Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-11-18
WHAT TIE TARIFF TIMERS WANT.

Protect10nlstS realize Jnat at the present
rate of paying off the public debt, it will
be entirely got rid of in e few years, and
this prospect fills them with alarm, for they
know that when there is no longer any
| debt it will be impossible for them to resist
the popular demand for the abolition OF
import duties. So they are now advocat.
ing the removal of the principal internal
revenue taxes, knowing that if this is done
the payments of the public debt will be
reduced to such small dimensions that ii
will take at least several generations to
discharge the remainder of it. A great
many false pretenses are being put forward
to justify this programme. By some of its
defenders it is boldly asserted, as of old, that
ga national debt is national blessing.
This is doctrine analogous in all points to
that which was held by the fox who had
lost his tail. That sagacious animal en-
deavored to persuade his unmutilsted fell
lows that the condition to which cruel
trap had reduced him possessed advantages
of the highest order, and that no fox who
understood his own interest would con-
tinue to carry so cumbrous an appendage
as tail, when he could get rid of it. Just
so our Protectionist friends are echoing
the old English absurdity about the great
benefits of national debt. They say that
il is necessary to have such debt because
without it the national banks could find
no sound securities for their circulation,
and that without it there would be no
safety for trust-fund investments. They
also assert that they are deeply concerned
because of the burden of taxation which
the poor dear people are bearing, and they
argue, as has been argued before, that this
generation ought not to take upon itself
the entire liquidation of the debt, but
should leave something to be done by its
successors.
None of these arguments are new, and
none off them will stand examination. As
regards the national banks, it is perfectly
clear that it is within the capacity of Con-
press to devise some other form of security
after the debt has been paid, and even if
this was not so, the banks could have no
claim upon the country for the sacrifice
proposed in their behalf. The same an
swer will suffice for the argument in re-
gard to trust-fulds, and it may also be
suggested that since the country managed
to get along well enough without ma.
tional debt before the war, it is likely to
experience no greater difficulties hereafter.
And it is necessary to point out that the
assertion that the people are demanding
any reduction of the federal taxes is an en-
tirely unwarrantable assumption. There is
absolutely no evidence for it. The people
have net made movement in the matter
On the contrary, it is thoroughly ascer-
tanned fact that the people desire the debt
to be extinguished as quickly as possible,
and are perfectly willing to bear the neces-
sary taxation. The national assent to the
rapid payment of the debt has indeed been
so emphatically given that it may be re-
garded as an essentially American doc
trine. The idea of permanent debt has
at no time found favor in this country, and
in view of the success which has accom-.
panied the plan of quick payment there is
not the slightest probability that the pub
lie will change their minds in this matter.
The proposal to abolish the internal
revenue taxes ia moreover vicious one,
apart from its bearings upon the general
fiscal policy of the country. The in
ternal revenue taxes upon whisky and
tobacco and beer, for instance, are among
the most indispensable of all imposts. They
would perhaps yield larger revenues if they
were somewhat reduced, since, in the case
of whisky at least, the high tax acts as a
of various kinds. There are some smaller
internal taxes which might be dispensed
with, since they are vexatious, and do not
return any considerable revenue. Bat the
general scheme of internal taxation pro-
duces very large revenue in the easiest
possible way, and therefore constitutes the
most desirable form Of taxation. The
Protectionists, however, are trying to di-
vert public attention from questions which
they fear the agitation of, by proposing
these radical changes. What they really
want we have already shown. They are
not concerned fer the people. They seek,
on the contrary, to compel the people to
contribute indefinitely to the support of
industries which they have been pretending
for half century only needed help in their
infancy, but which it is now evident they
desire to bolster up permanently.
Now all these import taxes are ulti-
mately borne by the producers, and they
cannot have any protection. Their pro-
gress in fact is retarded, and their earnings
are taken from them, to pay other people
for investing in naturally improbable un-
dertakings. But this is not the worst.
Liz L 1IOLSSblO4IStS, huSh dSAco w SllOH
what their favorite system has done for
them, are wont to point to the growth of
manufactures. But If these manufactures
have now reached a self-supporting condi-
ton, they cannot longer need protection !;
and if after all these years they still need
help, it is evidently useless to try to estab-
lish them. In either case the tariff is a
rank imposition upon the producers, and
is without rational apology. The Protec-
tionists are absurdly inconsistent, also.
They are always clamoring for more sup
port, yet they are always asserting that
they are prospering. Both these positions
cannot be true, or if both are true it fol-
lows that the exactions of the tariff are
no better than highway robbery. The
Tariff Convention is assembled for the
furtherance of sinister and mischievous
purposes. 1t is an impudent attempt to
hoodwink the American people, and make
them consent to their own robbery. The
national programme must be, quick ex-
tinction of the public debt, maintenance of
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