Telegram-herald., 1890-09-21
spzxcH AT ALLEGAN.

klag caaa iaate fof Congress i Eescs
40 sosas sse4ksT. and : tnozogga.s
s.ssssd 81 a. tas e1rrsnt matters of tx
oss. Last Noaazx as 2ttenGoa wzs
esEs1 = ne tree trade c.reat4r = fos-
ter. Ssexess 4 CO. Ire next mornlag
NJ. Watkins addressed the RspabEcSB
convention CT AllezSn. sna during hls
sseeca hs showsd tAe fsllaelss of the
circular IN TIE following yig0Eoas
language.
ssNs. cHAfRNAx-My attention kzs
5u.t been called 80 circular pas ogt -
Foster. stevens a Co., II Grand RAPIDS.
Inis circular. NhIen = senE ous b
tirm COMPOSED of tree trade Democrats,
Tor the purpose ot explaining u thelE
customers the reason Tor al al
ysnee Ia their prices claims lnterenu-
ally that the passage OF tie NJ C.
kHiey tariH biil : the cause OF the M
crease ia price. The Democrats also
teil us that i increases the cost OF the
cups, the pans and pals OF the farmer
and working man. Let Us look al this
question fairly aud from business
standpoint. The present tarlf Oh tin
plate : one cent per pound. The pro-
posed tax j. tNO cents per pound. wow
IL the TAX MAS added u the price which
IL i not il would probably cost the
farmer and working man from one 10
flve cents additional, as their share OF
the cost TO permanently establish this
great industry in this country, but Il
ras ar OF
this increase IN tariff, Is the dealer who
seems 10 think MS prort may be re-
duced little instead OF It's costing the
consumer more. They are not, a. a
rule, looking out SO very earnestly for
tne consumers interest. Now, what is
the history OF TN plate; America Is the
larges. consumer OF TN plate IN the
world, IN fact, We use more than all the
other nations of the world combined,
ard We are not producing single
pound OF tin plate IN the United States.
The Mills bill proposed 10 put tin
plate on the free list, but the Republi-
can party propose 10 protect Il 10 such
an extent "a will invite capital 10 seek
investment III this important industry,
employ labor, contribute To our Nation
al greatness and prosperity, and IN the
near future manufacture sufficient 10
meet our entire wants, and reduce the
price of the article because OF our I'M
proved methods IN manufacturing the
article. Most of our tin plate is manu-
factured in South Wales by cheap
female labor. The additional tariff
proposed is Just the difference between
the price OF their labor at cents per
day in Wales and intelligent well paid
American labor. In 1873 tin plate sold
IN American markets for Sl2 per box.
Encouraged by this enormous price,
capital sought investment in this in
dustry, but before the mills were fairly
started, the foreign dealer put the
price down TO $3.50, thus prostrating
the manufacture of TIN plate and drIy-
ing the enterprise out of business. This
was in 1878. So soon as our factories
were closed, the price went up again (ln-
1877 to SO. Our American mills again
started. but Immediately the foreigner
informed his American customers that
no matter what price the Amerl-
can product was offered at, they would
sell him % cents less. This, of
course resulted in driving our home
manufacturers out of the business,
when the price WAS again advanced to
81 per box, and today | am informed
the price is S6.25. We are practically at
the mercy of the English combination.
In the past few years English mills
have doubled in their capacity, and
America is her largest and most profit
able market. In 1864 we purchased of
England 73,000, 900 pounds of tin plate.
In 1859 we purchased 742, 900, 900
pounds, for which We paid them up
ward of 2l 900, 600 of dollars. Every
pound of this article might have been
produced in the United States, and the
money kept at home, employing labor
and building up home market for the
products of the farm. That Is what we
propose to do when the Mckinley bill
becomesa law, and in place of impover-
ishing ourselves TO promote English
growth and prosperity, we will keep the
money at home. circulating among our
own people, and preserve the American
market for the American product.