The Tariff That Stung the Tin Can
As the McKinley Bill hikes duties on tin, local canners and hardware merchants brace for price shocks that will ripple through Aberdeen’s economy.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Tin-Tin-Nabulation of McKinley's Bill
The Port Townsend Leader, a republican paper, speaking of the new tariff on tin, says:
"The increased duty, though it does not go into effect until next July, has run up prices. A box of tin averages about 108 pounds. Under the old law the duty on a box was $1.08, and under the new $2.37 3-5. Last year at this time the canners were buying tin at $4.50@4.85 a box, and $4.65 was the highest paid. This year sales have been made at $6.00@6.12½, and $6.25 is asked. J. G. Megler, the Brookfield canner, said the canners were buying very sparingly of tin and he thought they would hold off until April in the hope of getting better prices. It is a fact that stocks of tin on the way to this coast are lighter than ever known, and a well-known tin importer thinks the prospects for still higher prices are very favorable. He would not be surprised to see $6.50 asked before long."
In an interview by an Oregonian representative with C.H. Dodd of Portland, whom the paper pronounces "as good authority in this line of business as any man in the city," he said: "Staples, such as lead, zinc, tin and copper, were advanced at once to meet the provisions of the new tariff schedule."
A. L. Sharpleigh, of the well-known St. Louis hardware house, says:
"The price of cutlery has advanced about 20 per cent. Tinware and plated ware have also advanced, but not to such a noticeable extent. As the goods will cost more money, of course we will have to get more money for them, and as they are all necessaries, consumers must buy them at any price, and will be the sufferers by the advance."
J. D. Dana, secretary of the Excelsior Manufacturing company, of the same city, says:
"Moves [stoves], which are the principal article handled by us, have not been affected by the McKinley bill, but tinware has. The duty on tin plate has been more than doubled, and hence there is a corresponding advance in price on goods in whose manufacture tin is used."
This 1890 report captures the immediate economic shock of protectionist trade policy, showing how federal tariffs on raw materials like tin directly inflated costs for local manufacturers and consumers alike. It mirrors modern debates over supply chain vulnerabilities and the inflationary impact of trade barriers on everyday goods.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.