The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1892-06-15
AMERICAN TIN PLATE.

genuity VIII Lead to Improved Pro-
cesses - Welsh Manufacturers Moving
to the United states.
Mr.. j. II. Rogers is managing partner
of the extensive South Wales Tin Plates
works, Llanelly, and the Cwmbwrla
Tin Plate works, Swansea, and is
chairman of the Welsh Tin Plate
Makers association. He ought to
know something about the business of
tin plate manufacture From the ma
ture of things, he can hardly be ac-
cused of that degree of sympathy with
the Mckinley tariff which would cause
him to turn Tin plate liar" in the in
terest of American tin plate manufac-
new American industry which Amer
lean Cobdenites pronounce absolutely
mythical, both as to its present exist
ence and future prospects?
The South Wales Daily News of
March "a published Mr.. Rogers views
for the instruction of its readers, impor-
tant among whom are those dependent
on South Wales tin plate making. First
comes letter of his to one Mr.. I.
Phillips, secretary of the Tin Plate
Workers association of Llanelly. A few
choice extracts we present for the edi-
fication of the American tin plate liar
Mr.. Rogers says:
Iwrite, not as chairman of the association but
as one who wishes to minimize, as far as posi-
bic the distress and privation which fear must
come TO those employed in the finishing de-
partments of the tin plate trade, oUing 10 the
determination Of The g0UernDents and mdnufdc-
tusrs of UdriOus countries hm Mey ,gW no
longer be depsndsn, upon this country fn~ the"'
shppty Tin PLATES.
And he adds:
will not enter into details at the present mo-
ment, but simply point out how the pig iron
steel rail, machinery and other trades have left
this country so far as supplying the require.
ments OF those countries which now consume
most of our tin plates, and there is no fsdS0h Why
tin plate should no. tollo,C the same natural 9d'C
Mr.. Rogers agrees to a dot with the
American Economist as to the possible
ties of Yankee improvement in process
of manufacture NO one" he goes on,
''having knowledge of machinery and
of the timing of black plates and the
ingenuity of our American cousins can
seriously doubt that shortly the work
will be done automatically without
either tinman or washman." He evil
IDENTITY had never heard of the great
American tin-plate liar or he would
have known that there are those in this
country who not only doubt this, but
proclaim from the house tops the utter
inability of our people to do any such
thing.
Recognizing the Importance of the
letter." says the Daily News, ''our re-
porter interviewed Mr.. Rogers at the
offices of the South Wales Works. One
of the first questions asked was whether
Mr.. Rogers thought it would be wise or
unwise on the part of the men to refuse
to work black plates which would be
exported to and coated with tin in other
countries.
Mr.. Rogers replied:
I think it would be "a most unwise step, as
there is now no doubt at all that black plate will
be largely coated not only in America, but in
some European countries as well If we refuse
10 make Inb Dlack pldlc III Will De uldue else
where, and that would mean that not only would
the tinmen and washmen be thrown out OF
work but also the men employed in the steel
works, the mills and the finishing department.
1t has been said, Mr.. Rogers, that the tint plate
industry would be as firmly established in the
United States few years hence as the iron and
steel industry.
That is so; and 1t is not yery long ago that !
remember Mr.. Menelaus, of the Dowas Iron
Works, saying that America would never make
iron and steel sufficient to meet her require.
ments. That was the general opinion at the
time among the iron and steel makers, but to
day we see the Americans making practically
the whole that they require.
What would Mr. Rogers say, we
wonder, if he knew that among all the
free traders in America-and they all,
without a single exception, complacently
assume that what they don't know
about industrial development and phe-
nomena is not worth knowing-not one
of them can remember anything about
the condition which Mr.. Rogers easily
recalls. On the contrary, they hold that
all our industries, especially iron and
steel, were established and developed
in ante-revolutionary times, that pro,
lection had nothing to do with it.
The interview did not terminate until
Mr.. Rogers had also thrown some light
on the question as to who is paying the
tin plate duty. Here it is, with the
question which brought it forth:
Is il true that manufacturers now are making
plates below cost price and consequently at q
loss
| should say that works buying their bars al
the present market price and selling their plates
to-day could not avoid making at "a loss, unless
hsy had sons special market Uhere hsy got haJhe,
prices than can be got for the general mdrkst IN
hs United States.
Which is simply to say that the export
prices of tin plates have been driven SC
low, in efforts to get into this country
over the Mckinley duty, that they actu.
ally sell at loss, In other words, when
the Welshman subtracts the new duty
from his selling price-that is, pays ii
himself-he finds that selling price be.
low cost. His only escape is to move to
America
All in all theseexpressions of opinion
by perhaps the leading authority on tin
plate in the world are most significant,
and little calculated to bring comfort
into the free trade camp.
Another Trust.
Coming from Boston, the city of cul.
tuyc, the home of the mugwumps, this
-, l.