The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1869-10-07

chains of gold or silver, ear rings, studs,
gold rings and manufactured jewesry pay a
duty OF twenty five per cent. od ratorem,
and fifty cents a mound in additian ). hats
and stockings pay thirty five per cent,
and fifty cents pound in addition, linen
clothing pays forty per cent. gloves fifty
per cent; sheeting thirty-fye per cent;
and flannel and blankets thirty five per ct.
and fifty cents Der pound in addition car
petlng thirty FIVE per cent. and forty cents
five per cent. glassware forty per cent /;
hatehets, chiseIs and brace bits forty five
per cent coal oil about thirty per cent.
iron nails about fifty per Gently; bar iron
about fifty per cent; pig iron about fifty
per cent; tea pays sixty per cent; and
salt one hundred and twenty-five per cent.
And this Mr.. Sherman calls taxing luxur-
les and not taxing necessarles. Jewelry OF
the most expensive character pays nothing,
Or at most ten per cent; but hoes and
spades and hatchets and nallo-articles
used by workingmen-pa thirty to fifty
per cent. A lace sh wi worn only by the
rich, comes in at twenty five per cent. a
worsted shawl worn by women who live by
washing or sewing-I had almost said who
die by washing or sewing forty per
cent. and fifty per cent for every pound
of its weight Diamonds are admitted at
twenty five per. cent. ad ratoren1 but cof-
fee, and tea, and sugar must pay forty to
sixty five per cent. Every article Of lux
ury is taxed lightly. Every article of me-
cesslty,r every i'm plemen Of industry, every
tool by which the farmer, the mechanic, or
the day laborer plies his avocation, is tax
ed heavily. -, tfai
SECRETARY PAYS PREMIUMS ON BONDS.
| said the expenditures were unnecessary
and wasteiul, and that they were all in the
interest of d Lad, inactive capital. The
last report of the Secretary shows that lie
is boarding $l0l, 2l4, $50 in coins and .Sl2,
l44, 600 in currency. What =? To what
good purpose? The customs of a half
year are there The people are paying
six per cent in gold, as interest on the
public debt, and tie Secretay is boarding
this immense amount. Each month with
great parade. he sells six or nine millions,
and with the proceeds he buys bonds Civ
ing in the market tor them twenty-five per
cent. above par. They are now redeem.
able. On their faoe-by the lawn eaui-
ty, they are payable in legal tender notes.
The holders gave legal tender for them
when legal tender notes were worth not
more than half what they now are, and
Jet the Secretary of the Treasury insists
on paying premium of twenty-five per-
cent. | will not argue again this question.
l prefer to rely on the authority of Sher.
man, and Norton, and Stevens and Ewing.
They say the bonds are payable in green
backs. Then they ought to be so paid /;
and the people are robbed when premium
is paid. If they are payble IN gold, the
not buy UP the paper Of the Government
at discount.
1t is difficult to speak of this conduct of
the Secretary with the respect which Is
due to his high office. 1t costs the people,
as Mr.. Ewing has well said, more than all
the frauds of the whiskcy ring and is
scarcely more honest than they.
Under this process Of paying premium
the market value of the bonds has gone
up from ten to twelve per cent, and 10 !!
the Secretary exclains, what marvel
Of financial ability My magic touch has,
Ill three months, raised SO high the credit
Of the Government - Ny friend pay
off few of your notes in the same way ;
then stint 20 family, cramp your bust
ness, seize upon the earnings of your chill
dIen, and insist on giving to your creditors
twenty five per cent. more than your note
calls for and your credit will improve, al
ways provided the public does not consider
you fool, or the Probate Court does not
consign you to a lunatic asylum.
The Administration, for the first time
in the history of the Republic, has power
to make times hard or make times good );
in other words, it has the power to make
money plenty or make money scarce. Who
are responsible for the present hard, and |
may say deplorable times? Why, of course,
the Administration, which control the
Government Ia favor Of the bOndholder !;
or in other words the bondhOlaers control
the Government in favor of themselves. =
Who are responsible for the acts of the AID
minlstratiOn2 Gentlemen, it i, you, the
people. While the Administration has
the power to make money plenty or scarce,
you have the power to make the admins
tratiOn do its duty-a hint from you in Oc
tober will be sufficient | regard the sud
den contraction which has been brought
about--a contraction Which has RUNE d
thousands of our best men-one of the
most hcartless and cruel acts ever perpe-
trated upon people by their rulers.
| have SO often expressed my opinion as
to the propriety Of dispensing with the Ma
tional banks, of the substituting legal
tender notes for their circulation, and thus
saving twenty two millions of dollars a
year in gold, and as to the best mode of
paying the public debt, that L will not
weary you here by their capitulation.
The whole policy Of the Administra7
ton. Should be reversed. Pay the dedt,
pay it honestly, according to the contract,
pay it in money as valuable as that which
was received for it pay it in legal tender
notes abolish the National bank system
pay off the bonds on which they are found
ed f; save the yearly interest use every
appliance of economy and management in
advancing this policy Then, when the
debt is paid, when taxes are reduced, when
seventy>fve million, suffice for the Gov
eminent, when all property is subjected to
a just rule Of taxation, if it be advisable
to contract the currency and resume specie
payments, it can be ffccted without great
disaster, and the inevitable suffering can
be borne
Mr. Pendeton closed by thanking his
hearers for their patience, and suggested
that as the details of figures furnished on