Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-01-16
TARIFF HEARINGS.
THE WAILlNGS OF TIMED PLATE
AND ANVIL MEN.

The scene is the committee room of the
ways and means committee. The time
Is Dec. 81. Enter Mr.. William c. Gro
nenmeyer. of Pittsburg. He states his
views to the committee on ways and
means. The desire of his soul is to see
the United States manufacture their
own timed plate. The cost of manufact-
uring timed plate in this country. &c
cording to Mr.. Cronenmeyer, would be
$3.50 per box of 112 pounds. In England
the same quantity could be delivered free
on board ship Mt Liverpool at 1925. Mr..
Cronenmeyer modestly stated that he
wanted only enough protection to equal
ize the difference in the cost Of labor be-
tween the two countries. eff the timed
plate industry" concluded Mr.. Cronen-
meyer, ''could be built up in this
country, it would support number Of
people nearly equal to the population Of
New York city"
Accepting Mr.. Cronenmeyer's figures
as correct, the following facts are also
pertinent TO the matter. Nearly half
the cost of timed plate is for sheet steel
which makes up 95 per cent. of finished
timed plate. At no time has the cost Of
n sheet of steel of the same size and
weight been less than four cents in this
country. This amount is for the raw
material alone. A finished sheet of
timed plate of the same size is put free
on board at Liverpool for three cents.
The duty is one cent n pound. AS each
sheet weighs pound, the cost of q sheet
of timed plate landed in this country is,
therefore, four cents. But Mr.. Cronen-
meyer proposes to manufacture timed
plate in this country with a protective
tariff of two cents pound. Therefore,
for one cent pound he proposes TO pay
the cost of tin, sulphuric acid, palm oil
and wages; or, in other words, he pro-
poses to do the whole process of timing
steel plates at a less cost than the Welsh
do 1t at present.
Mr.. Cronenmeyer's next point is even
more delicious. He says that an in
dustry might be built up giving em-
ployment to a number of people nearl y
equal to the population of New York
city. From the report Of Consul
Jones on the Tin Plate Trade of South
Wales" it may easily be deduced that the
total number of hands engaged in the
timed plate industry does not exceed
$4,000 According to the same report
the average annual product Of these is
20, 10000 boxes OF these we import
about one-fourth. Query: If 1900
Welshmen are able to supply the timed
plate trade Of the United States at an
average rate of wages of So. so per week,
what will it cost to employ a population
nearly equal to New York city at double
that rate of wages, and how many single
timed plates will each employee make in
five years.
In proposing to double the tariff on
timed plate. Mr.. Cronenmeyer will have
TO take account with several powerful in
dustries. Almost every utensil used in
dairy farming is made from timed plate.
Including the tins used for condensed
milk, not less than $1,000, 900 worth of
timed plate is used annually in this
country for dairy purposes. This amount
rs exclusive of a tariff of 3j per cent.
The condensed milk industry is not
only a large domestic industry, but
few years ago the Anglo-Swiss Con-
densed Milk company established facto-
ries In Illinois for the purpose of export
ing its products to Europe. An extra
cent Jund on timed plate will drive
them back 10 Switzerland again.
AT present dairyman pays four cents
duty on each ten-quart can, eight cents
duty on each fifteen-quart can and |
forty-tive cents on each forty-auart can.
Under the proposed advance in the tariff |
on timed plates, these rates will be
doubled. Ninety cents duty on every
forty-quart can!
Even OF greater Importance is the |
canned goods industry. Last year s1O.-
100000 of timed plate, exclusive of |
duty, was consumed in this industry. |
Not less than 800, 900 900 cans are made |
each year for holding preserved fish.
meats, fruit and vegetables. An ordi- |
nary tomato can, even though thrown
away as empty and good for nothing,
represents duty Of one half cent as
paid To the national treasury for the
timed plate of which it is made.
Another cent a pound will stop exports
in this industry.
The last industry which uses timed
plate Will not be much affected by an
advance in the tariff. This is the Standard
Oil trust, which uses 1900. 900 pounds n
year of timed plate for cans in which to
export oil. As the trust does its business
IN large fashion, It can afford to take nd
vantage of the rebate which the govern
ment offers to exporters. Would il not
be good plan for the government to
give rebate Of one-half cent for every
empty tomato can presented to it, The
people OF the United States should not
be any worse of in this respect than
foreigners who use our exported oil.
Mr.. Clark Fisher, of Trenton, N. j., is
anxious about anvils. He described
them to the ways and means committee
as the Oldest implement known to man
Kind. Mr.. Fisher said that forty years
ago there were twenty five firms making
anviis. Now there were only three. A
duty OF $40 cents per pound would
satisfy Mr.. Fisher. 1t would enable the
manufacturers to turn out anvils cbeaner
ono account OF the greater production. So
far Mr.. Fisher
The present tariff on anvils is Q cents
per pound. In the last senate bill this
amount was left unchanged.
But what beautiful trust the three
surviving anvil firms could make to re-
duce prices with an increased duty of
BIO cents per poundl
North Carolina has sOO,O 900 acres of
swamp land to sell for the benefit of her
sducatiun fund.
A Business Woman