Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1891-10-30
The Truth About Tin Plate.

- N''N
read the following from the Pioneer
Press, and then go on the stump and
show the farmers Of South Dakota how
the tariff ON tin will be a tax to them.
with a population of half a million in
the Black Hills mining district. which
they will have within the next FIVE
years. the farmers of the state will have
a market that will advance the price of
produce an hundred fold over any tax
they may have to pay on the amount OF
tin used by them. The Pioneer Press
tfathfully says:
"EXaggeration OF triiles Is one Of the
commonest features OF ii political cam
paign. Parties will leave great issues
TO handy words with each other and fill
coinms OF print on I'M controverted
point which is of only the most triiiing
Importance, no matter on whose side
the truth lies. This must explain the
extraordinary prominence given in the
Ohio campaign to the parsonage named.
now on one side, now on the other. 1.-The
tin plate liar" Democrats have assert
ed, with poSitiveness and passion, that
there has not been any tin plate made
in the United States, and that there Is
not likely to be. Emissarie, of the
party have been sent out to hunt down
rumors OF new tin plate plants, as If
these were some rare and valuable
botanic specimens; and great was the
joy of their employers when they were
able to report that no plate WAS being
manufactured ut tho designated spot.
ION tho Republican side there has
been a determination equally stern to
prove the possibility and actually ola
American tin plate. To advertise IL as
widely as possible, Mr.. Mckinley took a
hand at the dipping pot, and the coated
metal SO produced was cut up into cam
paign badges that provoke the enemy TO
unSaemly wrath. Confronted with this
tangible evidence Of te siversation,
they declare that the article is nothing
but terne plate, or sheet steel covered
with lead, and again the battle RACES
aver the question: Is any one manufac-
turing tin plato in the United States?
1t Is Il question that admits of an easy
answer, and it Is worth answering be-
cause OF its relation to current politics
and debate over the effects of the Nc
kinley bill. Tin plate. of all sorts. is
being made in this country at the pres
n time, aud there is every prospect
that it will be manufactured in very
large quantities before tn. end of an
other year.
1.-The variety known as terne, or
roofers tin, is made in many places and
in large amounts, 1t consists of sheets
OF iron or steel coated with an alloy of
lead and tin, and is used mainly for
roofing purposes. Comparatively little
skill is required for its production, and
many factories are now turning it out.
Tin plate proper, the bright material
out OF which domestic utensils are man
ufactured, which consists Of similar
plate coated with pure tin, Is made in
smaller quantities; but it is now pro-
dueed in Philadelphia, experiments hav-
ing been entirely successful, and work
is under way for the building of several
extensive factories. There seems to be
no reason why any confusion should ex-
list about these facts, or why they should
have been denied by anybody. For
even the most ardent democratic enemy
Of the tariff must admit that you can
build up almost any industry if you give
it sufficient protection. 1t Is singular
that opposition to tho principle should
have resulted in unwillingness to admit
the fact.
THAT fact is that the tin plate tariff
has created a new industry in this coun-
try which promises to grow to large pro-
portions. Before the passage Of the
Mckinley bill there was no tin plate
made here. Before many years we shall
probably manufacture enough to supply
a great part OF our home demand. OF
course progress in starting work has
been slow, for everything connected with
the business was experimental. 1t was
during that stage that democrats indus
trionsly circulated the rumor that all
talk of American manufacture of the
article was invented to fool the voter.
1t is surprising, not that there should
have been delay, but that it should have
been possible to introduce here so
quickly an industry. many OF whose de-
tails had to be learned from other lands.
At the present time the tin plate manu-
featuring industry is we'll under way,
and is as genuine as the making of any
other article which VIZ produce. 1t was
certain that this would be the result
with a tariff on foreign imports suii-
cient to make manufacture In this
country a profitable undertaking. 1t
would be in order for the Democrats to
contend that this policy. though effect
i've, Is a bad one, in that it costs the
people more than it will profit them; for
this is in accord with their tariff theory.
But they only give away any case they
may have when they set at work deny
ing the facts, which are easily ascer-
tainable by a little inquiry"