The Globe-republican., 1891-07-29
WAGES, FIFTEEN MILLIONS.

WAVES, ee 1eeN Mt6l1ONS
At Least That Much Yearly to Workmsn
Directly Employed Counting Those En-
gaIed in Allied Industries the Pay Roll
, Would Have Been Double That Sum Had
We Produced Last Year All the Tin Plate
We Purchased In Wales.
There were imported into the United
States in the twelve months ending
April 30 tin and terne plate to the
amount of 42o, 2S4 net tons, having q
declared value of S2s, 325. 295.
| What would it mean to the United
States if this tin plate were produced
in this country instead of being i'm
ported?
In the discussion of this question I
shall use the best figures obtainable,
and while they may not be absolutely
| accurate. they are approximately so,
and near enough for all practical pur-
poses.
| To produce this amount of tin plate
would require, roughly. $4,000 tons of
pig iron. But four states in the Union
Pennsylvania, Ohio. Alabama and Illi-
nois-produced as much pig iron in 1890.
, This is equal to the average production
of twenty modern blast furnaces work.
, ing an average of three hundred days a
year. 1t has been estimated that it re-
quires, at blast furnace, on an aver
age. a days work of a man to produce
a ton of pig iron. 1t would require.
therefore, to produce this amount of
pig iron, $50, 900 days work constantly
of one man at furnace. or say, the
work of 1888 employees working 800
days in q year.
1t requires two tons of iron ore to
produce ton of pig iron and for the
fettling necessary in reducing ton of
pig iron to sheet. To produce this $780,
600 tons of pig iron that will be con-
sumed in the production of the 432, 2S4
tons of tinplate would require, there
fore, 100, 900 tons of iron ore. This is
two and one-half times the product of
all the iron mines of New Jersey; it is
six times the product of the iron mines
of Missouri Taking the census of 1880
as a basis, it would seem that it re-
quires a days work to produce a ton of
ore. Therefore, to produce the amount
of ore necessary to make the amount of
pig iron that would be used in the manu-
facture of the tinplate referred to
would require 100000 days work of
one man, equivalent to the work of
1866 men working 800 days in year.
Assuming that it requires LIZ tons
of coke to make ton of pig
iron there would be demand
for 100000 tons of coke. This
is in excess of the production of every
state in the Union except Pennsylvania,
West Virginia and Alabama. To make
this coke would require over million
tons of coal To mine this coal and
make this coke would require at least |
six hundred thousand days labor of one
man, or the labor of 1000 men 800 days |
in a year.
In addition to this there would be re-
quired for fuel in the sheet and tin mills |
over 1,5OO, 900 tons of COAL or its fuel |
equivalent, equal to 100000 days labor |
of one man or the labor of 9, 500 men |
800 days in a year.
This 1872. 2S4 tons of tinplate would |
require say 400. 900 tons Of sheet iron or
sheet steel This is equal to nearly |
half the total production of sheet and |
plate iron and steel in the United States |
in 1890, and more than equal to the pro-
duction of sheet iron and sheet steel of |
the guages that form the bulk used in |
the manufacture of tinplate.
1t is difficult to arrive at just the |
labor in ton of sheets, but it would be |
at least below the mark to assume that |
it requires four days labor to produce |
from the pig iron a ton of sheet iron or
H1n lo
then, to 1,6OO, 900 days labor in the
sheet mill, or the labor of j, 333 men 500 |
days. |
1t is also very difficult to state posi-
lively how many persons would be en-
ployed in the actual timing department |
of these works, but 800 men working
800 days in the year would probably be
low estimate.
Now, taking no account of the men
engaged in the transportation of metals
to their point of consumption, nor of
the men engaged in producing the lum-
Der or making the boxes to box this
amount of tinplate, of which some
eight million boxes would be required,
we would have the following as the
number of men working 500 days in the
year that would be required to produce
the materials named above necessary
to make 422, 2s4 net tons of tinplate:
Pig iron. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. .S33
Iron ore Observation-Disclosures. 3. 100
Coke. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1000
Coal. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. . 100
Sheet mills Observation-Disclosures 1913
lin mlu 3.lOO |
Total. S,SS2
This is equivalent to 5,649.600 days
labor. This, at an average of $50 per
day. would be equivalent to Sl4,1a4.OLO
paid out in wages. The fact that the
declared value of the amount of tim
plate above named was SIS, 325, 295 will
show that my estimate is probably far
below the mark. l think it would be
fair to assume that fully twenty thou
sand people would be given employment