908
MANUFACTURE OF IRON
IN BUFFALO.
A PAPER READ BY INVITATION BEFORE
THE BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
By JOHN WILKESON, Esq.
BUFFALO:
PRINTING HOUSE OF WHEELER, MATTHEWIS & WARREN
1864.
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J'.zNIJYT_T~{.Y  23,5 186~. 
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2 
MANUFACTURE OF IRON
IN BUFFA  O.
From time  to time  other foundries and
machine-building shops, for casting stoves
and making steam and other machinery, have
been added to  the   n umbe r o f such establis hmenrts, and now we  have some twe      nty in all,
doing in the  aggregate  a g reat business a nd
giving  support  directly and indirectly to
several thousands of people. For more than
twenty  years our  founders and machinists
have  been a b le  t o construct engines    of any
size required  for  our  lake navigation.  In
1838, Mr. Justin built a  forge at Black Rock
Dam.  In 1850, Mr. Charle s  Delany built the
"Niag ar a For ge," for the fabrication of hea vy
masses of wrought iron. This establishment
has been very successful. Another forge is
now in the  cou rse  of construction, and it
doubtless will  lead to the  building of other s.
We now come to the more important
branches of the iron manufacture. The first
rolling mill erected here was that known as
the ",Buffalo Iron and Nail Works," built in
1846 by Corns; Co., an association of operatives from Pittsburgh.   This establishment
has been enlarged and improved by M6ssrs.
Pratt & Co., into whose hands it has passed,
and is now  doing an extensive  businesss,
making iron and nails of the best quality.
During the winter of 1859-60, our citizens
became very much interested on the subject of
the promotion and the extension of manufactures. The depressed condition of our lake
commerce and our navigation interests for
some years, had convinced all that our city
could never maintain its standing with other
cities in the basin of the lakes, and hope for a
continued increase of population, without
providing some certain means of employment
Doctor Ure, of England, in speaking of Iron,
beautifully says, "Every person knows the
manifold uses of this truly precious metal.
It is capable of being cast in molds of any
form;  ot being drawn out in wires of any
desired strength or fineness; of being extended into plates or sheets; of being  bent in
every direction; of being sharpened, hardened, and softened at pleasure."
Iron accommodates itself to all our wants,
our desires, and even our caprices.   It is
equally serviceable to the Arts, the Sciences,
to Agriculture,  and  War.   The  same ore
furnishes the  sword, the  ploughshare,                    the
scythe,  the pruning-hook, the needle,  the
graver, the spring of a watch or of a carriage,
the chisel, the chain, the anchor, the compass,
the cannon, and the bomb.  It is a medicine
of much virtue, and the only metal friendly to
the human frame.
Previous to the year 1826, the manufacture
of iron in this city was confined to the ordinary
blacksmithing work required by the community. In that year Edward Root erected the
first foundry for making  plough-irons  and
other small castings.  Mr. Isaac W.  Skinner
soon after built another for making ploughs
and other castings.  Messrs. Gibson, Johnson
& Ehle built at Black Rock, in 1826, a foundry
and machine shop, which in those days was
considered a large establishment,in which some
large steam engines were constructed. In 1828,
itessrs. Beals, Mayhew & Co.,erected in this city
at the corner of Ohio and Indiana streets, a
foundry and machine shop, in which they
built the first steam engines made here. Mr.
John Hibbard was their Superintendent; he
is still a resident here.
Ir = a]
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4
during the winter as well as the summer, for
its working people.
