Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-04-19
TARIFF TALK.
The Debate on the Commission Bill
The Position OF the Democrats

Special Dispatch 10 The Register.
WASHINGTON, April lS.-Today, Kasson
announced that ne would close the debate
on the Tariff Commission Bill. this week,
and may probably succeed in doing so,
but it Is doubtful. The major portion OF
the talk of the past two weeks has been
upon the merits OF the pending bill. Mem
bers naturally feel more inclined to discuss
protection versus free trade than to debate
the dry i,,ue OF commission or no commits
sion.
Hundred> of thousands of COpie, OF the
speeches already delivered are being print
ed for special distribution. Mr.. Hewitt, it
is said, leads the list, 100000 copies of his
speech having been ordered. The
cost OF printing this number of copies
will be about s. 800. Mr.. Hewitt will
only pay for the quantity that he orders
for himself Other gentlemen have given
large orders for the speech for distribution
in their respective districts. Over 100000
copies Of Carlisles speech, $4,000 OF Dun
nelTs. 5000 of McKinley's, and many
thousands of Hasson's and Haskelrs
speeches have been ordered.
Sunset Cox, of New York, is preparing a
speech on the subject, and what he has to
saw will be- well worth listening to, for he
will undoubtedly go outside of the beaten
track. and offer something which will at
least have the merit Of being new. He fs
an ardent revenue reformer, good deal
more of a student than he has the reputa-
ton of being. and is disposed OF late years
to tone down his propensity for fun. Mr..
Cox thinks with Carlisle that revenue re-
form should be the issue upon which the
Democratic party should make the fight in
1884. He insists that the Democracy have
been led into a snare and made to take
false position before the country. This,
he saws, will not be allowed to
happen again. We shall array our
selves as q party in favor OF not only
revenue reform, but also reduction OF the
revenue to the lowest point consistent with
the raising of sum sufficient to pay the
expenses of the government, with perhaps
a fair allowance for a moderate exit notion
of the debt Our surplus for the year from
our system OF taxation, after paying all the
enormous expenses of the government.will
be something like $3.50, O,OO09O Now, there
are two evils arising from such an accumu-
latiOn: one is the enormous overtaxatiOn,
the other the tremendous incentive for
the party in power to reach out its hands
and get hold of some of that surplus. The
Democratic party wiz take time by the fore
lock. in fact will assume the offensive, and
90 to the country on this issue. We can
show the mechanics, artisans and laboring
men that the position of the ultra-protec-
tionists. which is practically the Republi-
can position. is one which simply benefits
the capitalists, while under revenue reform
both capital and labor are fairly and equita-
bly, treated.
Now those Democrats who do not pro-
pose to stand with the party on this matter
may go where they can find congenial COM
panv, and we shall not be he bullied or
bamboozled by protectionists who call
themselves Democrats We have had
enough OF this sort of thing, and next time
il will be an earnest, courageous and often
siye fight on our part. Il.