The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1870-11-22
From the Reform Ieagus.]
Who PAY THE DUTIES?
Something for the People to Read.

s& 5Ad - stBs
Something for the People to Read
When the advocates OF protection arr
engaged in an attempt to procure heavy
duty upon any given article, they are &C
chstomed to affirm that the consumer
Will not pay the tax, but that in some
way which they can never explain the
foreign producer is compelled to pay it
For instance, it is NOW constantly al.
legged that, because many kinds of wool
en- cloths are cheaper than they usedstc
be before the present excessive duties
were imposed, therefore the present con.
sumers of cloth are not forced to pay
any portion of such duties.
But we now have a wiineas whose ev.
idence as to the effect of protective
duty will not be gainsaid, viz: the Sec.
retary of the so-called National Associa.
tion of Wool Manufacturers, a gentle
man to whose persistent efforts in the
lobby and elsewhere, the country chiefly
owes the existing tariff upon wool and
woolens,
In the Bulletin of the Wool Manufae:
turers' Association, Vol II, No. 2, may
be found the following letter: vs
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of
@ Wool MANUFACTURERS,
II Pemberton Square,
- Boston, Feb. 81, 1870.
Hon. SAMUEL HOOPER, House of Represen.
tatives, Washington: 81
After reference to certain tabular
statement of the duties on wooden cloths;
the, Secretary says:
1t will be Obvious to you, that, in the
paper referred to, the duty per cent, al
legged to be paid on the goods specified
is compounded of the specific and aid
rdlbrem duties. Take the tirst case given
in the sTabular Statement, "-"Woolen
Coaiings." The gold cost per yard,
weighing one pound, is stated to be 60
cents; and the duty ll8 per cent. The
specific duty upon this article is 30 cents /;
and the ad pd'ofem duty at 35 per cent,
is 81 cents. Now, that specific duty Of
so cents was intended simply tc reim-
burse the American manufacturer for
the duty which he pays on account of
the wool and other imported materials,
which amounts to more than 80 cents, as
appears by the accompanying paper, en-
titled can Exposition of the Principles
Forming the Basis OF the Present Tariff
on Manufactures of Wool" All the
protection which the manufacturer re.
ceises is included in the 81 cents, the
amount of the ad uaiorem duty at 35 per
cent.
A specific duty of 80 cents. is placed
upon all wooden cloths, without reference
to their cost. Why is this donef Sim.
ply to exclude shoddy goods. BY the
present tariff. shoddy, formerly admitted
at a duty of three cents, is practically
excluded BY a duty Of IL cents per
pound 1t was intended to exclude both
shoddy and shoddy goods. The six ar
ticles first named in the tabular State
meDt' are shoddy and almost Worthless
goods. In fact they are not imported /;
for the tariff has had the effect intended
of excluding them There is probably
no feature in the whole bill more benef
cial to the American consumer: for
these goods beng excluded, heis sup
piled with sound American cloths. With
out the present restrictions, this country
would be inundated with sho6dy goods,
thirty three and three quarters thousand
tons Of shoddy having been worked up
into so called WOODEN goods in England
ii 1866.
Wooden blankets, according to the
Statement" pay the enormous
duty of from 200 to 300 per cent The
gold cost stated for these blankets shows
conclusiyely that they are composed Of
shoddy, hair, cotton waste, or jute; for
the wool alone could not be afforded at
the prices given The blankets referred
to are of kinds which, in fact, are not
imported, and which were Intentionally
shut. out, that consumers might have
goods of sound wool. It may be fe-
marked that the wool growers were
equally strenuous with the nanufactu-
rers in urging the exclusion Of these
trashy fabrics
The same is true OF wooden hosiery,
which is alleged to pay the enormods
duty of 132 per cent Woolen hosiery;
or that purporting 70 be woolen, costing
but 81 S0per dozen. is composed of a
similar worthless material. 1t will be
found that the cases Of the apparently
duties given apply wholly to
sham and worthless fabrics, not actually
imported, and whose exclusion. 10 aaben-
eft 10 the country. The only exception
is bunting, upon which an exceptionally
high duty was placed, to prevent Aineri-
can ships from sailing under BRITISH col
ors. -......,..s-
The instances given show conclusively
that the aTabular Statement" referred to
was prepared for the purpose of mis-
leading. No such rates are, in fact-paid
by Consumers as the enormous duties
given in the .Tabular Statement, the
Goods not being imported. and being
excluded for the public benefit.
In all the cases cited in the "Tabular
Statement" the duties stated are COM
posed actually Of specific and ud rdloren,
duties. The specific duties, as before
intimated, being imposed to reimburse
the manufacturers for the duty paid On
imported materials, are of no benefit to
him; bis only protection being included
in the nearly uniform ad raIoren. duty oi
S5 per cent. Its shown in the accotna
panying Exposition of the Principles
Of the Present Tariff on Manufacturers
of Wool" p. Z, that the reimbursing ol