The discovery of numerous inexhaustible
deposits of iron ores in Northern Michigan,
and their successful use in the blast furnaces
of Eastern Ohio,  and the opening of canal
and railroad communication with the Anthra cite coal fields of Pennsylvania, led some of
our citizens who  were  familiar with  iron
smelting, to the conclusion that no place in all
the lake basin was so favorably situated for the
prosecution of that great branch of human
industry, as our city. At first sight it appeared
to many that the proper place for reducing the
ores of Michigan was where they were quar ried, (they are quarried, not mined. ) but the
absence of mineral coal there, and the inferior
quality of the timber which grows in t             his
inhospitable region, from which the required
charcoal would have to be made, together with
the poverty of the soil,  almost forbidding
agriculture, made it apparent on reflection
that the ores would have to seek some more
favored region, where cheap labor and supplies
were attainable.
Several meetings were held, where the
subject of manufacturing was discussed, and
much light thrown  on iron smelting.  The
result was  a determination on the part of
several gentlemen to build a furnace.  In the
meantime, Messrs. Palmer & Wadsworth con cluded to build one, and shortly after, Messrs.
Warren and Thompson also decided to build
another, and thus the  original project fell
through, as it was thought sufficient that these
gentlemen should test the feasibility of iron
smelting here.   In the spring of 1860 the
gentlemen   named   proceeded   with   the
construction  of their two  blast  furnaces,
and  the  next  year  Messrs.  Palmer  and
Wadsworth put theirs in operation.  Its success was so  flattering as  to convince all
that  iron  smelting  in  Buffalo  would be
profitable.  In 1862, the two establishments
were consolidated in interest, another furnace
built, and also a very large  and complete
rolling mill.  These works, termed the Union
Irons tVorks, are exceeded in capacity by few
similar ones in the United States.  Messrs.
Pratt & Co. have also erected a very fine blast
furnace, which will go  into operation  the
coming spring,  Their plans contemplate the
erection of a second fiurnace, and those of the
tUnion Company a fourth, so that it is probable we will have in operation within a year
or two, six blast furnaces of the most formid/ble description.
These works will be of capacity sufficient to
yield fifty thousand tons of pig iron annually,
which will be equal to one-eighteenth  of all
the pig iron produced in the United States in
1860, or one-eleventh of all produced in the
great iron manufacturing state of Penusylvania in that year.
It mnay be well to say something of the' prob-'
able increase of iron smelting,  and kindred
branches of the iron trade here, and to state
some reasons why it is likely to become a leading branch of our industry.  Of course, we
cannot hope to make iron, or any other om  modity, in competition with other places, un less we can produce it as cheaply as any.  In
determining  the   cos t o f     products, quality, and
cost of transportation to the consumer are ele ments  of value.   Individuals familiar with
the  properties of   iron have   n o hesitation    in
say ing  th at wro ught i ron, ma de  from pig iron
smelted with Anthracite coal, such as is only
to be found in the Wyoming coal-field, and
from ores of which that from Lake Superior
constitutes the major part, is worth from three
to five dollars more per ton, than iron smelt ed by means of bituminous coal. One proof
of this is the fact that the iron manufacturers of
Pittsburg bring from the east of the Allega nies large quantities of Anthracite pig-iron, to
work with the western pig which is made with
bituminous coal.
As we are situated, at the eastern termina tion of lake navigation, and there being no
works west of us (save a few charcoal works)
which can produce an equally good quantity
of iron at as cheap a rate, or even any quality at
less lost, it seems clear that if proper efforts
are made to multiply our smelting works, we
can supply  the  western  markets.   Of our
means of cheap transportation to the west and
north it is needless to say anything, except
perhaps to allude to the direct connection with
the state of Minnesota and the territories of
Dakotah and Nebraska, which the railroads to
be built leading westward from Lake Superior
will give us.
