The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-02
steel Rails and Tin Plate.


The WAYS and means committee is irving
TO find way TO please one big monopoly
| and to create another big monopoly with
out offending the common sense Of the
country The duty on steel rails is Sl7 per
ton. and there is a very general demand
that it shall be very greatly reduced The
reasons given for a reduction are excellent
ones. At the present time the price of steel
rails IN England is about what it is in this
country. 1t is apparent, therefore, that if
there were no duty at all on steel rails they
could not be profsably imported. The
steel rail manufacturers, however.
don't want the duty reduced. They
declare that the price of steel rails Just now
is abnormally high in England, aud thai
it is certain to fall very soon. Ad hitting
that it is high, there Is no probability that
it will fall more than So or 81 per ton. All
last year the average price OF steel rails in
England was not more than S. per ton
below the price in this country. Why thea
should the duty BE- kept at 81 per tonl
What is the purpose of the steel rail
workers in insist * that the duty on steel
rails shall not be reducedl Is it to put up
the price of rails $40 or SIS per ton
as soon as a favorable opportunity
presents itself? Itcertainly looks 50. What
other purpose could the manufacturers have
IN wanting such high tariff on the pro-
duct of their mills! A few years ago they
made combination, a i'd udienly raised
the price Of rails $40 a ton or more, and
made enormous fortunes.
1t is understood that some of the Western
republican members of the ways and means
committee declare that the duty must be
reduced, because their constituents are be-
ginning to show signs of dissatisfaction
with the republican policy that places
heavy burdens on the masses for the benefit
OF the few, and the chances are that the duty
on steel rails will be reduced, though not as
gr satly as it ought to be.
The most outrageous proposition that has
yet been made to the ways and means com.
mittee, however, and which some of the
republicans of the committee are inclined
to regard with favor, is that there shall be
an increase Of 125 per cent in the duty on
tin plate. There is no tin plate manufact-
ured in this country. but there are a few
NV VohS w 1u6N
to start the manufacture of it as an
infant industry, and to tax everybody who
uses articles Of tin to support the infant.
The infant undoubtedly would never be-
come self-supporting however old it might
get to be, and during all the years of its
existence it would be an excuse for taxing
the people for the benefit of a few monop-
olists --t
The people Of this country are now taxed
S6,0Oo,0OO year on tin plate, which is
used in making the vast variety of tin
articles used in the kitchen and in COM
merce. If the proposed increase were made
they would be taxed Sl4,OOO,0O0. Are re-
publican farmers and working men will
ing to submit to such an outraged In
all the world at present there are
only $4,000 persons men, women,
and children engaged in making
tin plate. If the tin industry were estab-
lished in this country it would not give en-
ployment to perhaps 10000 persons. And
yet it is coolly proposed that to start this
industry burden of S14, ZOO, 900 a year shall
be laid upon the people, and
this is the Republican policy
of projections Why, in this country there
are now 1900 persons engaged in making
articles from tin plate. For canned goods
alone hundreds of millions of tin cans are
required every year. What the workers III
tin plate and consumers of canned goods
want is cheaper tin plate. Instead of in
creaslng the duty on that article it ought
TO be reduced. Indeed. in strict iustics.
tin plate ought to be put on the free list.
Let us see if the Republican party dares to
increase the dutyzon it.