The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-10-27
THE TARIFF QUESTION.

press of the country. This letter, in our
opinion, Is the weakest document, or express
sion of sentiment, that has emansted from
General Hancock. The plank in the plat
form enuncated at Cincinnati which treats
of the question has the right ring to it.
Genuine democracy favors tariff only for
revenue. Protection, that is to say II tariff,
intended to give to the manufacturers Of
this country monopoly in their different
lines of industry, is odious to the genius Of
our government. 1t is, in its nature. class
legislation, legislation that fosters and builds
up the few to the detriment of the interests
of the many. There are within this union
now fifty millions Of people, and
OF these not one thousanth part
are interested in manufactures,
while the remainder are interested in low
prices for articles OF primo necessity, of con-
vouience or of TASTE. Why should nine hun
drei and ninety-nine American citiz ms be
forced to pay ten cents q yard for domestic
by protective tariff simply because one
man owns cotton mill fhe present tariff
system was conceived and inahgurated in
1861, just when tho late war had begun to
spread its red banner of death and desoation
over the land, and was intended then, il WIS
claimed, to meet some OF the exigencies of
the war. The United States government
stood in need of great sum of money which
must be speedily raised, ard the tariff SEIZED.
ule of that day. which is substantially the
one that now obtains, was hastily and
crudely prepared and put into force. For If
teen years tho war has been at an end, and the
necessities that it created have ceased long
ago to exist, and the tariff system that could
be tolerated fifteen, eighteen and twenty years
prior TO this era of prosperity and Of
advancement and Of peace has become in
consistent, absurd and destructive of our
commerce and Of many Industries which it
bosstingly pretends to promote. When
first this tariff schedule WAS eliminated from
the profound crania of the committee on
ways and MEANS, it contained great string
of taxes levied for nothing but to Offset the
internal revenue taxes, which were ut the
same time imposed upon nearly every pro-
duct of homo industry. Since the war has
been over, these latter taxes, save those on
liquors and tobacco, have been removed, but
the tariff taxes are maintained; he CO it
follows that the country in time Of peace is
paying war taxes, the necessity whereof
vanished rs the sound of hostile cannon died
away never again to be heard between the
.actions of this country, and this too in the
face of the fact that the treasury has an
nually receipts of 100000, 900 in excess of
the expenditures of the government
as cut. down by democratic congress. This
high tariff is species of unnecessary taxes;
then is it not taxes that increase the cost of
everything that the people wear, eat and
drink Many man and woman and tender
little child in this bright land of ours, this
land of boosted plenty, and of the equality
of the people under the laws, goes hungry
and cold in the winter because of the grievous
burthen of the tariff laws which places the
cost of food and of clothing at so high a
figure that all their wants cancot be
supplied. To further illustrate the
odiousness of this republican protective tar
i'll, let us examine Ms TO one item, and an
item too, in which the entire people are inter-
ested, and the poor especially. The t. riff on
blankets is twenty cents pound and twenty
five per cent. ad valorem. No man knows
how much this tax in the aggregate is, further
than that it is fully one hundred per cent. on
cost Of the blankets, This tax was made
this way purposoly that the people might not
! be able to tell how much it was. With this
duty on blankets, what is the ctnse Quence
We cannot give a better idea Of it than by the
statement, the figures being official, that the
total revenue derived from the importation Of
blankets during the year 1879, was 81, 233
willie { o enhancement in the valueof blank
cts in this country reached .$20000,00O
AT whose C was this enhancement in the
value of Americans made blankets? Was il
not ut the cost of the great masses of The
people who have to buy blankets to keel
warm in winter? Who prohted by ii? Tn,
favored few who own wooden mills in thi
country. Is there any justice in this? Il
there any equality under the law of tn
land? Not only are the people robbed by
being made to pay higher price for blank
cts, ono Of the necessities of their lives, t
enrich in this wise n few men, than they
ought to pay, and would have to pay i
blankets we're not dutiable or only so t
the extent of paying reasonable revenue
bat by reason of the high tariff, the govern
ment is deprived of legitimate revenue i
should receive from the importation of thi
commodity, and the people are forced to pa
, a double taxation, for this revenue must b
made up to the government. There are hur
dreds of other items of just as much impoi
lance as this one, which we might instanc,
This is not the whole of the evil; since W,
} cannot import much we cannot export mucl
r for If we do not buy of the nations of tn
. Garth their nroduots thew will not ha nhle I