[New York Sun ] WASHINGTON, May 20.-During the discussion of the McKinley Tariff bill in 1890 Thomas L. Bunting, then a Representative in Congress from Erie County, N. Y., made a vigorous fight against the proposed duty of 2 1-5 cents a pound on tin and terne plate. These articles of general consumption were produced almost exclusively in Wales and in the counties of England adjoining Wales. Mr. Bunting was a packer of canned goods at Hamburg, N. Y., and he said that the Protective duty would compel consumers of canned goods to pay an additional cent on every can of fruits, vegetables or meats they bought. The House, nevertheless, placed a duty on tin plate and the Senate acquiesced in that action.

In 1893 a party of British journalists, headed by Sir William Long of Sheffield, visited this country. In the party were Lascelles Carr, editor of the Cardiff" Mail," Sir Morgan Morgan and others. During their visit to Washington they called on President Cleveland. When he discovered that most of them were from Wales he facetiously remarked:

"I suppose, gentlemen, that you have come to the United States to try to discover those mythical tin plate mills which were to have been established under the Tariff bill adopted by the last Republican Congress."

The President and his visitors, who were naturally in sympathy with him in this instance, regarded the remark

of Mr. Cleveland as a particularly brilliant joke, and they continued to laugh over it as long as they stayed in Washington.

When Lascelles Carr returned to his own country he published a little book in which he expressed his astonishment at the prosperity which he found everywhere in American manufacturing towns. He was particularly surprised that the mechanics of Youngstown, Ohio, were able to own their houses in fee simple and to furnish them with draperies and carpets and even musical instruments, such as pianos, which were far beyond the reach of the average British mechanic. He stated in this little volume that he was astounded at these evidences of the overthrow of the first principles of political economy, but he admitted that the prosperity existed, notwithstanding his own theoretical opinions that a Protective policy was inimical to the interests of the workingmen.

It is now nearly eight years since the duty on tin plate went into effect, and the results of those eight years of American energy and enterprise, backed by the American Protective policy, are surprising alike to the advocates and the opponents of the Protective policy. In the first six months of the industry, from July 1 to December 31, 1891, the total production of tin and terne plate, the latter being used almost exclusively for roofing purposes, was 2,236,743 pounds. The first full year of the manufacture of tin-covered plate in this country resulted in the produc-. tion of upward of 42,000,000 pounds. In 1893 the product was nearly tripled in volume, reaching 123,600,000 pounds. From that time there has been a steady increase until in the year 1898 the mills of the United States produced 732,290,000 pounds of plate. The total product in the seven and a half years, up to the 31st of last December, was 2,235,590,629 pounds of tin and terne plate.

Instead of increasing the cost of canned goods to the consumer, the duty on tin plate has had a contrary effect. Tin cans for packing purposes are sold to-day to packers 25 per cent. lower than in 1891, and instead of depending upon the Welsh product the packers are enabled to secure every pound of tin that they need right from the mills of the United States. In other words, the Tariff act of 1890 has absolutely established a new industry, giving employment to thousands of skilled mechanics, who, like the men of Youngstown, who created so profound an impression in the mind of Mr. Lascelles Carr and his associates, are able to possess their own homes, to fit them up as no British workingman can, and to supply their families with better food than any British workingman can. And this has all been done through the

Tariff act of 1890, commonly known as the McKinley bill.

Not only has the price of tin plate been reduced 25 per cent., but a similar reduction has resulted in the cost of roofing tin, so that the builder as well as the packer is able to reduce his prices for roofing to the extent of 25 per cent. below the figures of nine years ago.

The South Feels Prosperity.

The South, like all other sections of the country, is feeling the return of Prosperity, and under Republican rule it is finding that many of the serious problems of two and three years ago are fading away, and now, instead of talking about free soup-houses and other attendant signs of misfortunes that every section of the country had to have during the hard times of Democratic rule, the papers of the South are full of cheerful announcements of what is being done, and still brighter predictions for the future. Of course they do not admit that Republican rule and the policy of Protection has had anything to do with the change, but just the same we cannot help but think that they are beginning to see the light. The "State," published at Columbia, South Carolina, has been full of cheerful trade and general business news lately, and in its last number received that paper says:

Never before In this country has there been a time of such push and enterprise in the towns as we have now, and as a natural consequence never before has there been such rapid growth as the towns in our State are making to-day. There have been times when it took stern resolve in a severe line of logic to argue of Columbia's bright future, so dismal were the conditions, so flabby and unresponding were the minds that needed to be roused. But happily those times are over now, and, in an atmosphere of buoyancy and the sure and near approach of many good things, it is easy to do our work. This is going to be a great year for Columbia-a year of realization.

It is the old feeling for the "lost cause" that makes the people of the South Democrats, Free-Traders and free-silverites, but we hope and believe that the last of that old feeling will soon go, and that then the North and South will look out for the good of the whole country in an unprejudiced manner.Des Moines (Ia.), "Register."

"The men who are attacking you are -some of them-men who for ten years have passed a large amount of goods through the Custom House at from 10 to 30 per cent. below the actual market value on the day of shipment. I sincerely hope that this fact may not escape the attention of those who may have to made consider the charges that are against you."-From the letter of Consul-General Dubois, St. Gall, Switzerland, April 19, 1899.

BRITISH SUPREMACY.

How It Is Menaced by the Manufacturing Industries of Rival

Countries.

[San Francisco Chronicle.]

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The London Spectator of April 22 devotes a page of its space to criticism of an article which appeared in the April number of the "Forum" under the title of "The Menace to England's Commercial Supremacy." Perhaps the purport of the Spectator's" screed would be better described by stating that it is a defense of the Free-Trade policy of Great Britain rather than a review of the arguments of the American writer, some of which are scarcely more than glanced at, while his chief contention is wholly ignored.

