The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1880-03-26
AN TRACE AND A FARCE.

From the Detroit Free Press of March It,
The appearance before the Committee on
! Ways and Means. al Washington, OF two Con
gressmen interested in monopoly which they
wan perletuated by a tariff, is at once an
outrage and farce. These two members are
Mr.. Miller. OF New York. and Mr. Russell, OF
Massachusetts They are the chief manufac-
turers OF wood pulp in this country, one OF
tie large ingredients OF paper, and which is
protected by tariff OF twenty per cent. 1t Is
almost wholly a protective tariff, for the an
nuii revenue thereof has scarcely ever ex
ceeded an average Ct over $3.50. Some years
j; has been nothing.
The article was IN 1862 put on the free list
by act OF Congress, but either through over
sight or rascaI!ty, line reading dried pulp
twenty per cent" va, left in the act and since
1879. owing to stupid or cunning order Of
Secretary Boutwell,. It has been bected to
duty.
Owing to the tariff, as Mr.. Russell himself
confessed he has derived an annual income as
high as 100000 or 100000 from the manu-
facture OF pager and wood pulp. 1t is so vau
able TO him that he said before the Committee
on Ways and Means that no matter what the
newspapers say, be will defend his personal
Interests at all hazards, even II he suffered
politically therefrom. That Is to say, what
ever he can do to toice the American people
TO pay him twenty cents profit on every dol
lar OF bis goo1s, he intends to do. He will use
MS position and his influence as a member
OF Congress 10 extort that twenty cents
he will, rather than lose the opportunity OF
taking hundreds aud thousands OF dollars a
year out OF peoples pockets. forfeit the re-
spect OF his constituents and the respect OF
hs fellow citizens. They may think him a
robber who prostitutes the position which
their votes have gwen him in demanding q
double 1.-THE, but the double 1.-THE he will have,
no matter how shameful the display OF greed.
how d.sgraceful hls effrontery. And Miller.
BIS colleague IN the business Of calling upon
tic people OF the United States TO stand and
deliver argued n the same way both together
presenting spectacle OF brazsn avarice that is
an outrage upon decency and the rights OF the
community on whose pockets and purses they
make such audacious assaults.
II IS farce, too recognized by such by
members OF the committee. who eli there APP
parently only to grant these monopolists
cnauce to DEFY the representatives OF tho
American people to touch their prerogatiyes
Or weaken the iron-clad protection which a
quibblin5 finance minister threw about them
after Congress had taken it down One mem
Der Of the committee, Mr.. Mills OF Texas. Lad
the rgh; minded impotence and the irritated
aud righteous courage 10 say that /. was a
foolish waste OF time 10 sit there and listen for
hours to the plea for protection from two or
three men whose millions depend upon this
extcrion. while the committee hears moth
ing in favor OF the people OF the United States
who have sent hundreds and thousands OF
petitions praying for reduction OF this un-
necessary tax
In the scales used there, two men. whose
swollen bank accounts attest the iniquity OF
the tax which pours the money into their iills.
outweigh the demand of hundreds and thous
ands OF men whose daily bread is made dearer
by the outrage and the farce enacted there.
1t is not the rich, strong journals and publish
ers OF the cities that suffer most from If. II
Is men struggling for a living, the Door who
buy school-books, The small tradesmen who use
paper in scores OF ways, that are the principal
victims of this outrage and this farce.
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