The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-06-27
TuE LATE TARIFF BILL.


The leading Republican paper of the
northwest, the Chicago Tribune, don't
like the defeat Of the Wood Tariff bill,
and says: m tH
Under all circumstances, the wonder
ought to be that the bill was defeated,
but that it could find in such House as
many as l20 men intelligent and honest
enough to vote for it.
at is said that the Western Republi'
cans who voted in opposition to the bill,
set aside the wishes of their constituents
who generally favor low duties, and they
may find in their coming contests for re-
nomination and reelection an ugly Gus
toner in their way, in their votes against
the Wood bill. We look to see the tar
ilT question become lively factor in pol
itics at an early day"
The New York correspondent of the
Philadelphia Ledger, who generally
knows what he is writing about, says it
is The current talk that the worst enc
mics the bill had were not the Protec.
tionists, but certain New York Congress-
men, who, jealous of the influence Wood
might obtain il it were a success, worked
secretly to upsetit. The New York Her
AID has this to say about the defeat of the
bill, and it seems both sensible and
truthful;
Mr.. Woods mistake consisted in his
expectation that those features Of the
bill which are Of conceded excellence
would buoy up the others which were Of
more doubtful expediency, and float the
measure through as q whole. This proves
to have been mistaken calculation. Mr.
Wood might have been more successful
il he had merely framed a bill for sim
plifying the absurdly cumbrous customs
laws, for reducing them TO system and or
der, substituting single duties for double
duties on the same article, discarding the
custom houses where the amount collect
ed does not pay expenses, and put on
the free list numerous articles which
make no substantial addition to the rev
enue, Such bill would have combined
the points of undisputed excellence in
the bill which has been slaughtered, and
it might easily have been passed at this
session, The credit of these wise re-
forms of admitted utility would have
strengthened the influence of Mr.. Wood,
and made it easier for him to have car
ried through a subsequent bill at the
next session, changing the rates of duty
on important articles. Mr.. Wood has
accomplished nothing because he under
took too much.
Under the present scale of duties on
sugars, the Governmentloses three or four
millions annually, which goes into the
pockets of wealthy refners or importers,
Wood proposed to remedy thrs, and Sec
retary Sherman, stealing his thunder,
was anxious to get bill through for the
same purpose, but the subject was not
touched again. The Herald'S idea about
tariff reform is the correct one. Mr.
Wood attempted to carry too big load
and so failed in everything, The N. Y
Evening Post closes some rather heated
comments on this Wood bill as follows
The worst aspect of the whole matter
is that Congress, by defeating this bill,
only proongs the agony and the sacrif
ces of our merchants. Tariff reform is
and everybody knows it.
Every body knows, too, that tariff tinker
ing is a sure and serious injury to trade,
which ought not to be feature of every
session Of Congress, By passing the
present bill, Congress could very readily |
have stopped the injurious tariff agita.
lion for probably several years, but they
have chosen to protract it. John Rorch |
can get his subsidy, and we can sill af-
ford to pay men to trade for us; but it
seems we cannot afford to cast down un.
natural obstacles to trade, so as to allow
men to engage in commerce that is self |
reliant and permanent. We can pour
our dollars into one end of the pipe, and |
must then, forsooth, marvel that they |
run out while the other end is open.