The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-09-21
NO REAL CONSUMERS INJURED.
IT Anybody Has Bcen Affected by the Tin
Plate Duty IL Is the Rich Importer.

Plate Ddty 1t Is the Rich Importer.
The tin plate Consumers Associa-
ton, an organization whose objects and
purposes we took occasion TO expose
some time ago, has been more than
ordinarily active lately in its crusade
against American industry Seeing
some chance for success in their nefari-
GUS occupation in the fact that a bill
has been introduced in the house of
representatives providing for the repeal
of the Mckinley duty on tin plates, its
members have taken advantage of every
opportunity to spread misleading re-
ports about the status of the tin-plato
industry in the United States. With
this object in view, a circular was
recently sent by the secretary of the
association to all leading tin-plate CON
sumers" of the country. asking what
effect the increased duty had had on
their business, 1t was expected, of
course, that the answer received would
be full of statements that the price of
| tin pals, dinner cans and other articles
used by the real consumers, the people,
were higher, and that these answers
NOuiu lllcu lOIll
literature for the free trade members of
congress to use in the coming great
battle between protection and free
trade. But, for once, our friends tho
importers, have overstepped themselves,
as will be seen from the following an
swers already received and printed in
recent issue of the associations local
organ:
| EFFECT OF THE M'KINLFY DUTY
| Louisville, Ky."It has decreased our profits
Indianapolis Ind.-"Io reduce our profits"
| Washington.-'T effect has been to reduce
our profits"
Baltmore.-"A decrease in profits"
Baltmore.-"A great addition to the cost Of
manufacture, which IS mostly dead loss to us,
| as prices are no better
| Philadelphia ITO decrease profits"
Rochester Increased cost OF raw material,
with no advance for manufactured goods.
| New York City.-"To increase the cost with
out giving or enabling US to set an increase in
the selling price, etc,
So we were right, after all, when we
claimed that the burden of the duty, if
any burden there would be, would fall
not on the real consumers of tin plate,
but on these so-called CONSUMERS"
middlemen and importers, whose profits
have largely been made by charging
the highest possible prices because
they feared no domestic competition.
Here, then, we find disclosed the real
animus of this associations attack on
American industry. But we do not
even believe that there has been SO
great burden on these men who use
tin plate in their business for statistics
show that prices in this country have
not advanced in any proportion to the
increase of duty, Welsh manufacturers
having lowered their selling prices to
enter our market Whatever increase
there has been, however, has resulted
in lowering the profits of the importers,
and the workingmans tin dinner pail is
no dearor.
Isn't it about time for the tin plate
CONSUMERS " association to disband?
Deception of 1890 Cannot he Repeated.
My friend from Nebraska tells us tina.
, under the protective system ''for every
: dollar brought into the treasury by inn
| port duties, four dollars go into the
5 pockets of protected industries" He
says, 1T is estimated" Who estimates
it? 1t would be better for my friend to
observe the nebulous method in which
, the minority of the ways and means
) committee in the last house approached
, this subject. They predicted an in
crease OF taxes on wool and woolens, by
, reason of the increased duties, of SIS
, 100000, and by reason of the enhanced
| prices which consumers would pay for
: the domestic product of many times"
9 fifteen millions and a half of dollars.
' You will observe that these men did not
f appear to know that it was just four
G times.
4 If the gentleman from Nebraska had
| been there, he could have told them
e just how many times. AS it happened,
e having derived the entire estimate from
Y their imagination, they very properly
d left it to the Imagination of the house.
2 congratulate them to-day on the serene
Y nerve, the imperturbable gall that en-
l. ables them to repeat these visions of the
+ night as they Chamber over the mount
e aims of adverse facts now everywhere
d known to the whole business com
l. munity. ''EIe who goeth about says
# quaint old Hooker in his book on Eccle-
It siastical Polity, ito persuade multi
= tude that they are not as well governed
as they ought to be, will never lack at
tention and favorable hearers"
Fortunately for the good government
of the world, the same neighborhood
can be worked but once. You may
make converts for time by telling peo-
pie that they are about to be robbed,
but no form of fanaticisnI can hold the
audience if you come around afterward
and persist in telling them that they
have been robbed, unless you can
identify something they have lost. That
form of taxation which requires the
services of trained attorneys to con-
vince the people that they are carrying
burden is likely to be accepted rs a
fairly satisfactory way of providing for
the expense of the government Con
gresham Dolliver.
AT Woonsocllet is yarn mill brought
out from Belgium by the Mckinley
tariff. Over there the csta blislmcn mt
supplied yarn to American mlnuiac-
turers; but when the duty was pat up
it was obliged to move to this country
a or lose its trade 1t accordingly came.
- Query: How much per annun do you
"a suppose that yarn mill is worth to the
:, people of Woonsoc.tct? We shodid not