St. Paul daily globe., 1895-07-25
THINGS TO BEARN MIND.

While bearing in mind the state
ment-not the fact-of a contem-
porary that eve owe the develop
ment of the tin plate industry in
this country wholly to the protective
duty of % cents a pound levied by
the Mckinley BILL it is we'll to bear
in mind some other things. The duty
prior to the Mckinley rate was 1
cent a pound, and not IL, as stated
by our contemporary. Under that
rate there was practically no tin
plate made here. Efforts to make it
had failed because the black sheets
We're protected by a tax that made
their cost so high that they could
not be timed and sold in compe-
tition with the Welch plate, duty
paid.
Here are some facts to be borne
In mind. The present duty is IL cents
pound, a difference of but 0.2 cent
pound. Under the duty of % cents,
which took effect July 1, 1891, there
were eighty tin plate mills estab-
1ished by Aug. 2S, 1884, when the tax
was reduced to IL cents. Since the
last date, and under the reduction,
the number of mills has increased to
1877, while the capacity of all has
been more than doubled. During the
whole time, from October, 1890, to
&Ia
tin has had range Of nearly a cent
a pound. For instance, on Sept. 2S,
1894, it was As cents a pound; on
Oct. 5, "a, it was 3.S cents; on June
21, '95, it was 3.52 cents, and today
1t is cents. Why is it with duty
but 0.2 cent pound higher than it
was prior to 1891 our mills have been
able to double their capacity while
prices have fallen over a cent a
pound? If they can succeed on a tax
of IL cents a pound, why could they
not have succeeded on a tax of 1
cent? The plate mill men thus DEM
onstrate that the protective duty of
% cents a pound was wholly un-
necessary for any other purpose
than to afford them enormous
profits.
Another fact to be borne in mind
is that any industry can be estab-
Hshed if men are paid enough to
establish it. Sugar may be made in
Minnesota if the people are willing
to pay a large enough bonus for it,
The good people of this country
have paid roundly for the establish
ment of the eighty tin plate mills,
conceding that they could not have
been built and operated without it.
1t is worth while to ascertain what
we have paid-every one of us-for
the tin utensil user is universal for
the rearing of this latest of our
prolific family of infant industries
The imports of tin plate from July
l, 1891, to Aug. 80, 1894, covering
the period Of this constructive pro-
lection, were 1851, 600, 600 pounds.
On every pound of this there was
levied, to build UP this industry, 2.2
cents pound or IL cents more than
the former tax. The additional tax
of 1.2 cents amounted, in these years.
to S1S,972,000. This amount the tin
consumers paid directly into the
treasury.
To this must be added IL cents
a pound on every pound made by
the infants here. In the fall of 1899
John Jarrett, secretary of the Iron
and Steel association, said that the
home product was 29O, 900, 900 pounds
and would soon supply the home
market. AS the average decrease in
imports of plate is about 22O, ,O00. 900
pounds it is fair to assume that the
entire home product has been 6OO,-
100000 pounds. We say that to this
must be added the IL cents a pound
protection" The domestic makers
have scrupulously exacted this. In
June this year, the import price was
2.3 cents a pound; duty, 1.2 cents,
added, made it 3.5 cents, and the
price of the domestic plate was 3.52