Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-12-07

eaoar Jnat even II the exlsbIng system OF du-
ties on imports is continued without modi6-
cation, those duties alone will yield sufficient
revenue for all the needs of the government 1t
is estimated that 500, 900, 900 will be required
for pensions during the coming year, and
it may well be doubted whether the max
imum annual demand for that object has
yet been reached. Uncertainty upon this
question would alone justify, in my judg-
ment the retention for the present of that
portion of the system of internal revenue
which Is least Objectionable to the people.
Second, q total abolition of excise taxes
would almost inevitably prove a serious if
not an insurmountable obstacle to thor
ough revision of the tariff and to any con-
siderable reduction in import duties. The
present tariff system is in many respects
unjust. 1t makes unequal distributions both
of its burdens and its benefits. This fact was
practically recognized by majority of each
house of Congress in the passage of the act
creating the tariff commission. The report
OF that commission will be placed before you
at the beginning of this session; and will, /
trust, afford you such information as to the
condition and prospects of the various com
mercial, agricultursl manufacturing; min
ing and other interests of the country, and
contain such suggestions for statutory re-
vision,as will practically aid your action upon
this important subject
The revenue from customs for the fiscal
year ended June 80, 1879, amounted to $137,-
O00,OO0. 1t has in the three succeeding years
reached-frst $1s6, ,0O0, ,000 then $1S8, 600 0oQ
and hnaily, as has been already stated, $780,
100000. The income from this source for
the fiscal year which will end on June so,
1883, will doubtless be considerably in ex-
cess of the sum last mentioned, If the tax
on domestic spirits is to be retained it is
plain, therefore, that large reductions from
the customs revenue are entirely feasible.
While recommending this reduction,
am far from advising the
abandonment of the policy of SO discriminat-
ing IN the adjustment of details as to afford
aid and protection to domestic labor. But
the present system should be SO revised as to
equali2e the public burden among all classes
and occupations, and bring it into closer
harmony with the present needs of industry.
Without entering into minute detail, which
under present circumstances is quite unnec-
es5ary, recommend an enlargement of the
free list so as to include within it the numer-
Gus articles which yield inconsiderable reve-
nue.; a simplifcatioH of the complex and
inconsistent schedule of duties upon Ger
tain manufactures, particularly those of
cotton, iron and steel; and substantial re-
d1ctiun of the duties upon those articles, and
upon sugar, molasses, silk, wool and wooden
goods. If q general revision of the tariff
shall be found to be impracticable at this
session, express the hope that at least soIne
of the more conspicuous inequalities of the
present law may be corrected before your
final adjournment. One of them is specially
referred to by the secretary, In view of a re-
cent decision OF the supreme court. The
necessity of amending the law by which the
Dutch standard of color is adopted as the
test of the saccharine strength of sugars is
too obvious to require comment.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
From the report of the secretary of war it
hat hn -
during the past year occurred in Arizona
and In the southwestern part of New Mex
loo. They were promptly queled. and the
quiet which has prevailed in all other parts
of the country has permitted such an addi-
ton to be made to the military force
in the region endangered by tie Apaches
that there is little reason to apprehend
trouble in the future. Those parts of
the secretary's report which relate to
our seacOast defenses and their armament
suggest the gravest reflections. Our existing
Notifications are notoriously inadequate to
the defense of the great harbors and cities
for whose protection they were built. The
question of providing an armament ssited
to our present necessities has been the sub
ject OF consideration by board, whose re-
port was transmitted to Congress at the last
session. Pending the consideration of
that report, the war department has
taken no steps for the manufacture
or conversion of any heavy can
non; but the secretary expresses the hope
that authority and means to begin that i'm
portant work will soon be provided. I invite
the attention of Congress to the propriety of
making more adequate provision for arming
and equipping the militia than is afforded by
the act of 1905, which is still upon the stat
ute books. The matter has already been the
subject of discussion in the Senate, and bill
which seeks to supply the deficiencies of ex-
istlng laws is now upon its calendar.
The secretary of war calls attention to
the fact of an embarrassment growing out
of the recent act of Congress making the re-
tirement of officers of the army compulsory
at the age of sixtyfour. The act of 1873 is still
in force, which limits to four hundred the num-
Der of those who can be retired for disability
or upon their own application. The two acts
when construed together seem to forbid the
relieving, even for absolute incapacity, of
officers who do not fall within the purview of
the latter statute, save at such times as there
chance to be less than four hundred names
on the retired list. There are now four hun
dred and twenty. 1t is not likely that Con-
gress intended this result, and concur with
the secretary that the law ought to be
amended.
RIVERS AND HARBoRS.
The grounds that impeiled me to withhold
my signature from the bill entitled & An
Act making appropriations for the construc-
ton, repair and preservation of certain
works on rivers and harbors," which
became law near the close of your last
session, prompt me to express the hope
that no similar measure will be deemed
necessary during the present session of
Congress. Indeed, such a measure would
now be open to a serious objection in adj
dition to that which was lately urged upon
your attention. | am informed by the
secretary of war that the greater portion
of the sum appropriated for the various
items specified in that act remains un-
expended OF the new works which it
authorized expenses have been incurred upon
two only, for which the total appropriation
was $210,000. The present available bal
ance is disclosed by the following table:
Appropriation by act Of August
2, 1882. .............1..... SIS, ,7sS,S75 90
Appropriation by act Of June
~, 1852. ................... 10000 90
Appropriation for payments to
j. b. Eads. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 304, 600 90
Unexpended balance of former
appropriations ............. Abs, 1858 90
Total. .................... $23, 791, ,13S 90
Less amount drawn from treas
ury between July l, 1882, and
November 80, 1882 2....... 6,056, 1874 90
Total. l...s........-. 81, ,734, ,944 90
REMEDIhS To PREVENT EXTRAVAGANCE.
1t is apparent by this exhibit that so far
as concerns most of the items to which the
act Of August 2, 1882, relates, there can be no
need of further appropriations until after
the close of the present session. If, how
ever, any action should seem to be necessary
in respect to particular objects it will be en-
tirely feasible to provide for those objects by
appropriate legislation. It is possible, for
example, that delay until the assembling
of the next Congress to make additional
provision for the Mississippi river improve
ments might be attended with serious con-
sequences. If such should appear to be the
case, just bill relating to that subject would
command my approval.
This leads me to offer a suggestion, which
trust will commend itself to the wisdom of
Congress. Is it not advisable that grants of
considerable sums of money for diverse and
independent schemes of internal inn
provement should be made the subjects of
separate and distinct legislative enactments?
Il will scarcely be gainsaid, even by those
who favor the most liberal expenditures for
such purposes as are sought to be accom-
plished by what is commonly called the
River and Harbor bill, that the practice