The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-02-19
Tariff Plunderins.

The question squarely presented to Con-
gress last week by the resolution of Mr.. Mar
shall, OF Illinois, was, whether the tariff sys.
tenn should be projected on q plan that should
benefit the 39,O00,oOo Of people who consti-
tute this nation, or on plan that should
compel these $4,000, 900 of people to pay tri-
butte to few hundred capitalists engaged in
certain manufactures. To make this more
definite Mr.. Marshall proposed to drop out
the idea of protection from our tariff system
and levy tariff for revenue only. The mo-
dus operandi would be like this Levy a
tariff only on such articles as must be import
eel anyhow, and which, whether paying a
high or low duty, have no effect on articles of
home production. Thus in the case of tariff
on silks, foreign Wines tea, coffee, &c, while
1t undoubtedly raises the price OF those arr-
Giles to the consumer, the whole of the in
creased price goes into the treasury. But let
the tariff be for protection" and the result
is very different Take, for instance. railroad
iron Such iron, free of duty, can be brought
from Wales and laid down in New York at
say 500 ton The Pennsylvania iron mas
tiers say they cannot make it probably at less
than $50 ton. Congress puts on a tariff of
$50 ton, and immediately railroad iron goes
up to SIS. What is the result ? The people
pay exactly the difference between $50 and
$7s-eighteen dollars, amounting to MANY
millions year, more for the railroad iron
than they would have paid but for the tariff.
and yet the government gets not one dollar
The whole of this vast bounty goes into the
pockets OF the iron masters, and the people
are compelled to pay other taxes to support
the government. The resolution of Mr.. Mar
shall was rejected, though by so small ma
iority, that the adroit schemers who worried
or toogH the famous Schenck bill through
the ways and means committee have taken
time to make another count of noses. or buy
some more members, before trusting it to
another vote of the house OF the beauties of
this Schenck bill, new glimpses are coming to
light daily. We find a few of them noted In
the st. Louis Republican, as follows:
The bill increases the duty on nickel twenty.
five cents pound, the explanation Of which t.
that patriotic member of the WAYS and means
committee is interested in the ONLY nickel de.
posit in the country. The duty on tin plate is
increased about 40 per cent, while that On tin
III pigs, bars and blocks Is per cent ia abolished.
ms II double'ender movement. and is thus
explained: There Is no tin produced in this
country, and there is no manufacture of tin plate
here hut in
poses to go into the business. He wants to buy
hln material cheap and sell his fabric high; be
therefore askes the committe TO renovee the du.
~ on TN, and to Increase it on tin plate aud
the committee complied with SO reasonable re.
1uest by guaranteeing him 40 per cent increase
Of what his wares would cost under the present
tariff. Mr.. WELLS proves chat the exorbita,,t
tariff on lasting, which costs the wearers of
lasting shoes over $l,j00000 Annually. and dis.
courages the manufacture OF such shoe in this
country, is levied for the exclusive personal
benefit OF three or four small companies engaged
in the manufacture OF this cloth in Massachu.
sets. The Manufacture of hair-cloth is a very
limited interest in this country, while the manu-.
facture Of furniture in which halr-cloth il used
is very vast one certainly one hundred times
az great As the other. The committees increase
Of the duty on imported hair-cloth fifty per
cent was therefore most inexplicable move
,nent, until the fact leaked out that it was done
at the solicitation Of the proprietors of a hair.
cloth msnufactory at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
The present duty on chalk is about eight hun.
dred per cent, or eight times the cost Former.
ly chalk was admitted free of duty, and was
largely brought over from England and France
as ballast, until some enterprising citizen of
Massachusetts, began to "develop" the only
chalk deposit that is worked in this country.
He applied for and secured levy of tariff
that added eight prices to his property.
Another Congressional investigation farce