The writer in the "Forum " pointed out that there were three causes menacing the commercial supremacy of Great Britain: 1. The development of the manufacturing industries of rival countries, the products of which are now actively and successfully competing with those of the United Kingdom in markets hitherto controlled by that country. 2. The effects of the enforced necessity of the investors of Great Britain reelying returns on their investments in foreign countries in the shape of manufactured products rather than in raw products as heretofore. 3. The probability of the development of the coal measures of the United States assuming such proportions in the near future that a surplus will be created which will be exported in competition with the coal of Great Britain, thus effecting a radical change in the ocean carrying trade of the world by materially reducing the proportions of England's tonnage, which is largely dependent upon the continuance of the coal export trade of the United Kingdom.

This latter contention, which is by far the most important one in the "Forum " article, is entirely ignored by the "Spectator," whose editor confines himself to a discussion of, or, rather, to comment upon, the first two propositions. The argument that the immensely cheaper iron ores and coal of the United States give this country a great advantage over a competitor with declining supplies of those two great products is dismissed in the airy manner of the followers of Cobden to which we have been long accustomed. Cheap iron and cheap coal, says the "Spectator," in effect, will make the wheels of industry revolve more furiously, but he fails to see that enough revolutions of the wheels referred to may occur in other countries than Great Britain to cause them to slacken in the latter country and throw British toilers out of employment. We quote:

It is true that the great growth of the

American iron trade may prevent our iron trade from growing any larger and may even produce a decline (though that is not likely), but even if it does we shall, as a nation, gain, not lose, by the development of the American iron trade. That development will not take place unless American iron can be produced cheaper and better-better here means cheapThat means that er-than our English iron. the raw material of many industries and an article in constant use will be lowered in price.

The reader will not fail to note the assumption that the cheapening of the raw material will inure to the benefit of the English worker. So it might if it were not for a fact, which the editor of the "Spectator" deliberately disregards, that the workingmen of the United States are exhibiting an aptitude in fashioning the raw material into finished articles which is daily making it more and more difficult for the English to compete with the United States in this branch of industry. In this part of his discussion the British editor shows that he has not been penetrated with the idea which many of his countrymen are beginning to accept, that mechanical skill and ingenuity are not confined to the islands of the United Kingdom, but that they are pretty well distributed throughout the world, the inhabitants of Germany and the United States being blessed with a fair share of them. Had he not retained the antiquated notion that the British people are so exceptionally gifted as to be independent of such an important circumstance as the possession of immense supplies of raw materials he would not have expressed himself in this wise:

And this brings us to the point upon which we specially desire to insist-namely, that a nation's prosperity consists in the last resort, not, as Mr. Young seems to think, in rich soil or in deposits of coal and iron, but in the energy, and power, and ingenuity of its inhabitants.

The qualities referred to by the "Spectator" will do much for a people, but when they are measured against similar qualities, plus the possession of vast resources of cheap raw materials, they cannot hope to win in the modern competitive race. All things else being equal, the nation with an abundance of iron, cotton and other raw materials, and cheap food for the sustenance of its workers, must have an immense advantage over a competitor dependent upon other countries for its supplies of raw materials and food stuffs.

Regarding the "Spectator's" assertion that the people of England are benefited rather than otherwise by being compelled to receive finished articles instead of raw materials, as returns upon their investments in foreign countries, it is too absurd to merit a serious reply. To assume that a nation dependent upon its ability to provide a relatively vast population with employment in shaping raw materials into finished products is benefited by its in

vestors in foreign lands being compelled

to accept their returns in the form of manufactured articles rather than in raw and food products, is equivalent to an assertion that a country can prosper even though its working classes are deprived of the opportunity to earn a livelihood.

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As for the ignored contention that the supremacy of England on the ocean is menaced by the development of the coal measures of the United States, it is only necessary to repeat in a condensed form the statement and deduction of the Forum" writer that in 1896 "the total exports of coal from the United Kingdom reached 44,200,000 tons, which constituted 84.7 per cent. of the entire export business of Great Britain in the year named; iron forming 6.9 per cent., the remainder being composed of manufactured articles." Obviously, if the United States-whose coal measures are immensely greater than those of Great Britain and more cheaply worked-develops her coal export trade sufficiently to cut into the business of the United Kingdom, it will seriously affect the carrying trade of the latter country, for it will be seen from the figures furnished that the major part of England's roundabout foreign trade, from which so much profit is derived, is almost wholly dependent upon her ability to export a great quantity of coal. When this ability is impaired tonnage will be curtailed, cargoes which now find their way to England for distribution will seek a new market, and that market will in all likelihood be in countries which, like the United States, will be able to send out a vast quantity of coal to those regions of the earth deficient in mineral fuel or too indolent to utilize their reSources.

Surely the facts stated by the "Forum" writer must be regarded as menacing to English supremacy. That they are so regarded is pretty well attested by the disposition shown by the "Spectator" and other Free-Trade exponents in England to attempt to meet the arguments brought against the teachings of the Manchester school rather than to dispose of them as they formerly did, by denouncing them as "economic heresies."

Prophecy and Fulfillment. The good times now bathing the United States in sunlight began soon after the election of McKinley in 1896, which in itself contained the prophecy of the passage of a Protective Tariff measure like the Dingley law. Under the operation of that law the people are flourishing, while the national treasury is in more healthful condition than it was at any time during the administration of President Cleveland, from March 4, 1893, to March 4, 1897.--Freeport (Ill.) "Journal."