Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-01-08
COTTON MACHINERY.
More Tariff Reform rrielserx Exposed

More Tariff Reform TrieIxery Exposed.
Editor Ne1 York Times: / am in re-
ceipt of the following letter:
BIDDEFORD, Me-, Dec, 26, 1SS2.-J. s..
Moore, Esq: DEAR SIR am reader of
the Times, and by your article ON the
tariff on metals infer that the duty on
manufactures of iron and steel would be
increased from 80 to 40 per cent. Please
explain item son all iron or STEEL" etc.,
On page 5S of the report of the commission,
and Oblige. 1t seems to me that cotton
machinery would be admitted by the
pound, say one and quarter cents, which
would reduce it from 30 to 20 per cent,
Very truly yours,
JAMES H. MCMILLAN, Agent.
In answer must state, first, there is no
mention made in the Tariff Commission
report of duty on cotton machinery, or, in
fact, on any other machinery, and ma
chinery would naturally come in under
the clause of Manufactures, articles, or
wares not specially enumerated or pro-
vided for in this act, composed wholly or
in part of iron, steel, copper, lead, nickel,
pewter, tin, zinc, gold, silver, platinum,
or any other metal, whether partly or
wholly manufactured, 40 per cent. ad va
lorem.' Whereas, the happy conjecture
of my correspondent that cotton ma
chinery would pay Ia cents per pound
duty is delusion if his hopes are centred
on the paragraph he cites ON page So of
the commission report. This clause reads:
'1On all iron or steel, and on all manufac-
lures, wares, utensils, vessels, and articles
of iron or steel. or of which such metals,
or either of them, shall be the component
part of chief value, whether wholly or
partly manufactured, there shall be levied,
collected, and paid no less rate of duty
than the highest duty or rate of duty i'm
posed upon any part of said goods in any
forms in which it or they exist prior to or
during their passage into the form or arti.
Gle ON which the duty is to be levied.'
This is the ironclad clause of tariff CON-
plications meant as simplitier. Now,
suppose cotton machinery had steel rivets
in it. and such riveus were valued above
nine cents a pound, the duty would be
three cents a pound. Suppose it had pis-
ton rods or connecting rods or sheet iron
in it, these would be liable to two cents a
pound duty. But the trick in this irOn-
clad is that it only treats on g iron and
steel and no other metals. If the cot
ton or any other machinery should have
brass, copper, tin or any other metal in
its composition, it could not under any
circumstances come under the clause that
only enumerates articles made "wholly
of either iron or steel, or steel and iron
combined"
My correspondent may as well make up
his mind that cotton machinery would
have to pay 40 per cent, according to the
commissions report. If the commissions
intention had been to let cotton machin-
cry come in at IA cents per pound, they
would have said so, as indeed they might
have named in plain words machinery
used for spinning and weaving cotton,
etc., or said cotton machinery. The most
important part which my correspondent
has brought out is the expose OF the tariff
tricks hidden under the pretense of SIM
plification and reduction. j. 5. MOORE.