The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1846-02-03

up the price to thlrtyslX cents again, and
the oppression is all over; the duty Of nine
cents yard falls Instantly TO twenty-five per
cent, moderate revenue duty. No more
complaint,these friends ofthe poor man are
perfectly satisfied.
Such was The practical operations of these
odious minimums, which had reduced the
poor mans cotton goods from twenty-five and
thirty cents per yard 10 six and eight cents.
Y Ell this was the system which must be Civ
en- up; this was the operation which was so
oppressive and so unconstitutional that il
must be suffered to exist no longer upon our
statute book The duty was 10 be taken off
the foreign goods, and put upon American
manufactures; such was the doctrine of this
report
He referred 10 table which had been re-
ported 10 the House last session, by the Cont
miItee OF Ways and Means, for the purpose
OF showing the enormous tax which was i'm
posed by the system Of minimunls a; but when
the Secretary, by the assistance of the hon.
orable chairman of the committee of Ways
and Means was preparing with great labor
and pains this document, he seemed TO forget
that he was at the same moment furnishing
mathematical proof OF the exact extent 10
which protection had reduced prices. BY
converting specific into ad valorem duties,
the duty runs up precisely as the price runs
down; so, by showing an increased rate Of
duty, the gentleman have only shown reduc-
ed prices.
The duty is fixed, and cannot vary. The
Gd rdlorenl duties are always the same
None were imposed by the tariff of 1912, a
bove so per cent. How then, does :he Pres
ident, in his message, get duties OF 200 cts?
This OuItr bn A0na hx tho
specific duties into dd rdIorem duties; and
when this is done high duty only shows n
low price, If the duty is 200 per cent, the
prices must be one fourth only Of the duty
Thus we are told that the glass pays the e.
normous duty of 200 per cent; and why I?
Because the duty is four dollars per box, and
the price two dollars per box; but il The
glass went down TO 81 per box, the duty
would be AGO per cent Thus we are told by
The Secretary ofthe Treasury, and the Chair
man of the Committee of Ways and Means.
that the people paid in all a tax of eighty
four millions, of which but twenty seven went
to the government. and fifty seven TO the
manufacturers; and he gave list of sixty or
seventy articles Oh which the duty amounted
tomore than hundred per cent. Very we'll;
and what did this prove2 Why, simply thai
the prices Of those articles had been greatly
diminished, as in the case of cottons. The
same duty which, when levied had been but
25 per cent, had now become $50 per cent.
simply because that the price had gone down
10 one-4th or part of what il was. So the
main result afall the labor and ciphering o.
the chairman ofthe Committee Of the Ways
and Means had been TO furnish TO The whole
country official demonstration that prices
had been reduced by a protective tariff TO
| one-4th or one-fiIih OF what they had been in
1916. Take plain illustration the tariff
imposed duty Of four cents per ID. on nails;
the price OF nails in 1919 had been 16 cents
per h.; so that the duty then was 25 per cent
on the price; but the same duty, we are
ield in this report. is 100 per cent; and how
so? Because the price had fallen from Is
10 cents per pound. Very oppressive Oh
the poor man. who thus has TO ray 100 per
cent upon nails! The explanation o. this
was all perfectly plain and easy. The effect
of competition and of American industry had
increased The supply, in this as in all other
cases, had reduced the price of cotton, glass
&c, whilst il had rendered the whole neigh
borhOod prosperous by the increased dc
mand for all the productions Of the former.
Mr.. Stewart thanked the chairman ofthe
Committee OF Ways and Means for his docu
mcnt; 1t had furnished 10 him and TO the
country undeniable proof, the highest author
ity, 10 what an extent prices had been reduc-
ed, insomuch that the duty on the article
though reasonable at first, had now risen TO
three hundred and eighty nine per cent dd
rdlOrem, brought about solely by the reduc-
lion of Tie price. Mr. s. defsd escape from
this position. Let any gentleman take the
report aud examine it, and the more they ex-
anime the more they would be convinced
that this was a true explanation OF The whole
matter. Yet this was held forth for the pur-
pose oil exciting alarm; il furnished topic
for popular declaration, it might persuade
the poor man that he was greatly oppres-
sed, because he paid a TAX of two hundred
per cent on his window glass: and he per
haps would not understand that if glass fell
10 a dollar a box. he would be taxed four
hundred per cent OF il by any improvement
in the manufacture he should be enabled TO
get his glass at fifty cents a box, why then
he would be paying The enormous unheard
of tax ofeight hundred per cent. This same
poor man ofthe Secretary sometimes want
ed to buy n Few nails and the Secretary
alarmed him by the intelligence that nails
were taxed hundred per cent on their val
ne. So they were but what did he pay for
mem lie uSeu 10 pay siAtCCh Ccnt~
pound, but this wicked oppressive tariff had
brought Them down 10 four cents Now who
did not see thai a specific duty Of four cents
n pound on nails amounted to hundred per
cent, should nails be brought down 10 cent
a pound, the duty would be four hundred per
cent? What an oppression to get nails at a
penny a pound! Surely the poor man was
likely to be utterly crushed and ruined.
Mr.. Stewart proceeded to point out some
other extraordinary doctrines Of the Report,
and especially, requested attention TO the
project of laying exercise on American man.
plan which might not inaptly
be termed plan 10 manufacture poor men.
Such would be IFS practise result, and there
was no escap ing it, Another extract is all
we have room for:-
The Secretary Of the treasury had made
other very wonderful discovers in finance
What did he tell us? Experience Prores
thatas a general rule duty oftwenfy perct:
adj valorem will yield the largest revenue
Yes, experience proved that an ad valorem
duty oftwenty per cent would yield the great
EST amount Of revenue. Twenty per. cent
yield the greatest revenue! Why, what was
he great broad. universally known expert