The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-10
SIX YEARS OF PROTECTION
PROMISED TO TIN ACCORDING no
THE STORY OF MIR. CRONE-
MEYER.
HEAVEN HELPED THE MAKERS OUT
The Infant Industry Protected by
Providence when Left to Look
Out for Itself.

ing was devoted to the iron and steel
industries. The range of subjects was
wide. including all branches, from tin
plate to tacks and from Bessemer pig
to gun barrels One of the witnesses
before the committee, speaking of the
tin-plate industry, said six years OF
protection had been promised by the
Mckinley act and that only the bounty
Of Providence had permitted it to exist
under the changed conditions.
The first speaker before the commit
tee was Representative Draper, Of
Massachusetts. In behalf of the
machinery manufacturers of New
England. he advocated the restoration
of the Mckinley rates. w. Fl. Alexan-
der, of the Grant Smelling company, of
Omaha, spoke for lower rates on lead
ore, asking a provision that the lead
in all metals containing lead ore, be
dutianle at z of a cent a pound The
importation Of lead ore was necessary
for smelling. he held and under an
erroneous Interpretation of the present
law, it paid as high rates as 5 and 512
cents pound. Duties of IL cents on
lead bullion and IL cents on pig lead
were asked. American capital was in
vested in Mexico and British Columbia
for producing the ores
John D. Davis, of California. asked
for duty of l cent a pound on lead
ores. California could produce all the
lead ores needed by American smelt-
ers, and had begun to supply the de
mand under the Mckinley law. but
the business had stagnated under the
Wilson law. Dwight A. Jones, of New
IOrk, representing the St. Joseph Lead
company, Of Missouri, spoke for pro-
lection which would enable Americans
-
vent the abandoning Of mines. The
bonding system enabled the Mexican
ores to affect the American market in
juriOusly. Under the Wilson law, they
controlled the market.
Representatives Hermann, of Oregon,
recommended duty Of 10 cents a
pound on nickel in behalf Of his con-
stituents. The Oregon producer claim
ed to be able to produce nickel at
cents pound cheaper than Canadians.
Representative Turner, Of Georgia.
suggested that If Americans could do
that, it would be necessary to offer a
bounty to Canadians to compete To
this Mr.. Hermann replied that, SIS soon
as Americans got in the markets, the
Canadians combined TO drive them cut
Freight rates also favored the Cana
dian product.
SIDE OF REFINERS.
A reply was made by Robert A.
Thompson, OF New York, the principle
refiner Of nickel in the United States
His statement was that he and Mr..
Wharton, of Camden, the other chief
redner, had examined all the nickel
mines spoken Of by Mr.. Hermann, and
had found that none of them could be
made TO pay at any reasonable duty.
They contained rich ores, some of them,
bat these were difficult of refinement,
" u n foi yof
nickel. Had any profitable ores been
found in the United States, the re-
1ineTS would have bought the mines.
The Canadian ores were owned by
Americans.
Stevenson Burke, Of Cleveland, spoke
for the Canadian copper company, Of
which ne is president. and which is
entirely an Ohio corporation. They had
sold to the government copper nickel
mats at II cents a pound, when the
market price was % cents, that it's value
in aln1or plate might be proved. All
/ the refining of their product was done
in the United States. English capital
! lists offered a market for all nickel
mats having an improved refining
process. If duty was put on the ere,
the refining in the United States would
| be- stopped He knew of no ores as
rich as 10 or Is per cent. In nickel,
the average was only 3 per cent.
H. j. Cantwell spoke for the Missouri
association Of lead miners. He said
that the organization had nothing to
do with control of output or of prices
that the labor cost of producing lead
was So great factor that it should not
be classed as raw material. All of the
companies, except q few in the South
western part of the state have made
a positive loss in 1895. He contend ID
that the present law was impossible
of enforcement, and complained of the
smelling of ores in bond. He recon-
! mcnded that all ores containing eight
per cent OF lead, be dutiabIe al 81 cents
! a pound, in the mass. The price of ores
/ in the United States would be the Lon
don price plus the duty and less the
cost Of transportation from London TO
New York The duty should exclude
Mexican ores.
The subject of pig iron was next
taken UP. William A. Ingham, Of
Philadelphia, for the Eastern Pig Iron
association, composed OF the smelters
east Of the Alleghenies, asked a re
storation of the duty of the Mckinley
rate OF $6.72 ton Cpresent rate 50
IF we raise the duty on pig iron, we
must on bars" suggested Mr. Dalzen
Not necessarily was the answer.
Tin other words a raise, all along the
/ line" remarked Chairman Dngley.
/ q" Raises where they are necessary"
1"Since less has been imported under
| the Wilson law than the Mckinley
| law, how has it hurt you?" Mr.. Payne
asked.
1T has not hurt us, but it will when
business revives. for [ know how
cheaply England can produce it,
| Mr.. McMilin declared that the Ten
nessee Coal and Iron company had
| exported 10000 tons to Great Britain
! in the past four or five months and
/ practically controlled the English price.
/ Mr. Steele asked him if the Tennessee
! company favored free pig iron, to which
! Mr. McMillin replied negatively. Mr.
Ingham explained that the Tennessee
/ Coal company was disposing of its sur
/ plus.
| J. M. n. Sinner, of the same a4ssoci-
/ alton, stated that the present price of
pig iron in the United States was lower
than in England the result of home
competition Mr. ATcMillin inquired
| how duty would help the industry
unless the smelters combined to put up
| prices. The witness replied that when
| ever the American prices were raised
| by reason OF good business. history
! showed that Englands prices had fal-
| len.
| TIN PLATE SCHEDULE.
s. t. Smith, representative of the
| Canned Goods association, of Balti-
| more, protested against any increase
| in tin plate duties, ON the ground that
| they would decrease the government s
| revenue and enable home manufac-
i turers to raise prices. w. G. Crone-
| meyer, Of Pittsburg, asked the following
| advances in tin plates and similar
| wares: On tin plates or sheets Of iron
or steel, from l Is to ~ cents a pound
1 sheet iron or sheet steel nol;shQd o1