For a mixture in the furnace with the ore of
Michigan we can procure as cheaply as any,
the fossiliferous ore of Oneida and Wayne
counties, ore from the extensive deposites near
Kingston in Canada, and the Blackband ore of
McKean county Pennsylvania. As soon as the
railroad is completed, from the coal fields of
McKean and Elk counties in Pennsylvania
we will have cheap bituminous coal for the
use in the puddling and boiling furnaces, and
in making wrought iron the cost of the requisite bituminous coal for those purposes is an
important item. Within eighty miles of us
there are exhaustless supplies of the best of
bituminous coals, of all the varieties found in
the great Allegany coal field. It is not to the
credit of our men of means that a railroad has
not long since been built leading to this coal
field. It argues a want of foresight on their
part, most marvellous. This delinquency has
already lost to us, millions of wealth, and not
less than fifty thousand people, who might
have been added to our population. It has
also given to another city on the Lakes the
place we are entitled to, and which we will yet
reclaim. if we act wisely and do not longer
neglecIour opportunities.  Few cities would
have been so neglectful as we have been.
They would have raised the money by a tax,
if no other means were available, and thus
have compelled reluctant capitalists to do their
duty.
The money we wasted on a Canada road
which could only bring to us what we already 
5
In consequence of the depreciation of the cu
rency and the scarcity of labor, the present
cost of iron here, is, I suppose, nearly twice
the estimate made, but as it is now selling for
quite double its usual price, the business is as
profitable as in ordinary times, with readier
sales.
When we come back  to former prices for la bor and materials, as it is altogether probable
we will soon after the rebellion is put down,
and the rebels put under foot, and the former
current of foreign immigration is resumed with
renewed force, iron  ought to be made here at
about the price first named, and which will be
for as low a cost as it can be made in large
quantities anywhere in the United States, ex cept, perhaps, near Harrisburgh, in Pa., where
they produce a rather common  quality from
the cheap ores of the Iron Hills of Cornwall,
and at Johnstown, Pa.
It may not be generally known that beside the
Specular ores, which are those usually brought
from Lake  Superior, other varieties abound
there, supposed  to be valuable for a mixture.
In practice it is found best to mix in the fur enance, ores of different chemical compositions,
so as to make a better iron than is usually ob tained from one kind.
Experts know what this  array of figures
mean.  They mean that where iron can be
produced for such prices, a great seat of the
iron trade will be fixed.  Does it not follow
then that our manufactures of iron will go on
increasing if we can produce it for the prices
named above?  The average  cost of pig iron
in England is about  $16 per ton,  and in this
country about $18, or was, in ordinary times,
in my  opinion.  May we not hope to see before long, instead of our few furnaces now in
operation, twenty or thirty more, giving rise
to an almost endless variety of kindred manufactures proving a source of wealth, comfort
and employment to a great population? The
town of Merthyr-Tydvil, in South Wales, with
its environs, contains a population of one
hundred tho usand souls, sustai ned solely by
the manufac uIre of pig     and bar iron. The great
city of Birminogham is sustained a ltogether by
its metallic manufactures.
The art of making iron is a noble calling.
When in Austria, the writer of this visited
the iron works in Styria, in which province
the Romans once worked the iron mines and
made iron. One large establishment there,
was owned and personally managed by the
Arch Duke John. He was said to be one o.
the most successful managers in that region.
At Stoke, in England, there is to be seen a
row of fourteen blast furnaces, all owned by
the Earl Granville, said to be an experienced
iron master. When looking at a pig of iron,
one seldom reflects that modern civilizatien is
based upon that rough material. Without iron,
what would be man's condition? Where
would be his boasted progress in the arts and
sciences? It may prove new7 and interesting
to some, to give a short account of the improvemnents in the art of iron making, coremeuing with the invention of the blast filr
possessed ought to have been more   wi sely      ex pended                    o n  a coal road.
Some  good  iron will  be smelted  with char c oal i     n Michigan, and at a few                 other po ints
w     est of us, and probably some     will be smelted
with Anthracite coal taken as ballast and back loading,         by g rain and o re carrying vessels.
