718 



TIN-PLATE INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES. 



was also discovered near San Antonia, Texas. 

 (See the "Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1890, page 

 801.) An analysis of the ore showed that it 

 yielded a larger percentage of tin than the ore 

 from Wales. Australia, or the Straits Settlements 

 in the Malay Peninsula. From present indica- 

 tions, it is doubtful if the product of the mines 

 in the United States will come up to the require- 

 ment by July 1, 1895. The imports of tin in bars, 

 blocks, pigs, etc., were as follows for the last two 

 fiscal years, each fiscal year ending with June 

 30 : 1892, 43,908,652 pounds, valued at $8,667,- 

 870: 1893, 61,075,929 pounds, valued at $12,- 

 358,999. The McKinley bill placed a duty of 1 

 cent a pound till July 1, 1891, on sheets or 

 plates of iron or steel, or taggers iron or steel, 

 coated with tin or lead, or with a mixture of 

 which these metals, or either of them, is a com- 

 ponent part, by the dipping or any other process, 

 and commercially known as tin plates, terne 

 plates, and taggers tin. 



On and after that date, tin plate, terne plate, and tag- 

 gers tin shall pay 2-2 cents per pound ; and manufac- 

 tures of which tin, tin plates, terne plates, taggers tin, 

 or either of them, are component materials of chief 

 value, and all articles, vessels, or wares manufactured, 

 stamped, or drawn from sheet iron or sheet steel, such 

 material being the componeutor chief value, and coated 

 wholly or in part with tin or lead or a mixture of 

 which these metals or either of them is a component 

 part, shall pay a duty of 55 per centum ad valorem : 

 Provided, tha't on and after Oct. 1, 1897, tin plates and 

 terne plates lighter in weight than 63 pounds per 

 hundred square feet shall be admitted free of duty, 

 unless it _shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of 

 the President (who shall thereupon by proclamation 

 make known the fact) that the aggregate quantity of 

 such plates lighter than 63 pounds per hundred square 

 feet produced in the United States during either of 

 the six years next preceding June 30, 1897, has 

 equaled one third the amount of such plates imported 

 and entered for consumption during any fiscal year 

 after the passage of this act, and prior to said Oct. 1, 

 1897 : Provided, that the amount of such plates manu- 

 factured into articles exported, and upon which a 

 drawback shall be paid, snail not be included in as- 

 certaining the amount of such importations : And 

 provided further, that the amount or weight of sheet 

 iron or sheet steel manufactured in the United States 

 and applied or wrought in the manufacture of articles 

 or wares tinned or terne plated in the United States, 

 with weight allowance as sold to manufacturers or 

 others, shall be considered as tin and terne plates 

 produced in the United States within the meaning of 

 this act. 



The table in the next column shows the quan- 

 tity of tin plates, terne plates, and taggers tin 

 imported since there has been a duty of some 

 sort (1867-'93) together with the value, rate of 

 duty, and amount of duty collected. 



From the enactment of the McKinley bill, in 

 October, 1890, to the present time the actual 

 condition of the manufacture of tin plates has 

 caused more political discussion than any other 

 subject covered by the new tariff. Those who 

 favored the tariff, and especially the manufac- 

 turers who took advantage of its provisions, 

 claimed that the United States now had a 

 chance to make all its black plates, either of iron 

 or steel, and, in time, to coat them with tin 

 mined on its own soil. On the basis of the im- 

 portation of tin plates for 1891 it was figured 

 that 1.100.000 tons of iron ore, making 550.000 

 tons of pig iron, would be required for the 

 manufacture of 422,284 tons of black plates 



* Lighter than C8 pounds per 100 square feet, t All other. 



represented by the importation of 1891 ; and 

 that the labor of nearly 20,000 men would be 

 used in producing the iron ore, the pig iron, the 

 coke and the coal, and in running the plate mills 

 and the tin mills. Add to this number the 

 men employed in mining the tin, and nearly 

 $50.000,000 in wages would be paid yearly in the 

 United States instead of being paid to foreign 

 workmen. 



On the contrary, those who opposed the pro- 

 vision in the McKinley bill relating to tin 

 plate asserted that it was foolish to protect an 

 industry that had not been born ; that higher 

 prices would hereafter be paid for home-made 

 tin plate, thus raising the price of canned goods 

 to the consumer or else reducing to the farmer 

 the price for the articles to be canned ; that the 

 larger the importation of tin plate, the less would 

 be its cost in the United States ; and that it 

 would be impossible for the United States to 

 produce enough tin and tin plate to come up to 

 the requirements of the McKinley tariff, and 

 much more impossible to produce enough for 

 home consumption. 



The first tin mill in the United States under 

 the McKinley tariff was opened in the Black 

 Hills, South Dakota, in 1890. Mills were after- 

 ward opened in New York, Brooklyn. Chicago, 

 Pittsburg, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Cleve- 

 land ; and in various smaller places in Pennsyl- 

 vania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The present 

 number of mills is 50, of which 42 are manu- 

 facturing, and 40 are reporting to the Treasury 

 Department. In March, 1891, the English 

 manufacturers sent a circular to the trade, drop- 

 ping the price of tin plate $24 a ton, the 

 amount of the extra duty. This was in antici- 

 pation of the duty, under the McKinley tariff, 

 that went into effect July 1, 1891. 



