New-York tribune., 1870-04-14
PROTECTION as 1T AFFECTS FOREIGN
COMMERCE.


COMMERCE..
The House of Representatives occupies itself
promiscuously and protractedly with the
Tariff Yesterday it talked of Hemp. A day
or two ago, Mr.. James Brooks and his col.
Leagues gave their great minds to corsets' anu
before that they expatiated free over inc
whole boundless plain of Protective Duties,
Free Trade, the National Revenue, ana
public interest and welfare, as these are sup
posed to be affected by the various schemes
proposed aud opposed. All the facts ana
figures and philosophy which the respective par
ties can command have been pressed into the
service. One party insists upon Revenue
Tariff. fair and square; by which they mean
the lowest rates of import duties that can DC
made to meet the requirements OF the Treas
urv from that source of taxation. Another
marty. intending to hold the customs recelpts
down to the revenue standard, wOuid ailow
such incidental protection in the scale OF rates
as they think will be least burdensome TO the
consumers of foreign goods; and still another
party, not very clearly or practically, contents
itself with opposing the existing enormous rates
of duty and those in the bill pending in the
House. These people have their doubles out
side of the House. in the Press, and among the
agitatOrs for reform. They all agree upon
reducing our indirect taxes, and they all agree,
nevertheless, that we must have large
revenue from foreign imports; but they
have not agreed about the rates OF i'm
port duties which will at the same time supply
the revenue and reduce prices to the consumers
of foreign goods. Free-Traders never did settle
- and 10 q
the reason that they never have been able to
settle the policy which their principles require.
For examples: In 1916, pending the discussion
which substituted the lower rates OF the Tarlff
of 1916 for the higher ones of 1912, MIR. Robert
j. Walker, and all his party with him, insisted
that slower duties yield the larger aggregate
"revenue.n In 1S4S, he said, "the revenue
from ad valorem duties last year (under the
"act of 1S46) exceeded that realized from spe-
"cific duties, although the average of the ad
"valorem duties was only 1857 per cent, and
"the average of the specific duties (under act
"of 1922 was H.3O, presenting another strong
"proOf that lower duties increased the reve-
"nue;n and he further said that "as general
"rule, 20 per cent ad valOrem will yield the
"largest reyenuen But in 1856 and 1856, when
Mr.. Secretary Guthrie was apprehensive of an
excessive balance in the Treasury, and was
casting about for remedy, he and all the Free
Traders with him, adopted the contrary doc
trine and proposed to reduce the National in
come by reducing the duties instead OF in
creasing their rates. In 1857, they did
cut down Mr. Walkers schedules in the aver
age 25 per cent, with this very intention; and
they might point to the results with the same
feeling of triumph; for the Tariff had not been
in operation three years till the receipts of the
Treasury fell eleven millions below the ordi-
nary expenditures. There is nothing like cx-
perence, when it supports equally well directly
opposite theories in National finance. But we
have had another experience since. Under the
operation of the tariff of 1857, the customs Of
the fiscal year 1860 amounted to fifty-three
millions, at rates which averaged 1886 per cent
upon the total imports of the year, and 1916
per cent upon the duty-paying imports. On
the vtlIcr hand, tho customs of the fiscal year
1868 mounted up to one hundred and sixty
four millions, under the average rate OF 1852
per cent. upon the total, and 1852 per cent
upon the dutiable imports. Here we have total
rates Just three times higher, and total income
q little more than three times greater, under
the higher than under the lower tariff.
o. VIII the Free-Traders be good enough to fix
the scale of rates that will produce the largest
revenue7 That, with due regard to other
results is just the thing we want, and the
thing, too, that they think they are going to
do; but in all their thinkings and dOings we
would have them remember Walker and
Guthrie, their tariffs and what came of them.
But they tell US that these high duties,
which thus demonstrate their service to the
exchequer, are and must necessarily be op-
pressive to the consumers. Suppose we ad
nit, as we would admit anything else that
means nothing to the purpose, that higher
rates increase the money price of the i'm
ports upon which they are charged, the
question, and the only sensible question, re-
mains: How do such higher duties affect the
power of the people to buy and consume
foreign imports Have we not heard that the
present duties are nearly prohibitory, op-
pressive, and ruinous to all interests except
those of the little body of American manufac-
turers, who, to the exclusion of even their
laborers, as well as everybody else, derive all
the profits of the enhancement of price pro-
duced by Protective ratesf And is not this
burden upon consumers the very body and
bones, the life and soul, of the complaint
Let us see the answer that the Custom-House
reports make on this point:
Statement Of certain imports entering into consumption
in the fiscal years 1860 and 1863 respectively tih the
rate per cent Of Increase in these eight years; the gid
titles measured By the inr0ice raues exclusive Of i'm
port duties.
Consumed Consumed Increase
Irhetx In 1860 in 1853 per
Tea. t6,93O,17I t10,S39,326 SCI
Coffee ................. l9,6l4,406 A,442,7i6 2H
Spices. .................. 634,s6y 979,330 "a
Sugar, Molasses. &c.. 3, ,s64.OA l7,429yS65 40
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