Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1889-02-05


deposits of pig tin throughout the differ
emit sections of the country, but if these
reports have been correct, why is pig
tin not produced to-day in the United
States2 The price to-day of ordinary
cokes (such as are used for canning pur-
poses) we believe is g. 25 per box in New
York. duty paid, for 1903 pounds. We dol
not believe that the value Of the pig tin
used on box of these plates to-day costs
over 40 cents.
1T is not generally understood that tin
plates are nothing more or less than
sheets of iron or steel rolled to very
| thin guage and coated with very thin
coating Of tin. The labor is the princi-
pal cost in the manufacture. The present
| duty on tin plates is l cent pound, and
| it is proposed by the Senate bill
to raise the duty on &c thickness (which
thickness is generally used for canning
purposes) to 2.15 cents per pound, or an
advance Of 1l5 per cent. over the present
| duty on &c thickness. On TX thickness
| the proposed Senate bill calls for an ad-
vance to 2.05 cents pound, or over 100
per cent advance. On Xxx and thicker
the advance is So per cent. In our
opinion there Is no doubt that three
quarters land some think seven-eighths)
| of the entire amount of tin plates i'm
ported into this country are &c thickness.
and while the duty to day. as we have be-
fore stated, ON &c is cent a pound, it
may not be generally known to your
readers that manufacturer of canned
| goods for export has only to 60 to the
| Custom House with the necessary paper
when the government will give him a re
| bate Of nine.tenths of the duties
already paid. In other words, the
tin plates out of which cans are made,
which are exported, only pay a duty of
one-tenth Of a cent pound. If the Sen
ate bill should pass allowing the same re-
bate of 80 per cent. on tin plate exported.
then the duty, under the new bill, on a
| box Of 10 tin plate would be % cents.
whereas 1t Is now when same is ex
| ported, only II cents box, while all
other consumers of tin plate are taxed
$1.0S box, or, under the new bill $2.31.
Even admitting that there was to be no
rebate under the present Senate bill, the
present proposed bill, ia our opinion,
would not permit one box of IC plates to
be manufactured in this country. We
believe that Xxx tin plates aud heavier
could be made at small profit Conse-
quently, we cannot but regard the pro-
posed increase of tariff on tin plates as
an unjust tax on the people of this entire
country. from the fact that three -fourths
of the tin plates now being imported can
not be made here under the proposed new
tariff, and millions of dollars will be
added to the tax already collected, for
the benefit of two or three mills in the
state of Pennsylvania, which will be able
to manufacture all the tin plates thicker
than TX that are required for consump-
tion in the United States thereby taxing
$50 to speak the entire United States for
the benefit of two or three firms There
is not manufacturer Of sheet iron to.
day who does not know that the proposed
bill will not permit them to make that
class of &c tin plates which is most
largely used or imported, and we are al
loss to comprehend where the justice OF
this kind Of legislation comes in,
"For some reason unexp'ain8ble to ria
the Welsh people are able to make tin
plates at a figure that Scotland cannot
! compete with where the cheapest pig
iron is made in the world, and we are
, aware that there have been mills in the
} middle of England that have been idle
! for years. not being able TO produce plates
: as cheaply as their competitors In Wales
and while the Germans are able to under.
sell England in wire and other goods
they have never yet been able to start
tin-plate works successfully, and we be
lieve there is only one tin-plate mill in
France to-day, and that runs on special
ties. otherwise it would have to close.
"In our opinion the present Senate bill
seems TO be drawn up for the benefit Of q
few manufacturers of sheet iron, and in
direct opposition to the interest of the
masses. If Congress desires to have tin
plates made in this country, let it ad
vance the duty to cents pound, so that
all plates can be made. and shut out the
entire Importation, or take off the entire
J present duty of cent which is simply q
} tax on every consumer Of tin. plates, which
article enters into the household through
out the country There is no doubt that
an increase of duty sufficient to make &c
plate in this country would drive this
article itself In many places out Of the
market, as such material as gravel and
slate would be substituted for roofs and
agate ware for household utensils, thus
throwing thousands of roofers out of EN-
ployment, and the number of men EN-.
ploYed in every city, town and village in
the United States, mployed in the manu-.
facture of tin ware, tin roofing. etc, can
be counted by thousands in every State.
We do not think that less than 70, 900 to
so. 900 men are employed to-day in this
particular class of work. Surely these
men have some rights that Congress is
bound to respect.
The writer in the Grocer concludes his
letter by prophesying that If the tin-plate
industry should be established by tariff
bonnties in this country WEIGH work
men would be imported to operate the