The Aberdeen examiner. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1866-current, 1883-02-22
MIR. MuldrOw ana the Duty on
Cotton Ties.


Muldrow offered On amendment to
section of the pending tariff bill reduc-
ing the tax on cotton ties. The amend
ment, as we have heretofore stated, was
voted down. In Offering it Mr. Muldrow
said:
Mr.. Muldrow. Mr.. Chairman, I offer
that amendment in the hope that when
we reach the section following the one
Just read there will be reduction of
duty so far as iron and steel cotton-ties
are concerned. And offer this amends
ment to relieve the bill of any ambiguity
which might exist if this provision goes
in as it now stands.
Mr. Horr, will state to the gentle-
man that that very subject is embraced
in line 1888.
Mr.. Muldrow. My anne ndment applies
TO line IT'S and comes in after the word
"called." offer it to relieve the bill OF
ambiguity in the event my hopes are
realized that this committee will lesseu
the duty on cotton,.ies when that provi-
sion of the bill Is reached.
The people of the Southern States
consume annually about 80, 100000 OF
these cotton-tles; $4,000 tons every
yearare used by the people l in part
represent on this floor. With the present
advalorem rate ofduty of 35 per cent they
yield revenue to the Government Of
more than $3.50, 900 The same class of
material, material similar to that of the
cotton tie, hoop iron, yields q revenue
to the Government of only abouts24, 900.
Now, if you put cotton.ties upon the
same footing with this hoop-iron indi-
Gated in the pending paragraph OF the
bill, you will reduce the revenue which
the Government now receives from the
importation of cotton-ties from $3.50, 900
annually down to about 1874, 900.
The people who use these cotton ties
are perhaps more interested in this par
ticular question than in any other that
will come before this body. If this bill
is passed as reported, one of the highest
and most onerous taxes they will have
to pay as people is for duty on cotton
ties. Yet cotton in this country is about
the only thing that is not claimed in
some degree to be protected, that does
not receive some aid and encouragement
from our tariff laws. Even the wheat
and rye and oats and corn grown along
the Canadian border receive, as is claim
ed by the advocates of tariff protection,
some benefit from the tariff.
Mr.. Sparks. About cents in the
aggregate. ,...
Mr. Muldrow But cotton receives
absolutely nothing in the way of protec
ton. And just here would controvert
the statement made few dyas ago by
the gentleman from Ohio in reference to
the spinners and weavers of this country
paying the farmers and planters who
raise cotton as much for the ties and
bagging as for the cotton. hold in my
hand a communication from man who
is well informed on that subject. He
shows that as tare on bale of cotton at
least 6 per ent;sldeducted IN the English
market. He demonstrates by figures
and by the exhibition of prices current
in the Liverpool and New York markets
that the statement made by the gentle
man fir ON Ohio the other day, and COR
robarated by the gentleman from Massa-
chusetts and the gentleman from Rhode
Island was simply inexcusable.
Mr.. Mckinley. To what authority
does the gentleman refer?
Mr.. Muldrow. / refer to an article
written to the New York Times by J. S.
Moore, in the city of New York, who
has reviewed this whole question, and
gives the figures, and shows that on the
28th day of January of the present year
the difference between the price of cot
ton in New York and the price in Liver
pool was just the difference Of transport
tation and the tare, which is deducted
from the cotton bale in the Liverpool
market. AS have no time in which to
read it. L will insert it as an appendix to
my remarks.
Mr., Chairman, would that I could
impress the Importance of this matter
to the Southern farmer upon the mem
bers Of this committee. The people of
eleven States OF this Union nre anxiously
watching your decision on this question.
They are those who labor with incessant
toll from Jnnu.ry to the close of Decem
Der, and, work rs best they may, exc
out but scanty support. 70 save
money from the culture of cotton, with
tho best management and the greatest
seems to be impossible. No
people have contributed more to swell
the Golfers of those engaged in protected
industries than these; and yet not one
of them appears as lobbyist in the
corridors of this Capital to- day to make
known their grievances or endeavor to
stay the hand that now holds the uplifted
OK
Their production is the largest item
I
foreign countries. Seven>tenths of all
the commercial cotton of the world is
grown in the Southern States they fur
nish the means for the operation of your
own Northern spindles; and ! ask you
to pause before you inhict upon them
this further wrong