St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1899-03-04
A RoEBER TARIFF
Republican Prosection Brings a'ros-
perity to Trusts and Mos
H iopolies.

The Mckinley tariff of 1890 enabled
Americans TO put up tinplate factories.
There is no doubt about that Tinplate
I was sold as high as six dollars box.
i all consumers. of tin, and the consum-
/ ers of fish, fruit and vegetables canned
in tin, contributed bonus to the infant
! Industry. It got on ITS feet. Now It has
/ grown SO great that it not only supplies
the home market but exports surs
plus; SO rich that it payssdividends on
enormous issues of stock; so strong
that it has developed into most lord
| ~ and gigantic trust, which controls
every tinplate factory in the country
and advances prices with none to mo-
lest or make afraid. The tinplate trust
must be struck down; and the only way
to strike at it is by adjustment of the
! tariff which supports it.
The American Tinplate company has
acquired the 80 large tinplate fac
tories in the United States. What they
cost nobody knows. But they could be
duplicated for $500, 900. The trust is
capitalized, however, at $50, ,Oo0. 900, of
which $40, 900 900 is preferred stock, and
| 10000, 900 CONNIE oIsstock. The trust is
expected to make money on this enor-
nous capitalization The preferred
stock is quoted as high as 102, and the
common at 46 bid and SO asked. The
promise of the promoters is said to be
for seven per cent. dividends.
How viii it make the profit? By adj
yancing the price of tinplate. Tinplate
could be bought by Columbia river sal
mon Gamers last September at s3.10 a
box. Now it is quoted at 1886 and con-
tracts cannot be made at that, Thesal-
mon pack of the Pacific coast is some
5000, 900 cases a year. This requires
324,00o boxes of tinplate, costing, at
$3.65, $1,1s2, 900, of which $178.200 10
taken from us by the advance since Sep
teInber. There are no figures of Pacific
coast fruit Gamers. Probably they 90
not use quite as much tin as our salmon
Gamers, but large amounts are used ia
California for putting up fruits and veg
etables. If the tin consumption of fruit
and vegetable Gamers is equal to that
of the salmon packers, we are out be-.
tween $3.50. 900 and $500, 600 through this
latest advance in tinplate, made to pay
dividends on the swollen stock Of the
trust.
But this is not the real loss to be
borne by consumers of fruit, fish and
vegetables, and by the Oregon farmer
and the Columbia river fishermen. We
produce iron and steel cheaply enough
to export it. In fact, we export tin-
plates themselves. The duty is super
fuous. This duty amounts to $1.20 a
box. On 648,o00 boxes of tinplate the
Pacific coast is filched of $7s0, 600 year.
For the whole country the output of
the trust is estimated at s, ,000, 600 boxes.
It will sell this at 30 a box more than
it can afford to sell it for. or SO. .6oo. 900
is the aggregate, flched out of the
pockets of the people under the tariff.
We hear a great deal of talk about
laws against trusts. They ought TO be
controlled, no doubt. When they vio-;
late laws they should be fined, as pro-
vided IN statutes. When they bribe
senator's, judges. or juries the guilty
officials should be sent to the peniten-
tiary. but these remedies are hardly
worth bothering with as long as the
great bC1wark behind which the trusts
carry OF their robbery is untouched
the protection recorded them by the
tariff. Men will be elected TO congress-
some Of these days, and not so very dis
tant either, who will vote to withdraw
protection from every one of these CO.
lossaltrnsts. The republican party can
DO this, on it, can stand aside for those
who will Portland Oregonian. ss