, 1883-02-10
The Tariff Report.

the past t5F n,hs, may be summed ~
in the phrase .'mugh cry and little wool. '
The only cunsoia- on to he gained from Il
is the dead certainty that the country Il
fast awaAiug 10 the fact that the PRO
lection" !nf4n, has developed INTO giant
and that It nov means colossal forums
to the manufacturers mostly Interested.
We have received copy OF the bill re-
ported by the Committee "f Ways and
Means thus far furnished TO the public
and it is Just what may have been eH
oected. IL is rot an utter hunbug, be
cause it does propose reduction ot ex-
isting duties but this reduction is s.
small and so distributed AS to give none OF
the relief which the cuuntry IS deter
mined and deserves Ia havts In cumpar-
iny this bill with the report Of the tariii
comm sslun and with the rates Fl duty
now levied on the various articles affect
ed, tne same difficulty besets one that has
made the whole subject Uf tariff revision
a sealed BOOK to all except treasury ex-
perfs aud lifelong students Of the reye-
nue. question. In most cases where es-
septIal changes have been made, the eom-
mit;ee, in dttiance OF IT'S boast that thu
object WAS Lo; only to reduce but to sim
pllfy tn, taTif, has turned ad yalorym du
tirs into specific or wee versa, go that ty
the retention Of the specific mode ii con-
putatiOu, either IN the old schedule or
the new, a reader is unable 10 determine
the practical effect of a change unless he
happens to have The ruu If the market
quotations OF the commodity III question,
Again, the estimates which say that the
" general reduction will b. from 20 to -
per cent, ara worthless and misleading.
The report OF tbs commission says the
same thing. But a reduction of, say 30
per cent on a grade OF goods Of which III
tie or none are imported, is not equivalent
to an advance of ! per cent on those
grades which form the bulk of the de.
maDd of this country upon foreign mar
kets Hence, 10 say that the general
scale OF duties is lowered 81 much means
nothing atall.
An examination Of those items II the
published list. however, concerning which
ii is possible 10 form some approximate
idea pl ''e charges recommended, bears
out the .ynv.ctiun OF the public that l,;lr
in the way If real reform was to he eE
peeisd from Mr.. Kelieys committee To
illustrate 8 few points, the Committee
have been kind enough to that great
American industry. the production of cas-
tor oil beans. to lover the duty from 30 to
30 cents per bushei; but when 1t comes
TO glucose, substance whose uses are
multi!aruUs and whose production IN this
country is surrounded with no disadyan.
:asss whatevsr. the ;asiI - raised irum
20 20 p per cent Drugs and chem;cals,
by common consent, receive rather hbe-
raj treatment but this one schedule i.
the on iy one of which, in its entirety, the
remark can be made. The advance upon
all articles Of china, uneraament.d and de-
signed for common use, Of 10 per cent, is
is.defensIble and the advance Of 10 per
Cent on all other kinds Of earthenwsre,
including Of course the lowest grades
which are used by the poorest people, Is
nothing less than AN outrage. "All arti-
cles If glassware, cut, decorated, etc. )"
bear 90 per cent Of duty instead Of 40
In the metal schedules the r.dlc,ilns
proposed are so trivial as TO be insulting
10 those who have real reform in mind.
Iron in pig IS taxed 3 cents per pound in
stead OF :. per ton; iron or steel T rails
suffer the enormous release Of one-hslf
mill per pound aud all other changes are
equally unlmPcrtant, One cent per pound
is xidei 10 the tlr # On lead ore, and this
whole port.on Of the hin bears marks of
h,virg received the particular care of
NJ ssrs. Kelley and Randall The incon-
S!stAnt and harmful duties on lumber re-
msin practically as they were OF the
cotton aud wool schedules little can be
made ewing To the Complication Of the
different kinds Of duties, bu. the reduc-
tion of the latter IS comparatively small.
The whole volS bears marks Il having
resalted from desperate struggle TO ap-
pear to acceie to the demand fu1 reform,
Si'hoa, departing from the known wishes
II the protected interests
Much mOre iJs.ruciiss is the srmmar-
I'D Computation Of the duties according
TO the reported bill az compared sih
thoss collected during the las, fiscal year.
From this 1t appears that one-hLf of the
contemplated decrease Is to be Effected
ty lo~eriug the sugar duties. The in
crease # the amount levied on earthen
and glassware is over 81, COG. eco. and
tnat ON cotton and cotton goods. is near'y
half million. Outside Of the item Of
sugar, 'he lArgss. reise.ions VII fall up
on : is sEd woolsns. but how these are
d's;rIbu 81, and Shst people viii derivv
the most beas6t from them, is matter
CT uncertainty until The details pf The
chalgesarse1piainei. Theen,ire re6uc;io.
II duties, according 10 The CJmmii,ess
rseor', IS 81. .iS7 SIS: ard the increase,
si,sS2 lis; leaving net decresss of tut
ltlie over 81, 90. 900. 1, scarcely needs
10 be and rhs. this, sps,, from lie dissri-
hutton, Is entirely inadequate. 1t 10 no:
advisable to cut dosn the resenus, - tie
sxirsnisss sdsiss, to the 6gurs required !