Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-03-31

-, | IN HfanuFzciurer Wen
suah Joser without tho duty than n,
euo:f II it. Both reason and experi
!: o'is e NJ that be wouli and do,s sci
'kced yi.Aons the 9usv. He must max.
''a'n- 'rcf,. and he will only pay th,
Jug hut af his profit. II. cannot anG
'ra OF Joe continue in the marke. at los.
mem n n nseIf. f.s
y" of tho mos. common but at the
.,:.e time most fallacious Of the aryu-
-. its Of the protsc,ionis.. is an elaborate
. ay Of figures to show ,h,. an Article OF
~, nmerce m1y be temporarily lower uu-
iio higher rate OF duty than i. WIS un.
er n lower rate. Bat these gentlemen
'arely forget that the dasy isuot tas oaly
element Of price. There are other ele-
nents constantly Influencing the pries of
all commodities. The c,nii.ion of the
currency is one Of these and the deminl
for consumption is another. Owing to
contraction Of the currency. or supply
Of imports hrg g'ly In excess of the imme-
diate demand. the price may temporarily
decline in the fac, OF high rate of duty
or i. may alvince notwithstanding low
ne, but whether it advances or reccdes,
the duty is still ever upon it, and the con-
samsr constantly pays that duty under
NIL circumstances.
Ruf, Mr.. Speaker, lot us examine the
bill now before Us. and think We shaI!
fad it bill combining almost all the ell
caien's Of irjnst'c, tha. any tariff bin e-cr
did coutlin. /. is divided into articles
,axei and articles no. taxed. Promincn.
in the f,rmer class is salt, which is still,
eft by this bill at the mercy of tho exist
ing tariff. In so leaving i. the Commit
tee "f WAYS and Means declare their ap-
provh of the present cxarhi.ant duty upon
this article ahor: one hundred and fifty per
cent. nf Ua'Orem. Tha. is to say, .he
present pric, of slit is two aud half
times rs grca. as i. would be wi.hou, the
duty. or free Of tax. The illustration OF
e mmissi'ncr Wells, in setting forth the
cxtorticnary and rapacinus nature Of this
tax. is very strong and exposi,iye. He
says:
Their excessive characters strikiu-lv shown
- exact ITS Itcs, Ike iit.s il kin l. i, yyou!
r'lt.ire jhat ".ch vessel arriving in lie United
States with = ear 20 - forci-n salt should hv II.
accompanied LIZ another of equal siZ" AMI a
thirc smaller c~!:t o:trDn e;-h, TO titv per cent
capacity u the former, ID convey the duty"
Salt Is n necessary; it is something
that oil must have anil to the poor man
especially this duty is an oppressive tax.
Ii is unequal and unjust: for tine bin
when imposes one hundred and ff:y Ter
lent. on this necessary OF life i'm nosrs onlv
SKY per cent. ad ra'orem on the mos.
costly Of silks. There is no. one half,h
tax q, Ills superficial comfort as on salt.
Again. Will, thi. bill taxes silk ONLY
.ss:xiy ner cent al rIioren,. it ,axas f,n-
lict eI-h'y-ivc per cent. This bill fol-
IswS The same principle throughou' i,
takes advantage of meas necessities: !,
lays hold On t." pocr's comforts AID an
proprintcS them 20 the Government. bn,
lets :he daintrs and supera i,icS of tn,
r'ch shp through its hngrrs The fae
iady Who can dress il silks p,ys tax Of
sixty per cent on her pnrchas,, while the
poor. tard-workei wife OF the laborinc
mau has to pay cighty-fvc per cent. on
the tilnnrl she buys for the comfort ct her
home.
Again, under the existing tariff iron
rails ready for laying down ar, taxed six.
ty cents per hundred pounds. or six mills
per rount. while c,st-irln utensils used
in every household are .axel one ani
Ea'f cent per pouui I, is true that by
the bill now before the House the tax on
railroad iron is increased to one AID
quarter cent rer pound, hu. the tax en-
cast-lrou utensils is raised also to one and
three qra't RS cent pr pound. Thus il
II iound, IN running the eve over the
who.e tariff confined IN this bill, tha,
Determinations have been made asains,
the srea; bsiy of the people. You will
bad that railroad corporations are n ii
taxed as high on their iron as the humble
iaboser is on his. These great combina-
tions OF ra';road corporations anl m,nu-
featuring corporations have their power
tul AMI ingenious advocates. They have
their representatives, here bs.h in and out
0! Congress. And this will be so as long
As the tariff exists.
These heavy and onerous t,xe. ~.
Kept up aud laid in the face Of the STATE
neut Of the Secretary of the Treasury
that he has bought a; a high premium
millions Of bonds Of th, Ua;.
led States. besides paying oil the ex,eu-
'es OF m 'ss exsravagsn. G,vernm
The bill does, however. reduce the tar.
IS on two articles that are now neces.,.
r'es to the great body o: the people. ana
for that LET them BE- thankful. I. reIu.
ces the tax oa tea Eve ceats a pound AMI
on eoH,e one cent. Il is step IN tb,
right direction. I, is true there are n,
tea or coffee factories TO be pro,ec ed
There is No class OF tea or c,ffe. r,;..,,,oi
c.amor for tax. All are consumers of
these articles, AMI those xho are lauieS,
n theIr dee!ara'ions that pro,ec,i,a chea-
peas tie articles protected always take
seoi care 10 lower the duties on eyerv.
thing shey use aud consume.
THIS bill also gives a long lis, Of ar.;-
sles tha; are duty free. Tais list il comnos-
Cd IN great measure of drugs aad chem;.
Gals To DC used in the manufactures or ,f
raw material 10 be manufactured. r..rs
is not on this free lis, one article sha, Mi,
do the people any service. An,hrac;,e
coal IS Tree, but no anthracite coal is i'm.
ported or can be imported. After druos
aud chemicals We find sach articles O, the