Los Angeles herald., 1892-09-18

not recovered yet. But the senator may
believe now that the foreign producer pays
some part of the tax upon articles imported
into this country If he does, he has,
either by mistake or otherwise, assisted in
making gross misappropriation of the
public money in the Mckinley act, for
which he voted. That act provides that
when raw materials subject to duty are
imported into the United States and con-
verted here into manufactured articles
which are exported for sale abroad to the
citizens of other countries, the domestic
manufacturer, producer or exporter shall
have a drawback equal to the amount of
duty paid less per cent. If the foreigner
pays that duty, why in the name of COM
mon sense and common honesty do we pass
law to pay it back to the Standard Oil
company, or to somebody else who exports
oils, meats or cans made from imported
tin plate? An honest legislator who be-
lieves the foreigner pays the tax would in
sist upon giving it back to the foreigner
who sold us the tin plate out of which the
cans were manufactured, and not to the
corporations and others who convert that
material into cans and then export them
and their contents to be sold abroad to the
people of other countries at lower prices
than they can be sold to their own fellow
citizens. therefore feel justified in say
ing that no gentleman who supported the
Mckinley act in congress, nor Mr.. McKin-
ley himself, although he goes about the
country proclaiming that the foreigner
pays the duty, really believes a word of it.
But tender an apology to the senate for
attempting to discuss such an absurd
proposition.
Now, Mr.. President while speaking of
tin plate ! ought to refer to statement
made by the senator from Rhode Island,
that the people of the United States paid
to the Welsh manufacturers of that article
in the year 1891 seventy-six cents per box
more than the profits which they were
realizing before that time. This is un-
doubtedly too true. 1t is certainly true
that the Mckinley act was great bless
ing to the Welsh manufacturers of tin
plate, and enabled them to take from the
people of the United States, as shall pro-
ceed to show, many millions of dollars over
and above the profits which they were
making before it's passage.
1.-The senator here presented tables show
ing the cost of producing tin plate in Wales
and the advance in price there in anticipa-
tion of the Mckinley bill, and continuedl:
1t appears therefore that the people of
the United States before the increased
rate of duty on tin plate took effect under
the Mckinley act, paid, not to the impor-
ters, not to the government, not to the
dealers here, but directly into the pockets
of the Welsh tin plate manufacturers, the
sum of 81, 500, $50 as surplus profit on their
sales, which was considerably more than
half the value of their plant manufacture
of that article.
An Injustice of the Tariff.
Mr. President it is a broad statement to
make, but the Mckinley act increased the
duty on every fabric that contains a single
thread or fiber of WOOL and in most cases
the increase was very large. If an article
of silk is found to contain thread of wool
for ornamentation or for any other purpose,
it becomes subject to the wooden goods
duty, which, even in the case of the cheap
est woolen fabrics used by the poor, is
much higher than the duty on the finest
silk fabrics used by the rich.
Ihave here a number of samples of woolen
and worsted goods imported under the Nc
Klnley act, with statements showing their
cost abroad in 1889 and 1890, their cost
abroad now, the duty imposed upon them
in 1889 and 1890, the duty imposed upon
them now, and the increased cost to lay
them down at New York to the consumer.
Elaborate tables were presented.1
The prices abroad have fallen necessarily
because the cost of the raw material wool