The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-10-09
THE TARIFF QUESTION.

Ah6 AhnAEE 0SA<SAA SN''
In their painful poverty Of material" fol
conducting the campaign IN favor of Garfield
the republicans, since the Hancock letter on
the subject, have been measuiably compelled
to drop the rubbish about" solid south" and
southern claims" and to make an attempt
particularly in certain localities deemed favor
able, to turn the tariff question to account in
! favor of that eminent member OF The Golden
Free Trade Club, Mr.. James A. Garfield. They
are very ingenious about this. Their regular
stumpers touch the subject gingerly and only
as we have said, IN particularly favorable 10
calltles But they put to work a lot of mis-
siOnarics of whom we have suspicion this
Mr. Tanner of Chicago, who spoke at the
court house on Thursday evening was one) to
perambulatc the country and deliver high tariff
lectures under the cloak Of non partisanshIp'
but never failing to give the democrats sly
thrusts as free traders.
Now it may be rs well to say, once for all,
that in the sense of the Golden Club of which
James A. Garfield is a member) there are quite
as few free traders among the democrats as the
republicans. Furthermore so far as the advo-
cacy of high tariff is concerned-a distinctly
protective and unreasOnnably high tariff.
democrats in congress are about as deep in the
mud as republicans are in the mire In short,
about all the New England Pennsylvania,
scattering New York, Ohio and even Georgia
democratic congressman are as sternly high
tariff men as the republican congressman,
while from New York city, the great west and
south, both democratic and republican con
gressmcn more or less favOr-not absolute free
trade, but low tariff.
Both the republican and democratic parties
are ready to admit that our present taritl-de
vlsed and enected in the midst Of the rebel
lion-is crammed full of gross faults and cru
dites, and both parties, in their national pla:
forms, seldom fail to put IN plank in favor OF
revenue reform" Mr. Tanner thinks the
present tariff is perfect and opposes reform as
slow death" Is there any sense in that?
Our present tariff includes about 1000 articles
upon $500 of which hardly dollar OF revenue
is ever collected In this list of $500 super
tluous articles are hundreds of pure steals or
bountes like that enjoyed by the famous New
Jersey owner of a chalk hill. Chalk used to
be brought to this country by empty vessels
from England as ballast and given away. A
New Jersey man found a chalk hill on his
farm and got congress to impose a duty of a
dollar ton on chalk. Since then there is no
frao OH brp,ubt frnn ahrnoI bnt 40
people of the L. 5, pay this Jersey Shylock a
bounty of 100000 year for finding chalk
hill on his farm. There are not less than 1900
equally outrageous steals in the present tariff
bill. Does not such tariff need overhauling
and reformation? France is strictly protec-
tive country yet her tariff laws embrace less
than 200 articles. England, though called a
free trade country, collects revenue of $780,
100000 year by tax on just fifteen articles
of foreign import.
Both parties IN the house at the last session
of congress united upon the passage of bill
to constitute commission of experts to over
haul the present tariff and the bill failed to
pass the senate only because it was reported to
that body at too late an hour on the night of
adjournment. The bill will doubtless be passed
by the senate within month after congress re-
assemblies, as all parties are agreed upon it..
Thus the tariff question Is out of the issue in
this contest. If, however, the two candidates
for the presidency are to be favored or opposed
on account of the tariff, Hancock, as Pennsyl.
vanian, where all parties are in favor of protec
ton, ought to be trusted by the friends Of pro
lection rather than Garfield, who not only lives
IN an agricultural region where the people are
indifferent on the subject, but Is an actual
though just now perhaps protessedly repent
ant-member of the Golden Club.