Before l        on     g the forests will be      consumed  a      nd
then, as it seems                  unlikely  that good smelting
coal will ever be fou    nd     in Indiana, I    llinois,
Iow a           or  Missouri,  w      e probably will supply the
bette           r qualities of iron to all the regions north
of the Ohio    and west a s  far  as  t     he R ocky
Mountains. Eminent geologists have doubts
of       the ex istence   of   t rue coal, of           the secondary
formation,  west  of      t     h     e Mi           ssissippi, and  the
brown coal found t          here  is s o  sulphury         as   to be
unfitted     f       or any metallurgic process          es.
Charcoal is near ly pure carbon.         A      n      thracite
coal contains from 80 to 90 per cent. of carbon.
Bituminous coal, such as has been found best
for smelt     ing, contains  from 5o5 to 60 per cent.
of carbon.  Any coal    of the latter kind con taining  more than f  our  per cent. o f ashes, or
yielding red ashes, is not considered suitable
for smelting iron, and a                     small per centage of
sulphur unfits it for that purpose.
T    he c  ost of   iron makinve ma  t    erials in the
ol      der  dis tricts is             w ell known, and for the sake
of comparison, the following estimates of its
cost at this point, are given, based upon prices
and wafes paid previous to the outbreak of the
rebellion: Anthracite coal was delivered here
for $3 75 per ton-$2 75 freight, and  $1 for
it delivered on board the boat at the pits
mouth, with a prospect of a lower price.
Freight from Bay de Noquet, based upon the
rate of six cents per bushel for wheat from
Chicago, (and it has been carried for half that
price,) would be on one ton of ore, two dollars. The ores of the M[ichigan Peninsula will
hereafter be brought by railroad from the
mines to the former port for shipment.
The cost of mining or quarrying will be
about thirty cents per ton, including the value
of the ore in the ground. The cost of railroad
transportation to the lake and handling, about
one dollar and twenty-five cents per ton. Limestone will cost about fifty cents per ton. When
the materials for smelting are selected with
proper care, and all inferior qualities rejected,
and the iron-maker is as careful of his per centages as the banker is of his, it will require
one ton and a half of ore, one ton and a half
of coal, and a half a ton of limestone to produ,ice one ton of good pig iron. The item of
wages. in large furnaces, was about two dolla-,rs per ton.
These items, which would represent the cost
of one ton of pig iron, when stated, appear as
follows:
1  tons of ore, averaging 66 ^ cent., $ 3 55.. 5 32
1S tons of coal, $ 3 75.         -         -—. —------------------ 5 62
ton limestone, 50c                -        ----------------------— 5
Wages in furnace,'~ ton.............2 Do
We whill add for incidentals........... 1 50,
MIaking the pig iron cost.......... 14 6)9
Saying' nothing about interest on the investment, wear and tear and extraordinary repairs. 
6
nace.  There have been seven Grand Epochs
in the history of Iron:  1. The invention of
the blast furnace.  2. The  use of bituminous coal-coke for smelting.  3. The invention
by Cort of the process of puddling and rolling.
4. The adoption of the steam engine for blowing purposes.  5. The application of the heated air blast.  6. The use of anthracite and
raw bituminous  coal for smelting.  7. The
utilization of the waste gases of the furnace
for heating the blast. and raising steam to
drive the machinery of furnaces.  All these
improvements, save the two last, originated in
England.
Cast iron, it is supposed, was unknown to
the ancients. They probably made all their iron
directly from the ore, in open fires, using
charcoal.   John Agricola, a German, who
wrote fully on metallurgy in the 16th century,
and  who  drew  and  described everything
known in his time on that subject, makes no
mention of it.  It is asserted that cast iron
was known in Holland as early as the 13th
century, and it was supposed to have been
melted in clay pots.  Mushet, to whom I am
indebted for many facts, says, "no trace of the
blast furnace earlier than in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth exists in England."  Lord
Dudley, of England, in 1619, first successfully
used coke for smelting in the blast furnace.Previously charcoal had only been used.  His
furnaces were small affairs, making from three
to seven tons of iron per week,. but were
great improvements upon the charcoal furnace
then in use, because of the economy of fuel.
