Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 February 1892 — A Failure of McKinleyism. [ARTICLE]

A Failure of McKinleyism.

The American Manufacturer, a prominent protectionist trade paper, of Pittsburg, has been making an estimate of the amount of pig' iron produced in the United States in toe year 1891. It places toe production at 8,196,127 gross tons, against 9,202,703 gross tons in 1890. Here we have a falling off of 1,006,576 gross tons in toe first year of MoKlnleylsm. True, the McKinley law did not change toe duty on pig iron, but the consumption of lmn is everywhere ac-

cepted. as the best gauge of the prosperity of a country. All other great industries are dependent upon the iron industry; when they flourish they make a demand for iron, and the iron industry must also flourish. If the MoKinley law has brought to our Industries the prosperity which was promised by the McKinloyites, why does not the iron industry show the effeote of the prosperity? Why has not the great tin-plate industry come to the rescue of iron? Tin-plate is composed almost entirely of iron, and if McKinley’s tinplqte tax had built up the promised industry the consumption of iron would not have shown such a marked falling off. The falling off in the production of iron last year was entirely in the first six months of the year., When the idle furnaces began to go into blast again in May and June a well-known protection organ had the effrontery to point to this as one of the achievements of the McKinley law. But a wise man prefers to wait to see the end before he jubilates, lest it should turn out that there was really nothing to jubilate over. The end in this case is enough to cause a touch of dismay in the heart of the most stalwart McKinleyite. The average weekly capacity of the iron furnaces in blast last year was only 167,750 tons, against a like weekly capacity in 1890 of 176,784 tons. The same journal already referred to has an account of the failures last year in the iron trade, where it finds “sjjme interesting but gloomy facts.” It says: “In Pittsburg the pressure has been particularly powerful, and several large firms have been compelled to yield. One old and honored Iron firm liquidated its liabilities, aggregating about $1,000,000, and retired from business. Two companies, with liabilities aggregating about $2,500,000, wette forced to ask extensions, and two other companies went into the hands of receivers. A dozen other concerns engaged in various branches of the iron trade throughout the State, came to grief during 1891. There was one heavy failure in New England, half a dozen in toe West, and a few small ones in the South.” Whep is McKinleyism going to make the country prosperous?