Daily Republican., 1889-12-31
Tho American Protective system. .

Iho American Protective System.
The Washington correspondent OF the
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin says;
Inc cieanesl-cut and most logical de-
fence OF ihe American Protective Tariff
system yet made before the Ways and
Means Committee at this session was the
history OF the ruin of the tin-plate indus
Try IN this country through an inade-
qnate duty aud English competition ss
skeichod yesterday by G. G. Cronemyer,
OF The United States Irol and Tln-plate
Company, Of P!ttsburg Every we'll
informed person knows that our entire
supply OF tin-p'ate comes from tine British
hmgdom, the famous Welsh mines of
cornwall ailording the ose. There is not
arngle. tin-plate mill In tho Western
Hemisphere now in operation. The Eng
iish monopclists have with US an undis
tutsd neid as well as the biggest market
in the world.
They fix their own prices, and the
American consumer mus dance to their
piping. AT this lime thsre is a boom in
tin-pfate, the English combination having
screwed prices up good many pegs.
l'rices to day are higher by from thirty
three TO forty per cent. than they have
heen for many years. 's7ms' fifteen years
aeo the manufacture tl tin plato was
begun as an infant i.,dustry In this
country. At that time she price to the
consumer wse sl2 per bbx. Three mills
were started up and the fat thing the
English had With US began to be serious
" threatened. Tho duly both upon the
finished and uniln ished article was In
adequate Tor the proper protection Of the
American manufacturer Tho English
makers were quick to rehlize this advan
tsge and their agents here were in-
structed to undersell tile American pro I.
duct no matter how low the prices
shrank. "The EnglIshfnen always got
under ue," sail Mr. Cronemyer.
There was clearly-detned conspiracy
among them to freez, out this baby In
dusty, and it finally tucceeded. One
to suspend, Mr.. CroLeuyer's Pittsburg
establishment being the iaat 10 become
sllent. And that was in the Centennial
year. The price had then fallen to 81
per box. This wasspot the result of the
competition In whoie, but had been brought
about by the Antr.caa agents acting
through the lRst1I1ctions Of their English
prip oipalss voIuutsfily shaving prices in
order to destroy tha domestic nianufac.
turers, silence their plants, driving them
out OF business altogether.
Mr.. Croncmyer told the commit
that II he could be guaranteed tariff
high enough 10 afford a,reasona able pro.
lection that the fires In his mi / would be
started up again and would be followed
by others. One OF the monstrosities of
the present Tariff Schedule was pointe
out by him that the duty on the raw
sheet is higher proportioBately than
l.upon the finished product. 1t may not
4 b. generally known that tho body OF tin
.plate is rolled steel, tie tin In liquid form
being washed upon the plate by pi o.
cess termed picking. This is work for
females, apd II 10 denied that 1t Is iDjuri-
GUS TO human health, although com non.
ly and ignorantly 80 asserted. There
are rich tin deposits in tho United States
already discovered, and undoubtedly
Others exist that have not yet been re.
vealed TO man. The mines In the Black
Hills Alone are sufficient to supply the
worlds demand.
Then there is the Tesnesoal nine, In
Southern California, which is claimed to
be the greatest tin-ore deposit on the
globe, but which has becn closed ior
many years by reasonta lIugatioa
which has at last been cobclnded, a clear
title to the mine now existing. Mr.. Crone.
myer stated that duty o from ~ to 2H
cents per pound was only demanded, and
II 1t was granted MI active competition
against the English monopoly would bo at
once resumed aud prices would fall to q
Legitimate figure. Three hundred
thousand tons OF tln-plate were consumed
In the United States last year which, II IL
had been manufactured In this country,
would have given constant employment
to 20, 600 peraons. II.