, 1870-05-03

THE "P1sM1REs, IN coHeREss

General Scheuck, of Ohio, is the Chair,
man of the Committee of Ways and Means
in The House of Representatives, and is the
father-in-law Of the Tariff bill. This is
bill to increase taxes and diminish revenue.
In the article of sugar, for instance, it re-
ducesthe tar On the raw sugars, which ere
largely imported, but are not tit to use. and
excludes those grades which may be used
without refining. The effect OF this is to de-
priTe the government Of SIC, ,ooo, 600 of an
nuM revenue, and to compel the people of
the United States to pay this sum to the re-
fne1s.. It is not the removal Of the ta1,
but the transfer Of the proceeds of
the tax from the Treasury to the
sugar zefne1s, Unable 10 face the public
with with astax Of s. on pig iron, the commit
tee reported in favor Of reducing the tax
On that article to s., and increasing it on
almost every other form Of iron and steel.
When this part of the bill came before the
House the majority not only reduced the
tax On pig iron to SIS per ton, but made a
like reduction on I'll the other iron aud
steel items. The articles OF salt, coal, cop
per, and lumber have not been reached.
. When these are, it is probable they will be
: treated IN the sa,ne way that the House has
doctored iron and steel
On, Saturday, some members proposed,
injudicdous1y, rs we think. to lay the whole
bill aside to take up asubstitute- 1t is not
the policy Of the friends Of revenue reform
to defeat the bill, sc, long as they are able to
use it to reduce existing taxes. But Gen.
eral Schenck, IN the debate, .'voided his
wrath upon tie House, because the majority
had reduced the taxation recon-
mended by his committee. The irate
Chairman declared that the bill
had been tsnibbled AWAY by pismires, and
subsequently modified his language by say
ing that it had been "Hcked to death by
grasshoppers." Since the days when Cicero
wore the Consular robe, and sal in the
curule chair, there has hardly been such m
outbutst of classic indignation.
What is the bill which has been nibbled
by pis1niress" It is a bill to confscate the
earnings Of the people; to compel them to
surrender, without compensation Or equiva-
lent, large portion Of the proceeds Of
their Labor and property every year, for
no public use, but for the purpose
Of en11ching few privileged persons The
ayowed purpose is to enable these persons
to carry on losing business at the public
expense. The condscation is Ill the same,
whether the avowed purpose is the real one
or not. It is b;u to deprive men Of their
natural nights, to impose yoke Of servi-
tnde upon them, to compel them to work
more in order to obtain less. It IS a bill to
attack the rights of property, tho highest
of which is the right to exchange it for
other property. Congress has no right to
confscate the property of any peaceable
citizen. a ta1 which is levied for other
purposes than public revenue, is condsca-
ton, and no sophisty' eau torture it into
anything else
When people protest. against General
Schenck's confscation bill, and when they
become. strong enough in Congress to dis
pute with him as to the amount of confls-
cationl which shall be tolerated. he calls
them 4tpismires, OF, if they don't like that
phrase; Ct 'gzasshoppers, We think it very
likely that this variety Of grasshopper viii
become burden to General Schenck
before he sees the last Of them.
But what shall We say of the
craftsmanship which sets out with bill to
nick. .tha uocketx of IN. nnn, 900 ef people
under the pretence Of protecting their in
dushy, and then applies opprobrious epithets
to them when they resist and defeat it? In
our view, there Is only one step further to
the complete extinction Of the intellect
which has Conceived such an idea