The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-12-14
AN ExA MPLE OF THE WORKING or
PROTECTION.

4
The professors OF tho protective policy
and the practical men in American in
dustrial development have been united
in opinion as to the process by which
protective taria works for the encourage
ment Of homo industry without imposing
| burden ON the consumers as against the
| free trade theorists who have Dried from the
house tops that tho tariff 10 tax. Alb
raham Lincoln elucidated one phase of
| the protection view in his usual pungent
fashion when he said in effect that as he
| understood ii, IL we manusacture and
sell an article at home we have the article
and we have the money that is paid for
IL; IL we buy 70 abroad we have the artl-
Gle but the other fellow has the money.
And evidently the former transaction is
Of advantage even though the article thus
manufactured at home may cost the con
sumner more, under tariff that protects
the home article, .han IL would If pur-
chased from abroad.
But as a matter OF experience, of fact
| the article OF home manufacture does not
cost any more and the consumer ulti-
mately is relieved from paying tho
tax" Briefly the process is this:
| A sufficient tax is placed on an article
to enable the home capitalist and laborer
free from foreign competition. The plant
once established and production begun
| the manufacturer can, and naturally he
does put "a price on the article as high as
| possible and Yet be below the price that
| must be asked for the imported product
| with the tariff tax on it For time he
has a monopoly. But pretty soon some
other fellow comes into the field because
he sees that good business can be done
at less profit than the tax tempts the
| original manufacturer TO make. Forth
with thsre is competition. Prices fall
Still others engage in tho manufacture OF
that particular article and prioes drop
some more. American invention is stimu-
lated, the cost Of production Is decreased
and in due time il Is disclosed that bet
ter article is furnished at homo than nlcan
be got abroad at less lprice thar the
foreigner would have to ask even il there
were no tariff. Reduction of the tariff
follows and In time IL comes to be re-
tsined at all only to make up for the
difference in labor cost or for revenue
purposes. Many OF the tariff schedules
today represent mainly the wage differ
ences
In hundreds OF industries testimony is
borne TO the correctness of this idea OF the
working OF n protective tariff while tin
plate offers oontemporsneous example of
the process in full from first step to last
| The News has taken occasion TO follow
| the successive steps and make known the
| results from time TO time. 1t now only
| remains to report as to the matter OF
prices TO complete the illustrious example
| of tin plate.
| Five years ago the manufacture Of this
product was assumed to 10 perfected in
Wales and not single factory existed in
the United States Today the black plate
factories whose product Is the basis OF tin
manufacture number goo, including one
| plant that is the largest in tho world. The
industry In Its several branches. employs
| 20, 00o workmen. The machinery Is now
made here and 1t is better than that of the
been reduced from $780, the price of a
machine five years ago, to $500 the price
today.
How about the consumer! Well, he Is
all right, too. 1t is his turn to share in
the benefits of protection after the short
period OF five years. Before the Mckinley
tariff, box of English tin plate cost
s425. The tariff raised this cost to a. SIS
for short time but American tin could
be had at g. 70-a shaving of 10 cents. To-
day the best tin plate in the world. and
that is home made, sells for s. 15-instead
of 81. %, which we paid to the foreign
manufacturer in the bygone days.