Dudley's invention met with great opposition
from the other iron masters, and was neglected.  It was not till 1740 that it was revived
with any success-a lapse of 120 years.  In
1788, less than eighty years ago, the total iron
production of England, Wales and Scotland,
was but 65,800 tons of pig iron!  Now it is
nearly 4,000,000 tons.  The earlier furnaces
seldom exceed in height fifteen feet, and in
width six feet.  Now, they often have a height
of sixty, with a width of twenty feet, making their forty tons of iron per day instead of
three tons per week, which was the produce of
Dudley's furnaces.  Instead of their former
thin streams of cinder, the modern furnace
pours out powerful torrents of liquid lava.
The next forward step in iron manufacture
was the invention by Cort in 1790, of puddling and the rolling processes, by which a
great saving of material and labor was effected; the former processes of converting cast
into malleable iron were tedious and wasteful.
Watts' double acting steam engine for blowing furnaces-by making it possible to erect
works near the needful materials without regard to a water power-greatly stimulated the
iron manufacture.
The application of heated air for the blast,
a process invented by Neilson, of Scotland, in
1827, has proved to be of great importance to
the iron manufacture.  Many ores which could
not be smelted with the cold blast now yield
the best of iron, and a great saving of fuel is
effected, as well as of other materials.  Coals,
both Bituminous and Anthracite, can be used
in the    raw state, which with  the col d blast was
not possible. As anlillustration, suppose that
with a cold blast a few degrees more of heat,
are wanting-say one degree-to bring an ore
to the melting  point.  Throwing into the furnace an addition al volume of  cold  air aggravates the evil, by reducing the temperature at
the melting point; but if, instead of doing so,
you throw in a volume of air heated up to 600
or 800 degrees, you effect your object.
The sixth epoch was the use of raw coals,
Anthracite and Bituminous, an improvement
rendered possible by the invention of the hot
blast, and it was a very important one.
The utilization of the waste gases of the furnace (chiefly carbonic-oxyde gas), by applying them as a fuel for heating the air for
the blast and raising steam for driving the
machinery, thus dispensing absolutely with
the use of other fuel fbr those purposes,
has effected a great economy, and marks the
seventh epoch. This is a German improvement, first successfully applied to blast furnaces
in this country about the year 1842. Even now
it finds little favor in Great Britain. When
the writer of this was in England, in 1856, and
visited many iron-works there, he did not find
one where the gas was saved and used, but saw
lying around many evidences of abortive attempts to do so. Step by step the art of smelting iron has advanced, every step reducing the
cost of iron and conferring blessings upon the
human family, and the inventors have been
real benefactors to their race.
The art of making iron is'et very far from
perfection. Many of its most important processes are not yet well understood. Those who
know the most of the art are free to admit that
they have got so far as to understand how much
there is yet to learn. There is little doubt that
we are far in advance of other nations in a
practical knowledge of iron smelting, and quite
equal to any in the other metallurgic processes,
excepting in that of steel-making. Until 1837,
our smelting furnaces were generally of small
size, using charcoal and blown with cold blast.
The art of smelting at that time was in no wise
progressive or flourishing. In that year. Messrs.
Baughman, Guiteau & Co., of Mauch Chunk,
Pa., demonstrated the possibility of smelting
with Anthracite coal. Owing to the want of a
proper furnace and machinery, their experiment was not profitable to them; but they succeeded in making good iron, and established
satisfactorily the feasibility of smelting with
Anthracite coal, thus adding immensely to the
wealth of Pennsylvania. Mr. Guiteau will be
remembered by our older residents as once our
Postmaster.
Coke was first used for smelting in our country iu the years 1835, 1836 and 1837, but without much success. The first profitable use of
this material was made at a furnace in Maryland. At this time there are not many works
using coke. The best quality of pig iron, it is
conceded, cannot be made with either coke or
raw Bituminous coal.
