Evening journal., 1893-03-13
NEWSPAPER OPINION.
The Luxury of Tin.

The Luxury of Tin.
Philadelphia Telegraph.
1t was considered by the helpless
bondmen Of ancient Egypt great hard
ship to be obliged TO make bricks with
out straw; but how will the promoters
of that infant industry, tin making, con-
slider the task which has been set them |
by the Mckinley bill, Of manu-
featuring tin after the first OF
next July without the apparently |
necessary ingredient OF American tin?
When the Mckinley bill was going |
through Congress it was positively |
stated by it's supporters that there was
any quantity, q practically unlimited
quantity, of tin In this country, waiting
only for tax of a cents pound TO be
placed on the foreign product, to be
mined and manufactured to any possible
extent. Mised possibly by these state
ments, a number of persons v ere induced
to 60 into the making Of tin plates, and the
rallying cry of great party became
"rin, Tin, American Tin That tin
plates were made in the United States In
limited qualities there is no doubt; but
they were generally made wholly of i'm
ported materials; the plates themselves
being generally of foreign origin and the
tin almost invariably so. One mining
company, however, to prove that Lthere
really was such thing as American tin,
displayed in all the large cities of the
Union a number of pigs, which it carried
from place to place to offer as irrefutable
evidence that it existed and was mined
in this country. W hen this enterprising
company had dug out of it's mines 1870
tones Of the metal the mine gave out and
American tin had come to an untimely
end. That made no difference, how
ever, to the makers of tin, who were
told by the Secretary of the Treasury
that the mere dipping of foreign. made
plates in foreign mined tin would
make a good enough article of American
tin to suit the Government aud meet
the requirements of the Mckinley Act
They got their raw material from abroad
as yet free of duty tthe date Of change
being fixed as July l. 1893, and in a
feeble sort of way went on dipping for
eign plates into foreign metal, and with
the connivance of the Government called
It American tin. 1t was not their fault
II they did not prosper exceedingly
thereby, as they and the tariff largely
increased the price of the product, COM
pelling the people to pay much more
than they had paid before the Mckinley
law became operative. When our na-
tive mines gave out, after furnishing
100 tons of pig tin, the manufacturers
began TO get alarmed at the prospect of
paying four cents a pound, instead
of nothing. after the first of next
July, and accordingly they peti
TONED Congress to put the raw
material on the free list after that time,
as it now is The House passed the bill,
! -.
favOrably to the Senate, but the latt, r
body was busy and did not pass it. The
result will be a tax of cents a pound on
pig tin, and If the American manufact-
urers of American tin from foreign plates
and metal wish to continue to make such
bogus American plates, they will have to
pay for the privilege of doing It, If
they do not do it the entire American
people will have to foot the bill, and a
pretty stiff one it is certain TO be. There
is one rift in the cloud, however. The
law, the makers of which thus re.
vealed their doubt Of the success
of the American tin scheme, provides
that unless the mines of the country
produce 5000 tons a year, the duty
shall cease two years hence. 1t is under
stood that there are few persons left in
the country who believe that the Nc
Kinley tariff is so perfectly perfect that
il would be sacrilege to touch ito at
tempt to revise it in any part. Bnt
how about the four-cent-a pound tax on
the American tin-maker's pig TIM If he
is to go on manufacturing he must 60
abroad for ! is raw material and pay q
higher price for It, Hence it is made tC
appear that the promoters Of this infant
industry will themselves be compelled to
suffer the pressure of the Mckinley Law
after July l. Perfectly perfect and
sacredly sacred as the Mckinley law il
, said to be. it still seems TO offer fail
. reason for some sort or revision on the
] lines of common sense