Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-03-29
senator Morrill, ON the TariN.


Senator Nouill Of Vermont, sFlke on Che
/ Tsrif Bill. in the Senate, on Wednesday isst
His ,iews On tariff aud revenue questions aiTays
carry weight, and be wss listened to, ss usu'l,
with close and respectful attention.
Mr.. Morrill, remarked tina; the generally
healthy condition Of trade snd its comparative
freedom from disastrous fluctuations must be a.
trbu,ed mainly 90 the fact that war tariff has
offered Irresistible inducements 70 labor. The
elasticity Of the American people is shown ia cur
railroads. largely built within the last decade at
cost. up TO January /, 1871, Of S2.6-9,0Jo,-
600. Ito this vast sum We add the co't Of the
recent vsr. II viii smouut to one half the pres
ent assessed value Of the entire property Of tie
Uuitel S-stes. And Jet We have already demon
s.la,ei that our national debt. though among the
largest, will be cxtinguishei al much earlier
isv than that, however small, Of sny govern
ment in Europe Even cur present financial
difficulty is with our surplus revenue The
problem is, Whist shall We DO with the excess
above what we want for ordinary expenses and
proper dimnutioa Of the putic debt: The
Senator conceded tia; the revenue may be t2ie-
ly reduced to the extent of fifty millions That
granted the remaining question is one Of detail.
Nobody expects The perpetual continuance Of
the extreme duties impose! during war, and
nobody is ready to insult the country with the
direct proposition Of free trade. The fact that
heretofore we have reduced taxation mainly by
the removal Of internal revenue duties, points cut
those duties as most onerous to the people.
The lichtest weight which can be imposed
through internal taxes is fs.t to he more oppres
siye than the heaviest tariff The internal tsxes
have answered great ns;iCnsl purpose, and
will econ be dirmssed with the exception Of
those on tobacco, cigars, spirits, malt liquors,
and possibly stamps We shsll then have part
ed with one half our surplus, aud have S25,-
100000 more that can be spared from the tariff
In considering reductions Of the tsrid, Mr..
Morrill, took the ground that it cannot he sudden
" and largely reduced upon the great bulk of
our lmportations True, said he, We are earn
estly trying to diminish our expenditures, cut
ting e every excrescence possible but still the
tariff must remsin as cur chief resource, and as
such it must be pruued by careful and tender
hands. The dead branches msy be Topped
of but the parties who are bindly flnging
their tomah.Wks at the trunk deserve TO be put
in charge Of the Quaker commissioners now Ia
., zach ha Tn1iops tho IF nercp -
Mr.. Morrill, raid there is almos; universal
consent that : long list Of articles. producing
only iuconsidefable sums Of revenue, and rare
" produceable in our own country, thal be
transferred to the free list. Yet this list stops
far short of what the committee anticipated, be-
cause Of the surprising alertness Of American
thrift Hardly an item could be proposed to be
translated to the free Int before it would be
found that somewhere in our broad country it
had home and dilgeut nursing, leading to the
conviction that no foundlings sic tolerated in
American trade Ofcsses like this the Senator
mentioned the following
For instance, the committee hsd supposed that |
our emery came exclusively from Turkey |
none two years ago being known TO exist in this /
country--but we soon struck the solid grit Of |
the owners of the emery mine in Hsmpden /
county, Massachusetts, which, since 1863, has |
furnished an unrivaled qusity Of emery, and in |
sufficient abundance to supply the world. The |
price, in consequence, has gone down from eight |
cents TO five cents per pound
1t wss proposed to place phosphorus on the
free list-s pound Of which lie used for the fuse 4
Of six hundred thousand lucifer mstches-but |
10 Jerseyu an has just embarked sill the earn
iugs Of msture life in this one venture Of max
ing phosphorus, and might succeed if left alone,
giving to us besides cheaper article. 1t was
solved not tie perplex him by fear Of change, and
the committee ilumined his path By still saying,
- Let your light shine"
Anthony wss smother of these supposed or
phaus that we hardly thought had any home, or |
that anybody would seek to give it protection in
this country, especially it is the base Of tar
tar emetic, q nxuseous dose; but the Pacific |
Railroad, opening the way to Nevada, there dis |
closed q mine Of wonderful richness, which |
promises, with only the ten per cent. duty here |
tofore attached to it, soon to send along supplies
at price at leas' quarter less than that now |
prevailing.
Sumac, from the bark Of which tannin and |
coors are made, prior to 1861 was brought here |
entirely from abroad. Recently it has been !