The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-01-25
CAUGHT WITH GUILE.

| lie takes as q text St. TauIS remark
Nevertheless, being crafty, l caught
you with guile" and applies it to the
protected monopolists who to-day are
attempting to deceive the country
by securing, through their agents
in congress, the repeal of the
internal tax laws. Never, it is
said, has greater insult been offered
to any community than their boast
that the south will prefer free whisky
and tobacco to the enfranchisement of
her whole people, and the establish
ment of her 'nascent industries on the
firm foundation of human liberty.
This writer has been amazed at the
demand of the whisky and tobacco
producers for the abolition of taxes.
He says
The tobacco-grower ought to see
that any considerable cheapening of
tobacco will result in an enormous in
crease of the class who will not put
up with American tobacco, but must
have the foreign article. This might,
of course, be offset by an increase of
the import duty, but it will not be
good business policy for the tobacco
men to depend on any such relief as
that. Things are not running in that
direction just now.
The same thing applies to wines and
liquors. The internal taxes are paid
by the consumer. and are actually pro-
tective to the producer. The match
manufacturers are shrewd enough to
see this, and they don't want relief.
| Their tax is said to create monopoly.
This is bad feature of it. So is the
protection afforded to the producers
of liquor and tobacco by the internal
taxes. But it is not to be compared to
the evil of protection on the necessa-
ries of life.
OF course, when they get free trade
in what they have to buy, the tobacco
men can afford and will doubtless be
| willing to forego their protection, con-
senting to let Americans use foreign
tobacco while they hunt after foreign
ers who prefer American tobacco. But
even then they will have to take a
broader view of their own interest
than the old grannies of Pennsylvania
do. Their present attitude, in so far
as they are represented by the adyo-
Gates of a repeal of the tobacco taxes,
is simply big and laughable blunder,
at which nobody laughs louder than
the millionaires who have made their
millions by inventing just such tricks.
Already complaint has reached the
ears of congress that Sumatra tobacco
| is dangerous rival. This complaint
comes, of course, from the tobacco
growers. They want higher import
| duties levied. Abolish all internal
taxes and we shall all want to sample
that Sumatra article. We shall get
above smoking the common American
weed and use only some select foreign
brand. AT present they are beyond
the reach of a majority Of smokers.
Still suppose the tobacco-grower
and the mountain distiller will, in
many cases, fall into the trap set by
| their cunning deSpoilers, and in the
south as in the north we shall have to
depend on the kind of men who are
bright enough to see through such
tricks, and to know that free trade in
clothing and tools and lumber and
sugar is better than free trade in
whisky and tobacco.
lam not in a hurry to get free trade
/ in sugar. 1t is the prOtectioniStS who
are working that lode just now. Com
| missioner Raum in his late report on
| the internal revenue advocates the
| abolition of the sugar tariff. To show
| the dense ignorance of our government
| officials, let me observe that this grave
commissioner of internal revenue
| actually proposes to make up to the
| sugar planters their loss of protection
| by a direct subsidy of two and a halt
| cents a pound on the amount produced
He does not know that this would be
unconstitutional.
His proposal, impracticable as it is
| is valuable as confession. 1t con-
fesses that tariff protection is bonus
paid to It's beneficiarieS by other people
The receivers of the bonus believe in
it of course; and so the sugar planters
will try to maintain their standing in
the prOtectionist confederacy. And |,
though don't like to poison my child.
rem with death-dealing acids as re-
suit of dear sugar and syrup, am will.
ing to give the planters a bonus of
81, 100000 year for the Sake of gov
ernment revenue of $4,000, 600, which
will save the necessity of giving other
protected industries bonus of $780,.
100000. Neither do object seriously
to good round tax on my rice. But
l warn the rice planters and the sugar
planters that they will some day wish
l had objected, and that such thing
as protection had never been invented
Nevertheless / hope they and the
producers of native liquors and tobac-
co will accept few years of protec-
tion, so that a greater end may be
gained. The confederacy of northern
protected mendicants must be broken
and white slavery abolished, and the
American people taught, by actual
experiment, that they can stand and
walk alone. England must not be
allowed to carry out her design to
monopoliZe the trade of the world. A
few years will suffice to do this, if oul
cotton-planters and manufacturers
are handicapped by swindling tariff
sytsem, and all our manufactures hin
dered. The golden opportunity of tht
south will be gone : sacrificed. per
haps, to the mistaken greed of party
of her own people; let us hope moi
sacrificed to free whisky and tobacco