Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-04-01
rha rarin Termination RrlI.

TUESDAY pIONlulhS lOI o SOAnLhissAOA
of nine members to be appointed by
the President and confirmed by the SEN
ate, whose duty it shall be to investigate
thoroughly the question of tariff re-
vision, and report their conclusions to
Congress not later than the first Monday
in January, 1888, can certainly not be
regarded a satisfactory measure. The
objections thereto are manifold. In the
first place, it is clearly the duty OF Con-
gress alone to deal with the subject OF
the tariff. Power to do so is vested by
the Constitution only in that body, and
it is a poor commentary upon the wisdom
and craftsmanship of men aspiring to I'LL
such important positions as members OF
the Federal Legislature, that they are so
unfamiliar with the conditions of our
present cumbersome and unjust tariff
sy stem, and so little understand the in
terests of the people in so vital matter,
that they must delegate their constltu-
tlonal powers TO a set of men empowered
to instruct them so that they may better
understand their duty. 1t is strange that
the United States Senate should have
ever been willing to make Sc humiliating
q confession.
In the next place, giving the President
the power to nominate to the Senate the
members of the commission, virtually
places it in the power of that official
and the Senate to defeat any revision OF
the tariff whatever. Should the Presi-
dent favor, as he doubtless does. the
protected manufacturers of the North,
who have grown immensely wealthy
from the enormous profits secured them
by our protective system, how easy will
it be for him to nominate only such men
for the commission as he knows are
friends of the monopolists. and how easy
it will be for a Republican Senate
promptly to confirm his nominations. 1t
requires no astute intellect to foresee
what the result of the investigation of
such commission would be. In fact
the commission bill, if it passes the
House, will simply amount to Congress
Sinking its duty, and relinquishing its
rights and power to regulate this great
question into the hands of the President
of the United States, who, under the
/ Constitution, has no more to do with
regulating the tariff than has the hum
blest citizen of the land.
In the next place the effect Of this
commission bill, should it become law,
will be to delay for year at least, and,
most probably, for an indefinite period,
legislation upon the tariff question. The
commission is allowed until the first
Monday in January next to submit its
report. After it is submitted, some time
must elapse before it can be taken up
and then when it is taken up there will
follow heightened and elaborate discus
sion thereon before it is finally disposed
of, or the reforms, if any, which 1t will
recommend, can be carried into effect.
Indeed it may even be worse than this.
Congress expires on the 4th of March
next, and it will be, by no means, an i'm
possible, or even a very difficult matter
for the friends of protection, should they
see that the report will be adverse to
their wishes, to delay in various ways
decisive action thereon until the session
expires by limitation, and then conside
ration of the whole matter will have to
begin de nOCO. 1t is by no means i'm
probable that this idea long ago suggest
ed itself to the enemies of tariff reform
in the Senate, az d was strong induce
ment to them to vote in favor of the
commission
But, notwithstanding the objections
to the tariff commission bill which we
have cited, its passage by the Senate is,
in many respects, a subject of congratu-
lation TO revenue reformers. 1t was
evidently passed by the Republican ma
jority of that body with great reluctance.
They hated to do anything tending to in
terfere in the slightest with the immense
bonanza which their friends enjoy in the
protective system, and had it been posai-
bic they would, doubtless, GLADLY have
either defeated the bill and altogether
ignored the whole question Of reform in
the tariff. Such a course was impossible,
however. since popular demand for a
change in the present onerous tariff sys
tenn is even now irresistible, and
is daily growing more and more strong.
The commission bill had to be passed as
4 sop to Cerberus, which shows conclu-
sivelY that the people of the United
States are. at last, becoming fully convinc-
ed of the iniquity of their Icing forced to
pay heavy tribute to few protected mo-
nopolists so that the latter may accumu-
late vast wealth at their expense. The
bill under consideration, therefore, is a
step in the right direction, and, as revo.
lutions never go backwards, its passage
is an assurance that the just cause of the
people VS.. monopOlis's will in the end
be decided in favor of the plaintiff.