The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-10-15
READ BEFORE cRITIcIsINc.
The Operations OF tho Now Tarff
Sketched.
New York Trlbune.l


The people will soon elect another Con-
gress. With passion which scorDs all facts
Democrats tell them that they ought to de-
feat Republicans because tariff has been
passed which enhances the cost OF every
thing from tin-pail to locomotive. The
people mean to vote right, and therefore
want the facts. 1t is one fact that reductions
OF duty by the new tariff are far more numer-
Gus than Increases of duty. But the thing
the people want first and most TO know Is
| whether any Increase was wise. Two dis
patches give an answer. One, TO a Demo-
cratic paper. states that several millions are
to be invested Immediately in a great tin
| plate works at Baltimore, which will employ
more than a thousand men. The other, TO a
mercantile agency, states that several works
l at Pitt burg are hurrytng their preparations
1 to manufacture tin plates, and one Is des-
i crihed which will give employment 10 sew
/ eral hundred men. Works not before In ex-
isteDee, then. viii soon offer permanent en-
ployment TO 1000 men, let us say. VIII the
people gain nothing?
At present they have 1000 men seeking for
employment la vain, for whom room Will DO
made by those who find employment In these
new works. 1t costs the people, In one
shape or another, at least 500 TO support
every unemployed man a year. III his rela-
tives or friends, or trusting stOIekeepers,
pay the cost, still 1t comes out OF the aggre-
gate sum which could otherwise be divided
among laborers or added TO the National
wealth. dead loss OF 100000 per year
will stop when these men are set TO work.
But the icon and other materials will also
require the labor Of an even larger number
oi Americans. Let us say that the dead loss
stopped by sitting unemployed Americans
TO work would be $1,000 yearly.
This Is but beginning. Last year this
country paid about twenty-one millions to
10 hasfna ~
Der cent as cost of impOrtations and profits
for importers, and seven millions to Govern
ment IN revenue not needed This work
abroad employed let II be assumed In all
branches from the mine TO the finished pro-
duct, the labor Of 10000 hands. The cost
II keeping 100000 Americans idle was at
least ten millions more, so that the tin plates
actually cost this country not less than forty
millions. Set Americans at work 60 mine
the iron, and smet and roll 1t, and fashion
the plates. and when all Is done the 700, 600
900 pounds of tin plates could not be sold for
more than cents per pound which they cost
abroad last year and the % ceots duty, or
$50. 100000 On the face of the business
tlere Is a saving. But the twenty-one NIL
lions sent abroad went TO buy food and
clothing In foreign markets. and thus 10 sup
port foreign farms and shops and mills. The
larger sums at first paid to Americans for
doing the same work would be spent for the
products Of American farms and shops and
NUS. This Is another and far greater differ
ence.
yT,ing no further, 1t Is clear that the new
works which the tariff Is creating will save
money Tor the country. But this Is not the
whole story. The foreign Tin Plate Trust,
which permitted Americans to buy its pro-
ducts at cents per pound last year, realized
enormous profit In fact, II nearly third Of
the price paid did not represent clear profits,
TO all the employers and traders engaged
from the mine TO the flashed box, current
accounts are much misleading. These for
eigners have TO choose between ruin and
sacrifice Of the whole or part OF their pro-
fits. They can barely keep their works GO
Ing at two cents per pound for the plates, let
us suppose; then they will put the price
down to two cents, or even lower before
they will suffer their works to be destroyed.
But the American works can get only 90
cents per pound more than the foreign max
ers get; in that case. AZ cents per pound.
The present duty added to the present price
abroad Is about as much. In that case we
shall see the plates furnished TO consumers
ct close TO the present price, and yet mtl-
lions will be saved to Americans by employ
ing their own labor and keeping Its wages at
home.
The new works mean more labor for
Americans. This Is what the country wants
and those who vote with reference to the
tariff question In November will do well TO
have the Illustration In mind.