The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-02-24

that the national elasticity Of the revenue, as
Mr.. Wells calls it, Is good for an annual gain
OF about fifteen millions, and that every judi
cious reduction develops revenue from unseen
sources, they claim our ability to take of sew
enty-five or eighty millions again. Some taxes
they would reduce, others-like the offensive,
unrepublican income tax-they would abolish
altogether. They would shift tho gen.
eral burden Of taxation from articles of neces-
sity and utility to articles OF luxury like
] tobacco and spirits. With regard to customs
duties, they bear in mind the fact that England
now raises larger revenue on forty-four arti-
cles than she did in 1910 by her duties on
! 1,163 articles. and they propose TO materially
abridge our own dutable list, az we'll as to
lower the general scale. They think 1t Is better
to get all the duty that is due, even If il is
nominally lower, than to lose part through
smuggling, which Is bad for the Government,
bad for legitimate trade, and bad for the NOR
ais Of the people. They want to see dnties
raised, as far as possible, from articles which
are not produced IN this country, for thereby
the Government gets all that the people lose
through the enhanced price; while in regard to
articles the like Of which are produced here,
the usual effect Of high duty ID to lot the
home manufacturer profit by the increased
expense to the people, the Government getting
but little. and, if the duty is prohibitory, get
ting nothing. prohibitory duty is not rev.
enue expedient at all, and It never ought to be
called SO. It may be a process OF national
advantage in some instances, but it ought to
be seen for just what it is. Let us glance at
the interesting case Of pig.iron. Such iron is
finished product to the smelter, but to hun
dreds Of other manufacturers-to the ship
builder, the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, the nail maker,
the cutler, the machinist. and others almost
innumeTable-it ID in the nature Of raw mate
rial Of decisive importance in the prosecution
Of their several trades. The higher, Of course,
pig-iron can be sold, the better for the smelter,
but the worse for al these others. AS they are
all competing for this product, they naturally
tend to keep the price up to q fair living stand
ard. Why then, should the Government step
one Of their thousands?
Now if we look round among the manufactu-
ring industries Of the country, do We not find
nearly all suffering because some one or two
articles Of PRIME importance-lke salt to the
fisherman, lumber to the builder, IRON to tho
shipbuilder. wool to the carpet-maker-are so
heavily protected, that is. raised in price, that
competition with foreign manufacturers is diff
fcult or impossibe? Hence business Ian
cuisines, the cost Of subsistence keeps up, the
masses live from hand to month, and the nee
essary revenues-to say nothing of SURPRISES
come hard. The Revenue Reformers pro-
pose to change this by the adoption Of policy |
aimed at the encouragement Of the utmost |
amount Of business that oda be done in the !
country, and at raising the purchasing value |
Of cages: being fully persuaded tina. our fnan-
cial burdens will bear lightly while they last,
and will soon cease to be recognized as bur-
dens at ALL
But what is the political programme OF this
new SCHOOL, Is it necessary to get up a new
party, in order to have the best style OF guns
supplied to the navy, or to improve the civil
service, or to reform our Indian policy3 1t is
u question SIMPLY OF the application OF sound
economic principles and common sense to our
financial situation; and every member Of Con-
gress who has arrived at mature views will vote
accordingly as he has opportunity, without re-
gard to party relations The principles of the
Revenue Reformers are not set down, or
touched upon, IN either OF the platforms Of the
last Presidential campaign; and We doubt If
they will get into the next ones, for we trust
that by that time they will be accepted and
acted upon as a matter Of course.