The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1828-05-28
WORCESTER:
WEDNESDAY, MAY %, 1928.
THE TARIFF BILL.


We publish this day the new Tariff Bill as i
finally passed, the same having received tn,
signature of the President, and become law
We have, also, subjoined a table ofpresent rate
of duties, from which comparison can b,
made. The bill, in its present amended form
will, we believe, be of great advantage to New
England and to the country generally. There
are, however, some objections to it. The mos
important, in our estimation, are the increased
rates of duty on coarse wool and hemp.
wool of the coarser kinds was an article which
we produced, or wished to produce, the case
would be different. Bot, so long as we car
raise pound of fine wool about as cheap as we
can pound of the coarse, the duty on the lat
ter must, necessarily, be tax on the consumer
and Encouragement to the manufacturer
The objection to the increased duty on hemp
is, that the article has never been produced in
this country of quality suitable for shipping
cordage, and until we furnish evidence of our
ability to produce such as is required for con-
sumption, high protecting duty ought not to
be imposed.
The new duty on molasses has been much
complained of 1t is extravagantly high, say
something like 100 per cent, but we do not ap.
prchend any serious disadvantages from it. 1t is
already produced, extensively, in Louisiana, Of
a superior quality, and the additional duty WILL
fit affects the price, hasten the time when the
home competition will reduce it below the cost
of the imported article, and we shall become
independent of foreigners for our supply. But
it is probable, that the price will not be much
affected The United States furnishes mar
ket for much the greater portion of molasses
exported from the West Indies and South
America, and, for that reason, the effect of the
new tariff will be, to depress the price there
rather than to advance it here. Indeed, the
accounts from our sea'ports agree that there
has been no advance on account of the passage
of the BILL nor, is any disposition to speculate in
the article manifested.
When the accounts Of the passage of the bill
reached New York. few vessels in the harbor,
through the influence Of some anti-tarif men,
displayed their colors at half mast, union down,
to testify their disapprobation of the act This,
being the standardization ofmourring, we should
suppose, had better been delayed till it was as
certained, by experiment, that the effect would
really be injurious to the navigating interest
When the tariff of 1924 was passed, the most
gloomy forebodngs were INDUCED. 1t was said
that commerce would be ruined, the revenue
DESTROYED, and direct taxation substituted >
that our whole sea coast would exhibit one vast
scene of smuggling, and that an enormous price
you'd have to be paid by the community for
their cotton goods, to satiate the inordinate Gu
pidity of a few manufacturers. Time and ex-
pertinent have stamped falsehood on the face
of all these predictions. While foreign
commerce has not diminished, the coasting
trade has, by the operation of the act, increased
in an unusual ratio the revenue has improved,
and such being as regular snuggler would
be as great curiosity as an Egyptian mummy.
Instead Of the consumers being taxed in the
price oftheir goods, the skill and capital which
the domestic competition, and command Of
the market, have brought into action, have re-
duc6d the price far below what it ever was be-
fore, or what there is any reason to believe it
would have been, if it was not adequately pro-
tected Have we not good reason, then, to
expect from the present bill similar effects
Since the above was in type, we learn that
moasses has advanced from one to two cents
per gallon, and coarse woollen goods, at auc.
ton, about ten per cent