San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-06-07
FEMINIST rlN-PLATETARl

crat in a mortar with pestle, yet will
not his f. t. d. depart from him, or
words to that effect? n late utter
ance of the Fort Worth Gazette is in
point. That journal, as usual, was
foollshly endeavoring to make point
against the tin-plate schedule of the
Mckinley bill, and in so doing called
attention to the rumor that, in case
that bill passed, all English syndicate
proposed to erect at Pitts burg large
tin-plate mill, and then proceeds in
this strain:
"Others without doubt will follow
his example, and before many years
all the tin-plate used in the country
Will be manufactured here, and the
millions that go abroad now for that
article of commerce will go into the
pockets of these enterprising manu-
facturers, and other millions along
with them in the form of a tax bonus
given to encourage" them to plum
der the people according to law.
That is the Reed-Mckinley doctrine
of forcing prosperity on few at the
expense of the many, doctrine that,
strangely enough, the people of the
West voted fol at the polls in the fall
of 1888"
The Gazette confesses that the mil
lions which now go abroad for tin
plate Will 60 into the pockets OF the
manufacturers of America, once the
Mckinley bill Is law. VIII the Ca
zette inform its readers if it is so hos
tile to the industries of America that
it cannot see with any satisfaction the
millions retained in America that
now go to England, and to the Eng
lish capitalist and laborer?? The i'm
portatiOn of tin plates into this coun-
try is in the neigh borhood of 7,0OO,-
900 per annum. This amount the Ga
zette would see expended in England
and not in America. and condemns
the republican tariff that prevents
this drain upon the nations gold.
This tin plate is from ninety-fve to
per cent iron or steel,
the other three or five per cent being
tin. The Gazette bases its objections
to this republican taritt'on the ground
that the few will be benefited at the
expense of the many. This is bald as
sertion unsupported by one iota of
evidence. The owners of the iron
mines in America, the railroads
carrying this ore, the furnaces smelt-
ing it, the coal mines furnishing the
fuel, will all be- benefited by the ex-
penditure in the United States of this
ST. 900, 900 which now goes to Eng
land; and, in addition, every laborer
in the mines, on the railways, and at
the furnaces will find profitable en-
ployment, and these hundreds of
thousands will be fed in America,
creating by so much an additional
home market for the products of
the American farm and garden, and
the clothing maker and the house
builder. All these the Gazette will
not deny are benefited. Not only so,
the prices of tin plate will be lower in
the United States within ten years of
the passage of the law than it is to-
day, and thus the consumer, the
purchaser of the tin plate, will be
benefited, as well as all the capital,
industry and labor employed. THIS
Is not speculation, it is demon trable
fact. The large proportion of steel.
or iron, which enters into the COM
position of tin plate warrants the
assertion that what has resulted
from protective tariff in the case of
steel products will follow in the case
of tin plate. Before republicans en-
acted tariff laws, America paid Eng
land four times the price for steel
hat the American buyer pays the
American manufacturer today. Com
petition reduced the price; and now,
this immense industry, giving en-
plOyment to tens of thousands of
laborers, is planted securely at home.
Tin plate manufacture will follow
suit, and the industry will be planted
here to the mutual benefit of producer
and consumer. The Gazette is merely
trying to throwMilI's dust in peoples
eyes, when it speaks of "plundering
the people," Free trade does this,
for under its operations pig-tin
has advanced in price nearly Is per
cent within this semi-decade, not