The first furnace in this country which sue 
imported by us from the former country is
goo d, but, as its quality s    no t unifor m, it is
losing favor. The iron of No rway is  e xce llent.
The  English ma ker s of cast s    teel monopolize
all the iron made in  Swed en from th e celebrated magnetic ore  of  Dannemora, none  of their
own iron  being good enough for converting
into the finer qualities of steel.
The iron  of Englan d, a as a    g en eral  fact, may
be  characterized    as of poor  quality. The  bes t
descriptions  have to be  subjecte d t o sever al   refining proces se s,  whi ch entails much waste  of
materials an d loss of labor; facts due to the inferior  qualities of  the ores and coals from
whi ch  it is produced.  There is bu t litt le iron
ore in  England  except  the  i mpure  carbonates
of the  coal me asures.   Those ores cons tit ute
the main  reliance of  their iron works.  Some
primitive ores are found in the counti es of
Cumberlad  nd  and Lancashi re.  Neither  the
magnetic or  the specular oxydes, so abundant
here, are found there.  In Wales where they
fin d An t hracite coal,  and use  a portion of
primative ores brought from  a distance, some
tolerable iron is made.
While the Germans can avail themselves of
charcoal, they will make considerable good
iron; but when the forests disappear, their
make of the better qualities must fall off. Iron
of the average quality of the English is made
in the Rhenish provinces with bituminous coal
in considerable quantities.   Little of it is exported, or probably ever will be, except in the
form of hardware and cutlery. Belgium makes
considerable coke iron, some of which is exported to Frane, but little to other countries.
France produces about a million tons of pig
iron, but not much of it of good quality. That
country can never supply the better qualities
of iron to meet its own wants. The coals of
France, which are scattered about in little
patches, here and there, are, with rare exceptions, of very inferior quality, and it is only
by the exercise of the highest metallurgic
skill that a tolerable quality of iron is made in
the mineral coal furnaces. Nearly half of the
iron of France is made with charcoal.   Considerable of that is worked with the pig smelted with bituminius coal, thus improving the
whole mass. When the forests of France cease
to supply charcoal, then there must be a falling off in the quality of their iron, inferior as
it now is, and that day is not distant.
Spain possesses a considerable coal field and
abundance of ore.   Up to this time but little
iron is made in that kingdom. It is doubtful
if it will for a long time to come be able to
supply its own wants; The iron manufacture
in all these countries, excepting England, and
perhaps Russia, may be considered as stationary.  No nations, save those mentioned. in
the Old World make any noticeable quantities
of iron, and, for the want of the materials, none
others will produce any.
When we consider the above facts, and reflect that in the progress of the world's civilization the enhanced consumption of iron is
rapidly becoming essential to the development,
the comfort and the safety of mankind, we en
cessfully smelted iron with raw Bituminous
boal was built by Wilkeson & Co., of this city,
at Poland, Mahoning county, Ohio, in 1845.
The use of raw coal in the United States for
smelting is confined to a small district lying
southerly from Erie and Cleveland, where a
coal similar to the Scotch "splint" is found.
The same coal is found in MeKean Co., Pennsylvania, and is supposed to be an extension of
that seam.
Attempts have been made to produce mallable iron without the intervention of the smelti        ng fu rnace.  Those efforts reach back          as far
as its       invention, an  d  are a s active now            as ever
before. It seems like going back to first principles, when we reflect that the item of labor in
the smelting furnace is a small one, and that
there   is l  ittl e w aste o f m aterial in it.  We   may
well d   oubt  ifsuccess will   at     tend   any such efforts.
