Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-01-16

the amount Of tin consumed in this
country, the benefit which would acrue
from the manufacture at home
instead Of buying it all from
abroad as is done at present, Having
shown this by plain statement of facts
accompanied by the necessary statistics
and figures to confirm these statements,
its next object is to obtain HI expression n
of the principle consumers, and workers
with view of framing bill and hav-
ing it introduced in congress, advocat-
ing the propriety Of our government
putting protective duty on tin plates
Of 23 per cent, which they contend will
be necessary in the start to put the tin
plate industry on its feet in this couD-
try, and without which it is implied we
cannot in the beginning compete with
the low wages paid in England and
Wales. Ifspace permitted we would be
glad to make a number of quotations
giving reasons why tin plate is not made
in this country, together with good
deal Of information of interest bearing
on the mandatory Of tin plates. But
We wish to call attention to one sentence
in the circular which reads as follows:
at is said we do not possess the raw
| tin. This, however, is now settled rs it
is known that tin ore has been discov-
cred in paying quantities in the State OF
Virginia and in the Territory of Oak ota.
But were it not, it would be no argu-
ment, for the major part of tin used in
the English and Welsh tin plate works
is imported tin, and as tin is admitted
into our ports free of duty, and Straits
tin can be shipped to New York as
cheap Is it can be shipped to Liverpool
the price Of tin need not be any serious
obstacle in the way Of American pro-
duction of tin plates"
In this quotation in which the fact
that tin has been discovered in Virginia
and Dakota is mentioned, yet is treated
as matter Of no consequence, never
theless it contains the announcement
which is paramount in Importance to all
else contained in the book. Al
though their argument is good and their
positions are well taken in saying that
while there is tariff for protection on
iron, there should also be on tin plate
But why are the association SO careful
TO say "Tin Plate" all the time? Why
not say tin once in a while just to vary
the monotony. If the association ex-
pect TO have a law passed to protect the
mandatory of tin plates they will lay
themselves open to the charge of in
consistency and short sightedness, if
they do not also call for protective
duty on Raw Tin. Does the association
think that the owners of tin mines in
the Black Hills need no protection
when they come TO mine the tin ore in
competition with the mines of Corn
wall, which have been estab-
lished and worked for thousand
years. And again if their aim is to ben
eft the country by opening UP an ex-
tensive industry, we would respectfully
ask the gentlemen of the association,
and that to in view Of all the arguments
they have used, which would be the
greatest benefit to the United States
The establishing of manufactory Of tin
plates, or the opening and working Of
the tin mines in America and the pro-
duction of the tin itself No, the only
fault We have TO find with the move
uent is that it is too narrow. 1t smacks
to much of the special legislation to ask
for protective duty on tin plate manu-
factory and to leave the raw metal
which needs protection most, and is to
our thinking Of tenfold more Importance
to the country out, in the cold. Stretch
your tent stakes little, gentlemen, and
take in the tin family. Make your bill
read, for the protection of Tin Mining
in America and the Mandatory of Tin
Plates. Your bill would then contain
the elements of popularity. And the
object of it would appeal to the pride Of
every American when it is known that
it is for the development of home pro-
duction of an article Of which England
has hitherto held monopoly, and for
which the United States has been de-
pendent upon her. We are glad we re-
ceivcd the circular we are much oblig-
ed for the statistics and the information
it contains, and should the association
see the propriety of amending their
proposition by making the amendmant
herein suggested, we feel We can speak
for the bill glorious and deserved
success. But shorn Of this the bill will
lack the broad foundation which should
underlie all national measures, and will
fail for lack of the vital spark that now
slumbers in the native ore in the mines
of the Black Hills Of Dakota. We say
| to the gentlemen Of the association, we
have no thought or wish to antagonize
their proposition if it be made sufficient
ly broad to cover the whole tin in
dustry. But we say to them, and We
say to the people Of the Black Hills in
particular, and to the press and people