Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-05-22
MCKENZIE ON TORACCCO .IHT-
PORTS.

carrying through the house the RI
peal of the prohibitory tax on qu
nine. He has now taken in han
the crushing imports on the sale {
leaf tobacco, and incidentally de
nounces the invincible obstructio
offered by the committee on way
and means to tariff reform. Hi
speech is of sufficient Importance t
deserve printing as whole, omit
ting Interruptions:
The house being in committee of tn
whole, and having under consideration tn
| bill (H. r. No. 4Sl2) to amend the laws i
relation to internal revenue and the follow
ing amendment offered by Mr.. Mckenzie:
tTAdd as new section the following:
".That the producers of leaf tobacco Shal
be allowed, without the payment of an tax
to sell leaf-tObacco, the product OF their owl
lands or of lands of which they are the ten
ants or IesSees, to other than licensed deal
they do not sell exceeding one thousand
dollars worth in any one year
Mr.. Mckenzie said:
Mr.. CHAIRMAN: / want to say {
word in regard to this amendment
The house will bear me witness thai
l have not exhausted much of its
time; and while feeling that have
but little claim to its attention,
shall venture to ask its indulgence
when a measure of such importance
to my people is before the commit
tee. / think it about time this
house was legislating in the interest
of the farming class of this country
We have devoted ourselves for d
long period of time to the cOnsidera-
tion of bills in the interest of manu-
facturers, in the interest of the pro-
tected industries, in the interest Of
holders of the public securities oi
the United States, but we have not
devoted q single hour since this
congress assembled tothe. considera-
ton of any measure that looks to
the betterment of the condition OF
the farming class.
/ represent on this floor a district
that produces. more tobacco than
any similar geographical area in the
world, and | want my people and
the producers of tobacco everywhere
to have the liberty to sell it to
Whomsoever they please, just as the
producers of the west are allowed to
sell their corn, wheat and other
products. | claim that no gentle
man on this floor would contend
that corn, wheat, rye, oats, or any
other product of the soil, should be
taxed and invidiously disc. minated
against as is this great product
which pays nearly $4,000, 900 per
annum into the treasury. Nostaple
on earth pays so much revenue, and
still the producer is paid but little,
if any, more than the bare cost of
production. The total value of the
tobacco crop of the United States is
about $4,000, 900, at least this is all
the planter gets for it. Now let us
see what amount of revenue this
crop yields for purposes of govern
ment, not alone in this country but
in Europe:
United 900 600
England. 53,U09U0O
France....... 3O,000,0O0
Italy ...-..-. Zz,OOO,VO0
ustrla.- d9'000o00 00
= pam ZOsuOOOOO
Thus giving a total revenue de-
rived from American tobaccos of
$163, 900, 600. So, Mr.. Chairman, it
can he seen that a crop which only
brings the producer so, 900, 900 pays
nearly eight times that amount in
revenue TO the different govern
ments | have enumerated. Think
of the manifest Injustice of crippling
an industry that pays such an
amount of revenue as this. While
we are protecting everybody else,
for Gods sake let us protect the
producer of tobacco, at least to the
extent of allowing him to sell what
his own muscle and labor has pro-
duced wherever pleases, to whom
soever he pleases, and for the best
price he can get.
Under the operation of the pres
ent law requiring a license to pur-
chase the raw product, the licensed
tobacco buyers of kentucky in the
great markets of Louisville, Hop
OWensborOugh, Hender-
son and other places are mOnopo-
lists in the purchase of that article.
The farmer producing it is not
allowed to exchange it with his
either in the payment of
debts, or in exchange for any other
of which he may be in
need. I desire to ask in all candOr
and fairness why may not corn,
wheat, oats rye, and all the great
of the west be ediScriminated
against as this great product is dis
againt under the opera
ton of our present revenue system?
What the people of my district and
the people of Kentucky and the
of tObaceO everywhere
want is the privilege of selling to-
bacco unrestricted by invidious
revenue laws.
That is the fair principle. 1t APP
plies to the products of Kansas, the
products. of the great west, and
should apply to all the products of
the district which | have the honor
to represent.
This house has legislated in the
interest of manufacturers, bankers,
bond holders, and protected monop-
Olies long enough. Let us. call
halt. Let us legislate at least to the
extent of one small amendment in
the interests of the people who pay
Of all the taxes, who
fight the battles of the country
whenever it is menaced by war,
and who constitute the hope and
the stay of the republic.
Mr.. Chairman, quite number of
US here have during this session en-
deavored to secure some legislation
in the interest Of the people, but
every such effort has come to naught.
There are two places of interment
in this house in which all legislation
looking to a reform In our revenue
or custom duties is buried. One is
the gorgeous mausOleum of the
ways aud means committee, a tomb
as magnificent as that which Arte-
misia built at Halnarnassus to the
memory of Mausolus, and the other
is the calendar of this house.
A member introducing a bill here
can decide whether he prefers to
have it buried with that sort of
splendid interment which the ways
and means afford, pr that it should
go TO the calendar, which is tie pot
ter's-field of legislation. Laughter
and applause.
/ desire to repeat that the gentle
man who introduces any legislation
here proposing a revision of the tar
iff, or any other matter affecting the
revenues Of the government, has the
privilege Of decidmg-and that is
the only poor privilege he docs
have-Whether it shall be buried in
that tomb presided over by the gen.
tIeman from New York Mr.. Fer
nando Wood1, or whether ii shall