The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-02-14

OF that; and Hannels must pay twenty
to fifty cents per pound, beside thirty.
five per cent. more, for the benefit of
a few flannel mills IN some section of
the country. Truly, keeping warm is
a costly business In the United States,
as the above prodigious rates Of tariff
on wooden goods sufficiently attest.
3. BROOMS-Are now taxed thirty
five per cent; but this new tariff
broom, which is to sweep US clean
from all delusion of lower prices, taxes
them at forty per cent.
4. FURNITURE. - All articles of
household furniture imported are at
present taxed thirty-fve per cent. ad
CGt0Tenl. Under this new bill they
are to be raised to forty per cent.
D. Books. - The present tax on
knowledge. if imported, is twenty five
per cent, which one would think quite
sufficient, added to the cost of foreign
books, to encourage the domestic
manufacturer Of "pirated " editions.
But it appears that this tax Is not
enough, and so the duty Of twenty
five per cent. adj Udl0ren1 is to be
changed to one of twenty-five cents
per pound. The weighing of books of
literature and science, and taxing
them In proportion TO their avoirdu-
pois, is a new idea In political econ
omy. What chiefly concerns US is the
fact that the proposed change will
increase the duty on books (Which
should be totally repealed, and a tax
upon knowledge at least twenty per
cent on the average.
g. COTTON FABRICs.-Here is one
Of the great necessary staples of con-
sumption, on which the present enor-
nous rates Of duty should be reduced
at least one-half. Instead of this,
which would substantially relieve and
benefit the people, we find our Com
mittee of Ways and Means still in
slsting upon the tax of tfUe cents per
square gard on the very cheapest of
unbleached cotton goods, such as
used to sell before the war at eight TO
twelve cents per square yard. On
bleached cottoas, the tax is raised
from five and a half cents per square
yard to five cents per yard and ten
per cent. Gd Ualoren1 IN addition
thereto. On cotton goods, printed,
eolored, or stained, the duty is again
raised from FIVE and half cents per
yard and ten per cent. Gd UaI0ren1 to
five cents per yard and twenty per
cent. adj UGtorena, which Is consider
able increase.
Z. Salt. = On this indispensable
article of every day consumption. the
present extortionate duty of eighteen
and twenty-four cents per 100 pounds,
is retained without abatement. This
tax is equivalent, as we have fire.
vueptly shown, to from 120 to ITO per
Ct. and is simply nonstrous. 1t enters
into every pound of cured meat, and
is a special burden laid upon the agri-
cultural masses as well as upon all
consumers, for the mere profit of half
Dozen wealthy salt monopolies.
We earnestly hope that the Repre-
sentatives Of the people will make
short work with this Tariff Bill. It
is not even worth considering as a
measure Of reform. Il is true it does
reduce the duty on coffee from FIVE
cents to four, and on tea of all kinds
from twenty-five cents per pound to
twenty cents. It also affects to take
off about one cent per pound on re-
fined sugars; but all these petty re-
auctions are too plainly In the inter
est of large reine.s and importers,
and will not, if adopted, benefit the
body Of the people one single dollar.
Let US have a genuine tariff reform,
else none atall. We would far rather
so on under the present odious sys-
TEN, than adopt measure so clearly
a swindle upon the people as this
proposed bill of the Ways and
Means. It does not reduce, but
rather increases taxation upon the
mass of necessary articles produced
both at home and abroad. We hope
the House will testify its sense of the
wretched compound begotten between
the higher tariff rings, on the one
hand, and the dread of losing all by
grasping more, on the other, by laying
it on the table promptly, and without
debate.