The Lincoln County herald., 1869-12-02
New We Pay Ansunt Of the Debl
WlCbOuC Eytineolshlne n. 4.

VVWWVu uUU0UoaII0v VI uu0s VII u V00
these high duties on forsign goods wsr,
Intended mainly for revenue, and iuci
dsutally for protset,on on-that 10 to All thS
treasury, and at the sAme time accomplish
the bene6cent result Of protecting hons
industry against foreign competition.
Let us sce how this 10. We lay . tariff
upon about four thousand articles. o.
some Of these the tariff 10 20 por cent, on
others so, on others 100, on others SOC
per cent. On 90 average, the duty 10 90
per cent. On such articles % tsa, coffee,
spices, &c., which are not produced IN
this country, the tax has no protective
Significance, because there are no 10.
dustries 10 our country engaged in The
cultivation Of these products. Every
dollar Of tariff levied on them, less the
expense Of collecting, goes therefore inte
the treasury. And the product Of the
tariff on such foreign articles largely con.
sumed among % 10 immense. Coffee
alone, with tfe comparatively moderate
tariff Of As per cent. yielded last year .
net revenue Of s10.637 ,845; and the six
articles Of tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, mo.
lasses, and liquors yielded . revenue on
the same year Of e88, ,6S5, ,012-nearly
one half Of the whole custom revenue
raised on the four thousand taxed articles.
But there are other articles on which We
impose . prohibitory tariff "a tariff 80
exorbitant % to exclude them entirely.
We impose duty Of forty cents . ton
on anthracite coal, though there is not u
ton Of such coal that We could afford to
bring to our shores. This forty cents
per ton on all the anthracite used in this
country goes, not into tho treasury as
revenue, but into the pockets Of The
Pennsylvania mine owners, % . special
bonus for their benefit We impose, also,
. tax of 81 75 per ton on foreign bitumin.
Gus coal, which prohibits its importation.
This enormous tax. therefore, Of 81 Is on
every ton Of bituminous coal consumed
10 this country goes into the pockets Of
mine owners also. Then there are coarse,
woollen goods largely used by tho masses
Of tho people. A moderate and rcasona.
bic tariff on such goods would yield q
large revenue but the wealthy New Eng.
land manufacturers engaged in the max.
ing of these fabrics demanded and secured
an exorbitant tax on foreign woolleus,
which almost totally excluded tho coarser
fabrics. Thus coarse foreign blankets
are taxed l40 per cent, equal to nearly
their foreign price and half as much more.
Under such tariff, We do not import .
single blanket Of this description but
the people who use coarse blankets pay q
tax Of lao per cent. on each one, never.
theless. This tax goes to tho New Eng.
land blanket maker; not . dollar Of it
reaches the treasury. A similar showing
might be made Of q large proportion Of
the four thousand articles included 10
our tariff sche1 e1ule. They are taxedsso
high that they cannot be imported At all,
and the whole tax on them, instead Of
drifting into the national treasury, goes to
enrich tho few American manufacturers.
Other articles, such as iron, pay largo but
not prohibitory tariff. Some foreign iron is
imported Notwithstanding the tax but,
while tho tax on this foreign iron goes
into the treasury, the same tax paid on
the immensely larger proportion Of home.
made iron goes exclusively to the Amer.
lean manufacturer.
We have no means Of estimating the
aggregate of taxes which We pay on the
four thousand articles included in our
tariff schedule; butto any one who reflects
that they are paid on almost every con.
eeivable thing that the people cat, drink,
wear and consume, and that they average
so per cent. on all these articles, it will
DO plain that this aggregate amounts to
hundred Of millions every year. Of this
vast amount $3.50, ,000, 900 goes into the
treasury to pay the interest on the M.
tional debt; but the larger proportion,
probably not less than $500, 900, 900 in
amount, goes directly from the consumers
to the manufacturers. It does not bcnest
the government . dollars worth, and il
impovsrisbes the people. It does benefit
one olass-the manufacturers il is q
burden on oil else beside. Thus, by tho
protective tariff devised by and 10 ths
interest mainly Of the New Euglaud
States and Pepusylvan,a, the people are
paying at the rate Of three hundred. mil
lions q year Of their debt, without ex-
tinguishipg . dollar Of il; for all this
money extorted from them By. 3 tariff for
the expressed purposes of revenue, ip.
stead Of going - revenue into the national
treasury, really goes to the manufacturing
class. .sl.t. a. .I.'r',
IF Mr.. Boutwell, really desires 70 pay
the National debt, without crushing the
life out Of the people, and without i'm.
pevsrishing the West 70 enrich his
friends, the manufacturers Of New Eug.
land, let him drop bis high tariff thso.
ties, and recommend policy which will
divert oil the. tariff taxes paid By The peo.
pie to the Federal treasury. The debt 10
not nearly 80 oppressive a. 10 the annual
tribute Of two Or three hundred millions
whioh we now pay to the manufacturing
class, aud. If relieved Of tho latter, We
could gradually extipguish the former
with comparative eass.-Missourl Repuh.
lican.