The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1888-08-02
The indicators Tin-Plate Middle.

The indicators Tin-Plate Mudole.
With a zeal born of sudden conversion |
the Vlndicator rushes into the arena TO
proclaim The most ultra free trade doc-
thine. Its purpose, evidently. is to keep
in close aIi.nment with the Democratic
rarity and in order to do this it necessarily
abandons the position SO long ara ANY
maintained by it i'll the past. Indeed 10
show its fealty to the new falth IL entlreH
reuudiates its own record and employs
the same old stock arguments OF the free
trader. the fallacy of which in days gone
by il so thoroughly exposed.
Whilst its new apparel looks rather aWk
ward. still we must confess that it Ia rap
idly adapting itself to the change. Inc
essential qualification OF free trader Is
an utter disregard of fact, and this our
neighbor seems to fully appreciate.
In its last issue il undertakes to crltlclse
the argument of Mr.. y ost, the representa-
tive from this district. made in behalf OF
an increased duty on tin plate. Its first
step in the direction indicated IS 10 Trans
pose the base of the argument from tln-
piates to to tin. Between the Two there Is
a difference as wide as that Whlea sep
arates the Tiadicator'S tariff position OF
wear ago from that which it now occupies.
Tin plates represent from 95 to 81 per cent.
of f;nisht d iron or steel and from to 5per
cent. of tin. They constituted last year
one-lhird of all the iron and steel lmpor-
tations into this country. To admit them
free of duty, as the Mills bill does land the
Tmdicator approves and applauds III
would be tantamount to tranofer OF the
entire sheet iron and sheet steel product
of this country to England. Nay more.
The Mills bill places upon the free list
iron, coated with tin or lead, or with mixture
of which these metals is a compoiient part, by
the dipping OF any other process and CONNER
cally known as Lin plates, terhe plates ana
taggers tin.
1t will be observed that this provision OF
the bill does not designate the dimensions
of the sheet, its thickness OF weight
Under it all classes of sheet iron or steel
would be admitted free after they had
gone through the simple process OF dipping
in oil and lead. If desirable, the super.
fetal coating could be readily removed
after landing. and the result would be
absolute free trade in the very highest
grades of iron and steel manufacture-S0
per cent of the cost of which represents
the price paid to the laborer.
If our neighbor insists upon free tin
plates then to be consistent it must also
advocate a repeal of all duties Upon iron
and steel. 1t is absurd to contend that
the materials out of which tin plates are
made shall be taxed" for the benefit of the
NOikman, whilst the highest product of
6he workman's skill shall be sui jected to
no such ftburden.'' AS we'll might you
levy high duty on iron ore, and remove
all restrictions upon the importation of
pig iron.
From 95 to 81 per cent. of tin plates is
nothing more than raw material and labor.
From the moment the pick strikes the
meoal in its natural bed to the moment
the finished product is assigned to its
ui innate use, these are practically the
only elements. Both abound in Virginia.
Both abound in this district. The raw
materials-the iron ore. the coal and The
limestone-are as cheap here, in their nat
,lral state. as in The heart of Africa. Why
Ehen. can We not utilize them at as low d
price as is done in England Simply be-
cause, under our system the laborer is paid
from 80 to 100 per cent. more wages than
his foreign competitor. That, and that
alone is the reason We imported last year
nearly $500 zoo, 600 worth of tin plates.
And yet the Valdicdtor asks how the
wOrkingman is to be benefited. Give
him the chance to earn a part of this
$40, 000 200 per year, aud see whether lie
will not regard it as a benefit.
But" says our nelghbor, in substance,
isthere ism pound of tin in this district.
notwithstanding Mr.. Y ost'S claim to the
contrary" We prefer to take the state
ment of gentlemen who have seen the
metal in the vein, and of chemists who
have made analyses of it. There are
numbers of practical men who. after care
full examination. testify to the belief that
tin exists i'll quantity in Rockbridge county
and adjoining sections. and operations for
its de, elppment are being inaugurated
Analyses of the ore. showing from IA to
IS per cent of met allie tin, have been made
10y such chemists as Prof. Mallet, of the
University of Virginia : Prof. McCreath.
of the Pennsylvania Geological Survey
Prof. Campbell, of Washington and Lee
University. and others. But Suppose,
for arguments sake, that no TIN can be
produced in this country. That would
not alter the case in the least. Why
Because tin ore. bars, blocks or pigs,
grain or granulated, are now. and have
been for years. admitted free of duty.
England makes all, or nearly all of the tin
plate used in the world. and yet she i'm
ports two thirds of the tin she consumes.
The Mills bill does not affect the impOrta
tion of tin at all 1t simply strikes down
that part of til-plate manufacture which
we can and should produce in this cOun-
try, and which, as we said represents from
95 TO 81 per cent. of the product. whilst it
leaves untouched the or 5 per cent. rep
resented by the tin.
Would the increase of duty disastrously
affect the consumer of articles manufac-
tured from tin ? Would it blight the bud
ding prospects of our canneries Let us
see. Mr.. Clarence M. Fenton, of the
Erie Preserving Company, himself free
trader, recently wrote letter to the Pres
ideDt coDgratulating him on his free trade
message and especially urging free tin
plates. In that letter he says: Free tin
plates means 6 cents per doZe,i less on all
three pound tin cans.'' That would be
just One-half cent on every can. How
much of that half cent would be saved to
the purchaser of a can of fruit ? Or for
that matter. to the purchaser of dozen
cans? According to this estimate the