National Republican., 1883-09-25
A Tariff FOR Reronuc Only.

sentative of tho cotton growing interest of
the south in its war of forty years ago upon
tho manufacturing interests Of the north
Whatever ingenuity may be exercised by
democratic writers of our timo to gloss over
tho deformitos of this doctrine, a reference
to The elaborate exposition of it by its author,
and to the attitude of the democratic admins.
traton of James X. Polk upon it, resulting in
tho tariff of 1916, will exhibit IL as tariff for
the protection Of foreign manufacturers Tho
democratic party is as true to the foreign
manufacturer now as 10 was when
it elected Polk and Dallas by pledg-
tariff of 1912, and when in power thus OBJ
iained treacherously betrayed the country
and passed the free trade tariff of 1916 by the
casting vote Of Vice President Dallas, We
say free trade tariff advisedly, for the very
essence of v tariff for revenue only, as defined
by Calhoun, President Polk, and his secre-
that it shall be SO adjusted as to encourage
importations for the entire supply of our
american market. Not only must the rate
of duty be fixed which will produce the
largest amount of revenue, but if two differ
ent rates on given article will produce the
same amount Of revenue. by reason of the
will encourage, then preference must be given
to the one which will cause the Importation
of the larger amount of the article in ques-
tion.
In opposing the tariff of 1si2, Mr.. Calhoun
said
1tloows that Nil duties not laid strictly for rev.
cnuc are purely protective. whether called iuci-
dental or not; and hence tue distinction taken by
the senator from Arkansas Immediately on my
LEFT (Mr. Sever) between incidental and acci-
DENIAL protection is not less true aud philosophi-
cal than striking. The latter is the ouly proec.
tion compatible with the pripciples on which
duties for revenue are laid.
There's new word which Mr.. Watterson
might put in the next democratic platform.
" \ tariff for revenue only with accidental
protection" But this extract, significant and
important as it is in reaching down for the
real meaning of tho democratic tariff shib-
boleth, is NOT as explicit as the following from
the same speech:
That n large portion of the duties on the pro-
tected articles exceed the maximum poiut of rev.
cnue will not be denied, and that there are few or
none imposed on protected articles on which nm
eqRal reUlRUG might not be raised at iouer rate of
,I,g tNVt1I Hn p1 Au c,ot,,
this bill is stamped with protection 1t is as much
bill for protection as that of1s2S.
Here is something worth studying closely.
The author aud finishor of the doctrine of "a
tariff for revenue only" its high priest and
chief advocate tells us it means tariff that
will, all else being equal, prefer imported fabrics
to our owa. He is not content that the duty
on given article shall be so fixed as to yield
importations, but he complains because, this
being done q lower rate is not fixed
which would increase the foreign competi.
tion and yet yield only the same amount
of revenue. For example, if 2oper cont. duty
would make it pay to bring S20,000,000 in
value of an article from abroad to displace
that much ofour own manufacture, the revenue
thus created would be $l,0O0,0OO. If reduc-
tion of the dutyto 10 per cent. would encour-
age the foreign manufacturer to bring twice
the amount of his fabric to compete with ours,
namely, 100000 worth, the revenue yielded
would be no more, Mr.. Calhoun, in the above
extract, complained because there were duties
imposed on articles on which ian equal revo-
nue. might be raised at q lower rate of duty"
He would not even leave protection to the
accident of tho case, but would actu-
ally lower the duty when it would
not increase the revenue by reason
of the increased importations. Such q
policy would be tariff, not only for revenue,
but also for incidental injury to domestic
manufactures and American labor. 1t would
be incidental protection to foreign manufac.
lures and cheap foreign labor, and that pre-
lection would not be by accident, but by design.
Mr.. Calhoun, in closing his Speech said the
bill would undoubtedly pass, but he pre-
dicted its almost immediate overthrow under
n banner inscribed, "Free Trade, Low Du.
tics" sc.
In 1916 Mr.. Polk, being president by the
grace of King Cotton and his Texas annexa-
tion scheme, echoed Mr., Calhouns rallying
cry in his first message, and dogmatized on
the meaning of tho words at tho head of this
article much as Mr.. Calhoun had done. His
secretary of the treasury, Mr.. Walker, Mr..
Calhoun's able lieutenant furnished him with
the free trade catcchism from which he so
faithfully recited his lesson. Secretary
Walker, in his report recommended "that nc
duty be imposed on any article above the
lowest rate which will yield the largest amount
OF revenue" Said his faithful echo, President
| Polk:
The precise point in the ascending scale OF
| duties which IL is ascerlainGd from experience
| that the revenue Is greatest is the maximum rate
| of duty which can be laid for the support oi
government. To raise the duties higher than that
| point, and thereby diminish the amount col
lcctcd, is to levy them for protection merely and
not for revenue.
These views were embodied in the tariff o.
1916 despite the fact that Pennsylvania had
been carried on the cry of "Polk and Dallas
and the (proteetive) tariff of 1872" and thc
perfdious act was consummated by the cast