Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1878-05-03
rsssees,en 60 American wines.

now bringing strong pressure TO
bear upon the Congress Of the
United States 10 obtain such modi-
ications of our tariff as will facili-
tate the importation into the
United States of French wines and
silks. Both of these staples, it will
be observed, are dlsti nctively arti-
cles Of luxury and not necessity.
We think that there are multi
tude of reasons which should impel
Congress to retain or increase the
tariff on both, and to remit 1t on
articles of prime necessity. The
people of Los Angeles county are,
In particular. interested in the
tariff on wines, and they should
take instant steps to memorabilia
Congress through Mr.. Wigginton
and the rest of the California dele
cation In favor Of retaining and
Increasing the tariff on luxury
which is partaken of almost solely
BY the rich. The tariff. as it will
probably be enacted by the present
Congress, imposes duties ranging
from forty to seventy cents and one
dollar and fifty cents gallon, ac-
cording to quality, taking the
whole range of sparkling wines
and brandies. We heartily hope
that, in the interest Of this grow
ing home industry, these rates will
be increased. California members
Of Congress, ut least, should strive
to have them increased. Even
from the point of temperance 1t
will be happy thing for the peo-
pie Of the United States when the
heavy alcoholic liquors now in
vogue shall BIZ replaced by light
California wines.
tits now over forty years since
protection for American manufac.
lures was invoked by Henry Clay
on the ground that they were in
their infancy. They have remained
In their infancy ever since, and
they would continue to do so in
definitely II the wearing of swad-
ding clothes would help them any.
Hundreds, even thousands of mill
lions of dollars, have been
poured into the Golfers of
New England and Pennsyl.
vania through protective tariffs
on articles of the first neces-
sity to the poor. This protection
has taxed the poor for the benefit
OF the rich. Hon. Fernando Wood,
Of New York, in a speech delivered
in Congress on the 9th of April,
showed, in a luminous manner,
how this tariff, devised by the rich
for the benefit of their own class,
has operated on the impoverished
consumer. We quote from the
Congressional Record:
The farmer, whose whole mind
il bent on his agricultural pursuits,
has neither the time nor opportu-
nifty 10 investigate the influence of
the tariff tax on his household ex-
pepses; 1t is a fact, however, that
every article he uses is either di-
rectly subject to tariff tax or en-
HANGED by the tariff. Let US emu
merate these burdens: The farm
er's house in the West, where lum-
Der is scarce, pays either u direct
or enhanced tax of 20 per cent. on
the lum Der his house is built Of;
tax of 80 per cent. on the paint it is
painted with; OF 90 per cent. on his
window glass; of 80 per cent. on
the nails; of SO per cent. on the
screws; of 80 per cent. on the door
locks; Of from So to 40 per cent. on
the hinges; of IS per cent. on the
wall paper; Of from go to 20 per
cent. on his carpet; of 40 per cent.
on his crockery; OF 80 per cent. on
his iron hollow ware; of IS per cent.
on his cutlery; of 40 per cent. on his
glassware; of from IS to 40 per cent.
on the linen he uses in the house,
hold; Of 81 per cent. on the COM
mon CASTLE soap he uses; of 40 per
cent. on the starch. When he goes
into his stable, barn or workshop
he will find that he pays 80 per
cent. on the iron he uses; SO per
cent on the halter chains; As per
cent. on the files and rasps he may
use; Al per cent. on the bucksaw;
40 per cent. on cross cut saw; 3S per
cent. on the handsaw, and 35 per
cent. on any sheet iron he may re-
quire. On his mediciues he pays
20 per cent; on the quinine pills
he swallows, 20 per cent; OH blue
pile, 40 per cent, aud 40 per cent.
on any medicinal preparations.
The female portion Of bis house
cannot even go into hysteria with
ont paying tax of 20 per cent. on
asof@tida that may be required to
quiet their excited nerves. On his
sugar he pays a tax of at least 81
per cent. AS for the clothing he
and his family uses, let me emu.
merate the tax separately: On his
wool hat he pays from 60 to so per
cent; on his fur hat, from As to 60
per cent; on his suit OF wooden
clothes some So per cent; on the
leather for his boots aud shoes, %
per cent; on his hosiery, 80 per
cent; on his wife's and daughters
common alpaca dress he pays 65 to
20 per cent; on spool thread, 20 per
cent, and on the needles, 80 per
cent. If | were inclined to pursue
these topics further 1t would take
up too much time; suffice it to say
that the furnishing of his child's
cradle and tho coffin In which he is
finally buried pay n direct tax or
are enhanced In price by our tariff
system.
In The case of wines the matter is
entirely different. The tax is RI