The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1890-10-26

Ion market as high as 16 shillings and 6
pence per ounce, less 5 per cent. In one
ounce walls, and the same brand OF En-
glish q~uinine to-day in the London market
commands only l shilling and . pence,
about 40 cents, which shows O fall of 10
shillings, or say 1850 in that market since
1877. 1t Is Germany where cheap labor Is
the rule that has made the manufacture of
sibility. In the United States in chemical
factories ordinary labor for men is paid at
the rate of $40 and Sl2 q week; women So q
week. In Germany the same KIND OF sery-
ice can be had for 2 marks, OF 4S cents. q
day to men, and to women who work In the
fields in summer and in the factories in
winter as low wages as the equivalent of
12l2 cents q day. But the great drop In the
price of quinine was not brought about by
taking off the tariff, but by the fall in the
the enormous production of cultivated
bark in Ceylon and elsewhere in the East
Indies by the English and the Dutch, the
latter nationality having paid great atten-
ton to its cultivation in Java"
1T is generally supposed" resumed the
interviewer, that South America furnished
used"
Until recently that has been the case.
bnt some years ago the English and Dutch
undertook the transfer of the cinchOna tree
to the East Indies from South America.
This was accomplished. but with great diff
ficulty. The ScGth Americans %interposed
all manner of obstacles, even prohibiting
the removal OF seeds n cuttings OF the
cinchona tree from it's natural habitat.
But in February, 1861, the first installment
of seeds arrived in Ceylon from South
America. and in 1869 a little parcel of East
ln%dia-grown bark was exported to Eng
land. There was In this parcel just twen-
ty-eight ounces, but it proved to be rich in
quinine. and dependence upon South Amer
lea as a source of supply was gone forever.
From twenty-eight ounces of bark in 1869
the business has grown to an export of H.
900. 900, and it is to the English and Dutch
that the world owes the bountiful supply
of cultivated bark far superior to the
South American, and also the present low
price"
How many guinine manufacturers are
there in the United Statesa"
There are now th~ree-Powers & Wight
man and the Rosengarten & Sons. Phila-
delphia, and the New York quinine and
chemical works. New York. There were
five when the duty was removed. but one
firm failed and one gave up the manufact-
ure. As there is no profit In the business
the others are likely to drop out any time.
A slight tariff would save these factories to
Us. Germany and Italy pay low wages.
maintain protective duties against Ameri-
can quinine. and both countries
United States. Nearly 10000 600 ounces of
foreign qulnlne were Imported laSt year,
and no American q~uinine was exported. In
1873, previous to the removal of the duty,
only 1850 ounces were imported. There Is
no better quinine made in the world, in
fact, none so good, as the American, and
with labor and general expenses on the
would be supplied entirely by American
quinine. So far as the actual consumer is
concerned a % per cent. tariff on the article
would not be appreciable, while it conld
loosen the grip from the throat of the
American manufacturer. During the pres
emit year the price of German ~quinine has
been as low as Is cents an ounce. whole
sale, while the American article has ranged
from 80 cents to A cents. In 1877 the highest
price reached by the American article was
"a. 20; but don't say tariff for in that same
year. as / said before, the English-made
article was worth sixteen shillings and six
pence, or about 81, and we consider the
American article az much better as the diff
ference in price,"