The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-06-16
TEMPLATE WORKS AT SEATTLE.
wales Has No Advantage Over King
County-Heavy Capital Not Required.

SEATTLE, June Is, ISL
TO THs EprToR: have read with interest
your leader of yesterday on tin-piats matters.
As . Welchman, who until the last eight months
pas ieng resided In tie heart of the nn-pla.e
producing district, offer o remark On the mat
ter. There 10 not In Wales such . thing 40 Q
IN mine, and the principally does not produce
an ounce OF block tin. Il is all imported, partly
from Cornwall, but principally from Australia
and some of the South American states, and 70 .
small extent also from the United ststes- /
state this because ali the American papers
nave read sssume-for soma reason 20 me un-
knovn-that Wales produces the tin needed to
cover its black plates. Then, again, If Ameri-
cans would produce their own tin-plate, they
should study the history Of the development
OF the Welsh trade. They win find that at
least seven-tenths of the Welsh proprietors
are practical men who have worked their way
up from nothing. / viii only name William
Williams, of the Worcester & Forest works, and
Sir l. l. jenkins as examples. Further, it win
be worth Uncle Sans while to study carefully
the geography and, think, the geology of the
tin plate producing district, the area of which
Is very limited, a. people in this great country
count Draw q line south from the country
town OF Carmarthen to the sea; another line
rom Carmartnen nearly east to Abergavenny;
another line south from Abergavenny to Ponty-
pool, then another line southwest from Ponty-
pool 70 the COST, passing through Bridgend-
From all this cut off the lower peninsula by
drawing straight line west from Swansea to
Carmarthen bay, and you have incloeed the
area which produces practically the
whols un-plste supply OF the world-the
whole but little more than the county
OF King, in this state of wsshington-where you
nave plenty of coal; where you are going to have
steel and iron works; where you are as near the
TN mines of Australia as Wales is: where you
are lar nearer the packing houses and canneries
In which the bulk OF the finished article is used;
where you have splendid sites for works be-
tween this city and Renton and other places,
with plenty OF water and plenty OF transporta-
ton facilities. You lack just some vitriol works
ana Few skilled workmen; as OF course you
have plenty of money. works in Wales has
from three to twelve mills, six being about the
average Each mill employs about sixty or
sixty -nve hands About 10 per cent. of these
would De enough to import in the way OF skilled
labor, and care, great care, should be taken in
getting practical and well-trained managers
All these can be had By paying for them. The
capital employed is usually from 5000 to
4o,oo0 mill. but you are not obliged to
have all this to start If you have enough to put
up the buildings, put on the water, etc. You
borrow on the buildings to get all your machin-
cry, ana then you borrow on your machinery for
what working capital you need OF course it 10
better to have all ready money The Welsh
works are safe enough, tariff or no tariff but
that there should not be works in these parts,
more than 5000 miles away. there can be no good
reason. The demand, like the people, is always
increasing, and there is room for everybody.
On equal terms Gncle Sam ought to be able to
compete with little Wales, and say that Wales
has no advantage further than that her trade is
an established fact; but the new tariff win more
than balance that Let your "men of means"
give attention MERLIN