The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-08-10

in the course of two years q revenue
equal to that which we receive now,
which reached the enormous amount of
S43 600 900 per annum last year.
So / believe that by duty of 600 per
cent ad valorem upon whisky you have
passed the revenue point. and that you
would receive more revenue il you low
cred your tax to 90 or perhaps 30 cents per
gallon and there would be in that more
saving, in my judgment, to the manufac-
turers of this country, if they could OBJ
tain alcohol 30 cents per gallon less than
they now pay, than in all these proposed
reductions of your internal revenue. /
have not the figures to show the relative
proportions of the commodity that are
used in the arts and manufactures. l do
know, however, that it is very essential in
the manufacture of certain varnishes and
also as a vehicle for nearly all medicines
in fluid form. Nearly every thing that is
to be used in solution must employ alco-
hol. So l can well imagine that a reduc-
ton In the tax upon that article of 80
cents per gallon would cause no diminu-
ton of the revenue. but prove an assist
| ance far greater than these proposed re-
auctions which have been sent here by
the committee of ways and means and so
trumpeted as important reductions of
taxation.
Notwith> tanding the war had ended
and the revenues were not needed, vet
the habit of advancing taxes for other
purposes than revenue had grown so
strong and SO irresistible that the duty on
wool and woolens was again advanced in
1867. The internal taxes having been re-
pealed, the manufacturer having been re-
lieved from them, still the increase of the
tariff went on.
There Is one little illustration of the
practical working of this tariff that l
want to lay before the senate. have in
m han nd a of writ 20 lac
cember by very intelligent upright man,
who is manufacturer. He has gone
through every stage of manufacture,
from being a mill-hand to being a mill
owner, and to-day carries on wooden
mills with success in Delaware. He spent
last summer in England, and he writes
me, sending me specimen of the cloth
he refers to, as follows:
"Our present tariff on wool and its SUBJ
stitutes Is an outrage on the consumers of
wooden goods of America. L herewith
lnclose sample of wooden goods which
was selling in Leeds, when 1 was over, by
manufacturers at seven pence half penny
per yard, or say fifteen cents currency. 1t
is fifty-four inches wide and weighs
eighteen ounces per yard. The specific
duty of forty cents per pound, which
Will be forty-fve cents per yard. and forty
per cent ad valOrem will be six cents per
yard or tlty-one cents per yard duty on
goods selling ty manufacturers at fifteen
cents per yard.'
Here is the cloth. [ExhibIting.l ANY
gentleman can examine it. 1t is a plain,
useful piece of goods, and the duty upon
1t under our tariff is very nearly $40 per
cent ad valOrem. To such absurdities
this tariff has come, building it upon the
preteXt OF internal taxation. This is not
the rich mans cloth, although l do not
know but that any man would be glad to
have plnfhinD nf IL Thara IL IL LOT n
speak for itself.
Can you justify law that will allow
| the clothing of the poorer class OF your
countrymen to stand with such tax
upon it? have in my
possession one or two other letters relat-
ing to other species of wooden alleged
| goods manufacture, which will show how
very little wool there may be in an alleg-
| ed wooden manufacture, but here is the
| cloth. The man who bought this is a
| practical man. 1t can be examined by
any senator.
propose to let it speak for itself on
these statements, and there is the fact
that on wOOlOn cloth that has intrinsic
value, that is useful for the purpose of
clothing mankind, there is tariff duty to-
day of $40 per cent al valoTem- Is that a
| tariff for revenue or what? Is il not
tariff for prohibition "Only?'
What is the result? There is not
in the senate or anywhere man
who means to deal more fairly
| to every interest in this coun-
try than L; but l do propose to consider
them on an equal scale of justice to all.
| What is the result of the present system
| upon our manufactures? l ask you il
they have not been unduly stimulated by
this system of tariff taxes, and ask you
whether with all our great and varied
productions, where have we any market
except at home? Is there not to-day in
this country, owing to the enterprise, the
| industry, the inventive genius, and the
| skill OF our countrymen, u production
| ample for at least one hundred millions of
people? We have fifty-fve millions at
the outside, and when they are supplied,
where is our market for the surplus
Where are you to go? You cannot go
abroad with these duties upon wool and
| duties which you lay upon everything.
Your protection has been not only heavy
| but indiscriminate, and it seems to me
| that wherever you shall reach the point
| of prohibition in your duties you will
IND 1t twO-e edged; 1t Will kill your foreign
market and glut your home market, and
between the two where is the advantage
| to the American manufacturer?
Commerce is not and cannot be one
| sided Commerce means mutually of
exchange and mutually of benefit; for,
| If there be not mutually of benefit, it
will soon come to an end by the ruin of
| one of the parties. Duties that prohibit
| imports put an end to commerce, and
when you put an end to commerce what
becomes of your shipping interest? We
hear great deal about it. The senator
from Maine (Mr. Frye brings in resolu-
lions pointing to an amelioratiOn of the
condition of our foreign shipping. But,
what is the use IF talking of ships unless
they are to have cargoes, and they cannot
carry a carOn OnlV thew
full both ways or run at a loss. So that, 1
say, you begin with an excessive and in
discriminate tariff duty. you glut your
home market, you utterly disable your
selves for foreign market, and you have
not the instrumentalities to carry your
products, even if they were able to be
sailed In competition with foreign vessels.
Agriculture needs foreign markets for its
surplus production but if agriculture
cannot buy in foreign markets with its
proceeds those things its owner needs,
because of excessive tariff duties il can
not bring them home, certainly there is
great disadvantage and loss and we cam
not expect to be paid for all our exports
in cash. An examination of our list of
exports, and the picture presented by orr
merchant marine, will tell the whole
story, and explain the necessity of reform
in our taxing system.
Look at the effects OF over production of
manufactures in this country. Here is a
subject which 1 approach with great
deal of gravity and hesitancy. L mean
the subject of the strikes of labor. If
manufacturers are not prosperous they
cannot pay the wages needed by labor
for its support. II you have Overproduc-
tiOu and consequently low prices, you
will have greater supply than demand
and why? 1t is because your home mar
ket, which is your only market, is over
stocked. What is YOUR only remedy
for an overstocked home market?
Expectation. Can you export? The
tariff forbids you. If you go
abroad, you are handicapped by these
indiscriminate and heavy tariff taxes
that have increased the cost of your pro-
dnction, and you cannot sell in COMPETE
ton with those who have had no such
taxes to pay. What then is your remedy?
To stop production, shut down the mill.
close the mine, until scarcity will raise
prices again and In the meantime where
is labor? Idle and suffering. What are
the fruits of idleness? Is there not les
son of philosophy in this question that
should check men in their needless pur-
suit of gain irrespective of the laws OF
nature. Wise thoughts have found are
often best expressed by men who SIT
upon the serene heights of reflection and
consider their fellow creatures without
the perturbations of selfish interest and
ambition. In speaking of mechanical
employment, Sir Henry Taylor says in an
essay on Wordsworth Mechanical en-
ployment has no doubt a tendency to
alleviate suffering and subdue excitabil-
ity, and this truth has a political as well
as a moral bearing: for In seasons of COM
mercial or agricultural difficulty, the
political disturbances which arise amongst
the lower orders of the people may be
attributed, not to distress and restitution