Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-02-01
THE. TARIFF.
The Ne.r Bill Prepared by the House Com
,nSffoO

The Ne.r BilIPrepared bu the House Cons
7nittee.
TIE subcommittee of the House commit
tee on ways and means, of which Mr.. Wood
of New York, is chairman, has completed
the tariff bill which it has had under consid-
Grafton for two months, and the full COM
mittee has entered upon its discussion. The
bill proposes general reduction of tariff
rates, arranging about twenty per cent, but
with no change in the rates of manufactured
articles of luxury. Compound duties are en-
tirely dispensed with, the duties being
either all specific or all ad
ralorem and specific when ever
practicable. The number of articles
upon which duties are to be imposed is re-
reduced from about 1000 to about 500. The
free list is not given in the bill but it is pro-
vided that no duties shall be levied upon ar
ticles not enumerated as dutiable. To this
rule there are some exceptions, one being
clause especially exempting steam plows and
other steam machinery for farming from
any duty. The schedules and classifcations
of the present tariff are followed
but are abbreviated and simplifed. The
intention in framing the bill, according to
Its authors, has been to increase the revenue
while lessening the cost of collection; to en-
courage foreign trade without detriment to
the productive interests of the country: and
to dispense with duties which neither direct
ly nor indirectly add to the income of the
national treasury.
The plan followed appears to have been to
endeavor to compensate the hitherto pro-
tected industries of the country for the re-
duction of rates affecting them by reduc-
tons and exemptions upon imports useful
or necessary to those industries Another
compromising feature of the bill is in sec
| ton giving to manufacturers the privilege of
obtaining raw materials, otherwise dutiable,
free of duty on condition of exporting the
manufactures This provision in the present
tariff has been Of especial importance to
with the discriminating duties upon sugars
of different qualities has operated to put
nearly all the sugar importation of the coun-
try into the hands of the refners, while de-
| priving our markets of the best grades of
common and unrefned sugar which used to
be largely consumed in preference to the
| highly refined grades. To the encourage
ment which our ship building interests are
supposed to derive from the prohibition of
foreign built vessels in our naviga-
ton laws, this bill proposes to add
the privilege Of importing ship building ma
terials Of all kinds free Of duty. The duty
on iron is materially reduced. The du-
ty on wheat is reduced to fifteen cents. The
changes of duty on woods as on most arti-
cles which are raw material of manufacture
ers, are in favor of the manufacturers, but
the reduction on manufactured goods are
not such as will much benefit the consuming
classes in the direct way of lowering prices
/ to them.
All in all, the bill is not one that will be
satisfactory to either free traders or protec-
tionists But it is promised by Mr.. Wood
on the authority of estimates furnished by
treasury experts, that it will give an increase
of $17,O0O,OOO in the revenue, while re-
ducing the cost of collection by more than
$4,000, 0O0-an aggregate gain of $21 ,O00,
900 as compared with last year. The bill
will be under discussion by the committee
for two weeks or more, before being reported
to the House, and in that time it will doubt
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