Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-10-07
THE Tin Plate FRAUD.
Chicago Herald.

''All this talk about the manufacture of
Temescal tin in California being succe So
that you hear from the republican ora
tors in Ohio and other states is political
bosh," said John p. Irish, editor of The
late lamented San Francisco Alto, who
was at the Grand Pacific. Mr. Irish is a
red hot democrat, and he has been look
ing into the tin mining business in Cali
fornia TO see whether the grandiloquent
claims of the republican stump orators In
the east are based on facts.
why. Mckinley goes over Ohio
bleatiDg in the ears of thousands of peo-
pie that tin plate mining has proved TO be
asuccess in the Black Hills of Dakota
and at Temescsl in California, and some
people down east who know nothing
about the facts of the case msy believe
what they hear. ! would not charge
Mckinley with making false statements
maliciously, but il may be that he has
been deceived by the owners OF the mines
who, Of course, want the impression 10 go
out that the tariff on tin plate is ell right
Not saying anything about tin in Dakota
and California, it looks as il Mckinley
would have his hands full in defending
the manufacture of tin plate at Piqua,
Ohio, where they seem to use peculiar
lead bath process. Anyhow, republican
campaign howlers in Ohio have gone
about telling The people in the country
districts that 5000 men are engaged IN
the tin mining and milling business in
California, and that will soon be one Of
the star industries of America under the
fostering care of the Mckinley tariff
Now, the fact is that 5000 men have
lever been engaged in tin mining in
California. The people who owned the
San Jacinto estate before it was sold 10
the English syndicate employed re-
sponsible tin expert 10 examine thor.
Oughly the lodges where tin deposits
were found. That expert told me him
self that after q thorough inspection Of
the lodges he reported TO the American
owners that tin could not be found in
commercial quantities. They then sold
the estate to the English syndicate. And
these EDglishmen are now making
money out Of their investment in the
San Jacinto estate, not by mining tin, for
operations have ceased in that direction,
but by skillfully managing the ranches.
They have closed down their tin mine
If they should run their tin plant to the
full capacity of the machinery they have
they could only produce 900 tons per
year. which is only little over ]! per
cent of the output of the world. Henry
Wicker. of the Harvey Peak Tin Mining
company Of the Black Hills, has also ad.
mitted in the Herald that tin plate has
not as yet been found in commercial
quantities there. So the fact is tin min
ing is in the lowest experimental stage in
America, and not per cent of this
amount of tin used in this country can
be produced here.
Nevertheless, Mckinley goes ov,r
Ohio and tells the people that the rise in
the price of tin since his bill was passed
is benefit to thiss country, because the
foreign producers pay the high duty into
the United States treasury before the tin
is sold here. But Mckinley is jugg ing
with facts. Anybody who knows any
thing about tin plate knows that the deal
ers in this country laid in supply suffi-
cient to answer the trade here for two
years to come when they saw that the bill
was going to pass congress. What wac
the result? As soon as the Mckinley bill
was passed and the duty was placed on
tin, these dealers raised the price on the
goods that they had on hand in sufficient
quantities to supply the trade for two
years. Therefore, instead of foreign pro-
ducers this year paying any duty into the
United States treasury the extra price on
tin is being paid out of the pockets of the
consumers here; the government is not
benefited in the least, for all the profit on
the rise in the price Of tin goes into the
pockets of the dealers who had this large
supply of tin on hand for sale. Aud
these wholesale dealers in tin have in
creased the price under this tariff to such
q figure that they will make S14 600
clear profit this year; and they will be
able to do the same next year, for the tin
product of this country is so insignificant
that it would be childish to say that there
can be any competition from American
tin. But none of this extra S26, ZOO, 900
will 60 into the governments strong box
for duty; that whole amount is pulled ut
of the pockets OF the consumers here"