Carlisle, in a recent number of the Forum, says that this sum
was received by the manufacturers for their private use. In making
this statement Mr. Carlisle ignores, first, the cost of transporta-
tion of all this steel from England to points in America as con-
venient for distribution as the several locations of the American
steel- works; second, the far greater cost of materials in the
United States ; and, third, the far greater cost of labor in this
country ; the wages paid to skilled workmen in America being
about twice as much as the wages paid in England. So, while
it is true that American manufacturers made large profits, the
amount is not expressed in the sum stated. The cost of labor
and materials alone entering into the manufacture of a ton of
steel rails in this country, for the year ending May 30, 1880, was
$42.47 ; while in England, for the year 1879, the price of steel
rails per ton was but $26.88. In 1880 the English price ad-
vanced to $34.36; the American price having advanced fW)m
$48.25 to $67.50. As the price of the product advances, the



266 THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH.
cost of material and the price of labor advances, the manufact-
urer, however, getting the larger share of the increase in value.
