The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-05-17
POS7PONE.MENT or THE TARIFF
RTIE


The House of Representatives yesterday de-
cided to postpone all prior orders until the
Appropriation bills are disposed of, and this
movement will prevent the consideration of
the new Tariff bill for some weeks, and pro-
badly render its passage at the present session
impossible. This action is not fair indication
of the opinion of the House on the Tariff bill
for, although the postponement was opposed
by the mass of the earnest friends of protec-
tion, it was favored by number of members
who are decidedly hostile to free trade, and who
were influenced by desire to hasten the con-
sideration of measures of immediate practical
Importance 1t is always extremely difficult,
and under nearly all circumstances impos-
sible, to thoroughly revise tariff, and to
secure consideration in detail, of the thou
sands of items upon which impost duties are
levied. The attempts to complete this one
rous task necessarily consume months of
time, to the neglect of other press
ing business, and it is not
surprising that the tax on the patience of
overwearied members and the eager desire to
discuss such pressing subjects as the appro-
priation bills and the reduction of internal
in yesterdays Congressional proceedings.
The wisdom of any attempt to tear
whole tariff bill to pieces
and to reconstruct it, item by item, is at best
questionable; and in nine cases out of ten, it
would be far better for the Committee of
Ways and Means to begin by proposing
few partial amendments of prime importance
similar to those which usually conclude Con-
gressional labors on this subject. thou
sand fears and hopes and an infinite number
of arrangements of business are always excited
by serious efforts to ensure general change of
the tariff, and much distress and depression
are frequently caused by these fruitless agita-
tions. Above all other things, stability is
essential to the development and prosperity
of diversified industry, and no interest de-
pendent upon the regulation of the tariff can
be stable when every item it contains is liable
to be changed at any session.
The present Congress, however, has labored
so long over the Tariff bill, and it has mas
tered SO many of its details, that it required,
to induce the suspension of its labors on this
subject the powerful combination of motives
involved in confession of Mr.. Schenck, on
would become a law at this session, and
statement of Mr.. Dawes, Chairman of the
Committee on Appropriations, that if seven
appropriation bills were not considered
speedily the Government would be without
money after the 3Oth Of June. A strong
additional incentive to postponement was
furnished by the fact that bill to reduce in
ternal taxation was reported yesterday, and the
rejoioings with which it was received
by the members show how anxious they are
to respond to the earnest demands of their
constituents for relief in this quarter. The
sums realized from the tax on spirits and
tobacco are so large that nearly all other
forms of internal taxation can speedily be
dispensed with, and if Congress acts promptly
on this bill, taking special care to either
abolish the income tax altogether or to
destroy all its specially odious features, the
people will cheerfully submit to postpone
ment of the revision of the tariff.