The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-07-14
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

Thorough Exposure of the Nonsense Of the
Free-Trade Liars.
The following communication from the oldest
tin-plate house in the country tells the story Of
the tin-plate business in a very few words.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: We are at loss
to understand how it is possible for any Ameri-
can to claim that tinplate cannot be made here.
Ifyou were to ask him il America could produce
watches, mathematical instruments electrical
appliances, firearms silk, satin, carpets, loco
motives, sheet-steel. sheet-iron, etc, be would
proudly say yes" Now take the position
that America can produce sheet-iron or sheet.
steel, and it will be proven that she can pro-
duce it fully equal in every respect 10 every
country in the world. Does she produce pig
lead, pig-tin? Does she contain labor with the
average amount of intelligence as found in the
world? To every one of these questions the
reply would be YES" excepting in regard TO
the pig-tin the reply may be that at the pres
ent time the quantity produced is limited.
There are two ways of making tinplate, The
pure palm-oil process, and the acid fux process.
The pure palm-oil process is slow, but it is the
best and the only way by which really fine and
durable plates can be made. The acid-fux
process is quick, cheap and easy.
That we may give you q clear illustration OF
the latter We had better take box of &c IA
20 cheap roofing tin, which is composed Of los
American manufacture, which no one will deny
who has any knowledge of the output of our
rolling mills. Now what is done with this TO
make the finished plate? The sheets are
picked and washed, very simple and cheap
process, already done in hundreds of plants
working in this country in the making Of
galvanized iron, etc. They are then taken to
patent machine, worked by two boys This
machine contains about 500 pounds of metal,
ha nd nf En-
nine pounds of lead. At the present value Of
metals this mixture is worth less than six cents
per pound.
These two boys can tin the sheets at the rate
of Is per minute. You therefore see they can
finish box in about nine minutes, and the
amount of coating put on is one and one-half
pounds. To arrive at the value of box of such
tin complete, you take nine cents as the value
of the metal, the boys wages for nine minutes,
and add the value of the sheet-iron or steel,
and the cost of cleaning it, the total being the
net cost. This is the entire situation.
country that can produce almost every.
thing, from q pin to locomotive, should
surely be able to take the output of its rolling.
mills and simply coat it with pure tin or Q
mixture of tin and lead. To those who take
the position against the industry on account
of the question of block tin, we would say that
the British or Welsh manufacturers do not get
their tin at home. There is no tin in Wales,
and what little is mined In England Is not of
quality suitable for making tinplate. All tin
used in making tinplate comes from the East
Indies, and London is the principal market.
If we, as manufacturers here in Philadelphia,
were compelled to go to the same market as the
English or Welsh manufacturers we would not
pay any more for our tin landed here in Phila.
delphia than the manufacturers in England or
Wales, who pay more than Is cents per 100
pounds freight from London; the ocean rate Of
freight from London to Philadelphia being only
Is cents per 100 pounds, and the only difference
in cost between the tinplate made in Great
Britain and America is the simple item Of labor.
We do not think any American should feel
very proud of his country going to foreign
country for millions of tons of coated sheet
iron or sheet-steel simply because we have
never carried on the mere operation of putting
the coating on the iron made here, which is az
fine quality as is made in the world.
If the prices of sheet-iron or sheetsteel, Of
lead tin, labor in America are right, then the
price of the product of these combined-namely,
be right. iii is not, then they
are all wrong and America should get her sup
plies of tinplate, iron, steel, metals, etc. from
foreign countries and cease to be producer.
The thought is un-American, and in most
cases We believe is entertained on account Of
ignorance. Very truly-N. & G. TAYLOR Co.,
Ph lad eInhia Pa