The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-04-05

froa the Pespls thsnis really necessary
and that . Soductjoo q duties at ]eaGe
ono third and On abolishment a inter-
nal taxa1ioa except on . few articles
may be made and the Government still
have revenue to meet al it, wants and
enable It to provide 1oe the payment a
the pablo debt within . reasonable
time. Under the present tariff the Gov
eminent IL collecting customs duties 70
the amount Of nearly >2o0, ooo, 900 annu-
ally or about q from each
man, woman and child in
the Union. Senator 6aulsbury says:
"The value Of foreign importations
during the last fiscal year was something
over $3.50, 0OO, 900. The value Of the
goods upon which duties were paid was
about $45O, OOO. 900, and Of non-dutiable
goods about 500, 500, 900, 90 that revenue
to the amount Of nearly $9OO, 900, 900 was
collected on merchandise but little more
in value than double the value Of the
duties paid. The averaging rate of duty
h about 43i per cent. on the value Of the
goods upon which 1t was levied, with
the heaviest rates imposed on many Of
the articles entering most largely into
general consumption and indispensable
to the comfort Of the poor a. we'll as the
rich. No one pretends that there II
now any necessity for taxing the people
Of the country 20 heavily in order to de-
fray the expenses Of the Government or
maintain it's credit"
The question then naturally arises,
Why should the people be longer requir-
ed to labor under such an onerous bur-
den: Why should the Government
persist in exacting this unnecessary tri-
butte from the people? 1t is not claimed
by the most strenuous fora high protect
i've tariff that it is needed to maintain
the credit Of the nation or to meet the
legitimate demands against it. It is
simply held that the tariff of to day pro-
t<cts the industries Of the country, and
fosters and encou RACES manufacturing
enterprises. While this may he true to
a certain extent, it is not so clear that
the people are the beneficiaries of the
protection. We have to-day q revenue
system which takes from the people
of the country and puts into the public
treasury not less than So, OOO, 600 annu-
ally in taxes. This added to the SUM
collected by the duties on imported
go,'ds gives the en- ormous sum Of $2755-,
ING, 900 annually exacted OF the people
for protection. But protect on under
the present tariff does not stop here. 1t
Is safe to assume the value Of the do
mcstic merchandise consumed in the
is at least four-fold the value of |
the foreign goods imported upon which |
duties are paid. II the proportions
named are correct then consumer nav
t. the American manufacturers in the
increased price Of domestic goods q |
much larger sum than they pay in taxes |
to the government. In other words,
while they pay into the Treasury two
hundred million dollars for duties |
IN foreign merchandise imported |
they pay to the manufacturers Of
domestic gootls consumed not lexs
than $s'H', nm. NN more than the same
goods would bring in the market but
Ior the tariff which enables the manu-
iacturer* I" advance the price If their
products. No one with the data before
him can deny the truthfulne,s Of this
statement. 1t will lie seen then that the
is the one best protected
md that the great mass Of consumers
Ray for it. 1t is not cOntc.ltlctl by tie
,r'nocrsti' party that all foreign goods
should liz placed upon the free list, but
is held hy it that radical change
liOuld le made in our tariff laws to the
md that the burdens Of the people
houll be lesscnetl. The. Republican
'ar'y is essentially u high protective tar
II party and it's representatives vino
ol,tr"l legislation in Congress are aversc
2 tackle siuarrly the protection problem
n that body, l'e:itr an effort is being
made to shift the work upon the should
rs O: a commission t" b. appointed Ivy
he President. anl to divide rs fur as
~sssibls with the Democrats the rrs,son-
Utility ri the work of that commits.
ion
The Collectors Fee. ii