The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-06-16

IL Is becoming matter OF grave
doubt, whether the present congress
will afford the country any substantial
adequate relief from the eXaetions of
the iniluitous tariff, under which all our
commercial and industrial interests are
grooming. The condition of public
sentiment on the tariff question is SO
we'll understood however, that it is
probable there will be something Of an
effort to satisfy it, by the passage of
some one of the short bills which are
now pending, and which viii effect IA
large reduction in the duties of few
leading articles, and somewhat enlarge
the free list. This will be a sort of
club thrown to the whale" but we very
much mistake the sentiment of the
country, if it viii be satisfied with any
thing less than a complete revision Of
the whole tariff, liberal reduction Of
all duties, and proper adjustment Of
the tariff on all dutiable articles in
order that all interests may be made to
bear the proportion of the customs.
Congress has now been in session six
months and has literally accomplished
nothing, and cannot with any propriety
adjourn, until it has placed tariff, tax
alton, and finance matters generally, up
on a satisfactory basis There is a
partial division Of sentiment among re-
| publicans on the tariff question, and
considerable wrangling among them as
to the meaning Of the resolutions on
tariff matters, passed by their annual
conventions. We will not undertake to
interpret their platform for them but
if there is any justice in considering
the action of political party for the
purpose Of discovering its true position
on any question, the fact that the re-
publican party is a high tariff party
and that, when forced to 4 plain and
uncquivocal declaration of its position
it viii so ayow itself, is scarcely omen
t. dispute. For the present tariff with
all its odious and oppressive provisions.
and all It's demoralizing and paralyzing
effects upon the commerce and industry
Of the country, is the work of the re-
publican party. In Its support of a
high tariff, it has gone to greater
lengths, and pushed duties to further
extreme, than the old Wing party ever
dared to dream of. The history of the
Republican party in favor of the most cx-
trcme rates of duty, is written in the
same indclible characters, IN which the
history of the Democratic party on the
question of negro suffrage is preserved
If the republican party ever sue
cecds in closing the eyes of the
public to ITS past record On the tariff
question, which has been so conspicu-
ous and decided, it will only be by re-
forms of a more general sweeping char
acter than any it at present seems likely
to inaugurate.
The republican party cannot plead
lack OF information, as an excuse for
not completing a revision of the tariff,
for the report of special commissioner
Wells, and the Investigations of the
house committee on commerce and ship
ping, have given full information on thr
subject Of the unequal and oppressive
operation of the tariff laws, and the ex-
tent to which they have embarrassed
and crippled commerce and industry
OF the twenty thousand skilled work.
men, employed in and around New
York few years ago in the copstuc--
ton and fitting out of ships, not one
thousand are now employed, and of the
wo thousand apprentices, not one hur-