Th at nation which can produce t            he mo           st,
the best, and, all                  things considered, the cheapest       iron, i  s d estined, other circumstances being
equal, to lead in arms, in commerce, and in
t     he       arts. The invention of iron-clad ships-ofwar, the incr eased               size and power of artillery
and               projectiles, th e us e  of  iron s hips, and  the
extens ion                      of railwavs  all over the world, has
given to iron a power greater than ever, and
cr    e ated  uses  and demand    s for it which ean only be supplied    by  c   ountrie   s  having the means
of producing it  in g rea t quanttities and at low
p    rices.   The elements of power have changed.
T          he world  need no               longer dread  the destruction of civilization by irruptions of barbarians.
A modern Attila,     with  h     is ru de ho s ts,          w ould
only march to certain destruction.   Nations
without abundance of i ron    are  in the condi                    tion
of    a       m an  wh o w ould pr opos e to defend himself
if     his antagonist would supply him                                 with the
weapons.
As   was r      emark ed  before,  it d oes not fo llow
that th    e      cheap est iron is             tha     t which is sold for
the least money. The best foreign iron known
is th e Russi an, which  comes  t    o u s       in shee t         s
and bars. Possibly some qualities of the Norwegi     an i    ron are superior, but no sheet iron
made elsewhere is comparable to theirs. The
Government of Perme is the chief seat of the
iron manufacture of Russia. Vast deposits of
magnetic and other primitive ores of iron
abound there. They are situated like our ores
in Michigan (which they resemble) in hills,
high above the water-courses, and are easily
quarried.  Wood for charcoal abounds.  This
iron finds its way to the markets of the world,
down the river Kama and up the Volga. It is
started in boats on the spring floods, and is
first taken to Novgorod, where much of it is sold
at the great annual fair held in that city. That
portion of it which comes to our markets is taken by canals and water-courses to St. Petersburgh. It takes nearly two summer seasons to
complete this voyage to the port of shipment.
If this iron was not of the very best quality, it
could not pay the enormous charges of transit
it is subjected to, and leave any profit to its
producers.
Considerable iron is made in Sweden and
Norway by means of charcoal. Much of that
7 
8
United States for the year past, is estimated to
have been 1,000,000 tons.  In 1840 the amount
made was,  in round numbers, 286,000 tons.This shows an increase in twenty-four years of
about 250 per cent.   During all that period of
time there has been a still greater ratio of increase in our importations of iron, our productions not keeping pace with the demand.  Our
population has increased from seventeen millions in 1840, to thirty-one millions in 1860less than  100 per cent.   This shows that the
increased demand for iron, the great lever of
material improvement, outstrips the increase
of our population.   Thus it would seem that
there is little likelihood, for a long time to
come, of any overproduction of iron in our
country.   That  sheerest of humbugs, Free
Trade, when adopted by nations whose legitimate manufactures are not firmly fixed, dies
under our load of debt, and with it Slavery
and the bullion theory are shuffled aside.
With stable and  sufficient duties, our iron
masters can go on securely and extend their
operations, and when they succeed in supplying the  home demand,  they will have become
so firmly established that they can enter into
competition for foreign markets with every assuirance of success.
counter  one of the most   striking  problems of
the age.   Europe has already exhausted its
capacity for the production of Iron, but its future needs have as yet hardly begun to be demonstrated. It follows, therefore, that the United States is destined from its inexhaustible
iron resresources to become the source of supply
of the world. This fact, once established, will
confer upon us an importance and an influence
among the nations which can hardly be appreciated-certainly not overrated.    Our enormous debt incurred in waging war to save the
life of the nation whose existence was threatened by the atrocious traitors of the South,
will impose upon us for many years the necessity of collecting heavy revenues on imports,
which will have all the beneficial effects upon
home industry of a protective tariff without
its instability. Thus, out of this great mountain of evil, we will have this little grain of
good.   Our iron manufacturers will be protected from ruinous foreign competition, which
under the advalorem system imposed the least
duty when prices were the lowest abroad, often having the almost instantaneous effect of
closing our works (saving those making iron
for the least cost,) and putting a stop to all
new enterprises.
The production of pig, or crude iron, in the