News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1890-09-04
The Tin Plate Scare.


pect that the importers, whose bust
ness it is to bring foreign goods to
this country to sell, should think any
more of the Mckinley tariff bill than
do the foreign manufacturers who
want to have a free market for their
foreign made goods in the United
States. Both classes of course are
Free Traders, and both vigorously
oppose the Mckinley bill because that
bill is in favor of having American la
Dor right here at home, make the
goods which the Americans use in
stead of depending upon a foreign
nation for the supply. The importers
are quick to see that all this would
take their occupation away orlargely
cut into their profits, and they are
fighting it with all their might.
Thousands of circulars, filed with
specious free trade statements, have
been sent out through the country
broadcast and an attempt is made to
create a scare about the increased
price of tin plate. The increased cost,
even admitting the statements of the
importers to be true, is small at the
most, and would be much more than
offset by the benefits which would
come to the people from the large
amount of labor and capital that
-weufa-pe set ttJ-weFk- IN tins country,
but which now all goes to benefit the
people of foreign countries.
But this talk of increased cost is
only bugbear used by these import
ers for their own selfish ends. Every
one who has given the matter any
thought knows that home manufac-
ture diminishes the cost of nanufae-
tured articles to the consumer, and
they know that the ultimate if not
immediate effect of the passage of the
Mckinley bill on the price of tin
plates would be to break the power
of the foreign combine which arbi-
trarily says how much must be paid
for the article and to reduce instead
of to increase the price. That was
the effect in the case of steel rails,
wire nails, pottery, plate glass and
scores of other articles. For the ben
eft of any timid ones who have been
frightened by the cry of higher prices
in the case of tin plate we print the
following which shows the effect OF
protection upon the cost of wire
nails. The article is from the Cleve-
land Leader and its statements are
strictly accurate:
''Prior to 1888 wire nails were not
protected and theforeigners sold them
to us at So a key. Not a pound OF
them was made in this country. In
1888 Congress imposed a duty of two
cents, and two and a half cents and
four cents a pound on wire nails, ac-
cording to size. The duty on the
kind sellingfor So key was 81 The
free traders opposed this, as they
now do the proposed increase in the
duty on tin plates, on the ground
that the 81 would be added to the
price, making IS key.
In 1888, $4,000 kegs of wire nails
were produced in this country; in
1884, 70, 900; in 1885, 100000; in
1886, 100000; in 1887, 100000; in
1888, 100000; in 1889, $500
900; and the output this year will be
100000 kegs. Here is a total of
over 100000 kegs of wire nails
produced where not one was produced
before, as the result of protection.
According to the free trade predic-
tions these nails must have cost So q
key or $72, 100000 in all, of which
SIS, 100000 would be "tax" Now
what did they cost?
The average price of wire nails was
Sc key in 1888, So in 1884, 81 in
1885, $3.50 in 1886, S2.97 in 1887,
81 As in 1888, and S2.4 in1SS9 and
1890 The 100000 kegs were sold
for $23, 100000, including the unsold
product of this year. At So key,
the price before the tariff was made
protective in 1888, these nails would
have cost the American people at
wholesale over $54, 100000.
The former price of wire nails was
So keg. The protective tariff is 81
a key. The present selling price is
$2.4O a keg. Now will some free
trader please tell us if the tariff on
wire nails is a tax, and if SO to what
extent ?''
In the past twenty years the United
States have paid to England for tin
plate nearly two hundred millions OF
dollars. Under the Mckinley plan,
which is the Republican and Protec-
tive plan, that sum instead of being
sent over the water to support Eng
lish capital and English labor to the
detriment of American labor, will be
paid out right here in our own coun-
try. And not only that benefit will
be derived by our people under this
plan, but as in the case of wire nails,
noted above, the cost to the consumer
will be reduced so that goods made
from tin plate, can be bought for less
money than ever before.