National Republican., 1884-04-16

country stated the estimated surplus of revenues
over expenditures and dwelt upon the necessity
Of reducing taxation. 70 fail to reduce the taxa.
ton and to relieve the people would be ilagrAnt
disregard of public duty. Tine pending bill might
not bo all that was required, but 1T was an advance
toward promise of more complete tariff REFORM
Such reform and adjustment Of the turiH was not
believed TO be attainablo at the present session ~
would create no surprise that In the opinion OF
the minority OF the ways and means tommlttee
the measure was not sufficiently harmonious TO
secure their approval. They found In II no merit
because it proposed TO reduce nll duties alike A
horizontal reduction might not bG the best, but
none other was now practicable, Prutectlonlsts
opposed II, not because 1t was hori2 ntul reduc-
ton, but because II was Il reduction ut nll
Mr.. Kelley, of Pennsylvania made the opening
speech In opposition to the bill. He did not believe
that any cheapening of goods could relieve any
of the American industries. Tho evil was not
that goods were not cheap enough, or that Amer
ica could produce them. The truth, u bc cOusid-
cred Of all men, was thatthC power Of production
the world oyoi had outrun the power OF consump,.
tion, aud that all markets were OverstoCked, aud
in every land skilled and industrious people had
been idle for lnrgo portion Of all recent years.
Nihilism in Russia, socialism in Germany, social
ism and nihilism In the border regions of Austria,
communism III France, socialism whiCh would
present almost every question that the British
parliament would consider during :, the
great countries. Idleness, want. misery in every
industrial center. He then proceeded TO give
chapters from the terrible lives of the industrial
classes Of England as learned by him during a
three months visit 10 merry England, pros
porous. free trade England" IN order TO show the
fearful condition OF the lubOrlng people i'll that
country, and said that tho proposition nov made
was that the United States should enter the race
with the world for Cheapness which had led TO
such terrible results in England. There was
nothing of 80 little value in England as n work
ingman or woman with reasonably good uppe-
tte. In one town he had seen women max ing
trace chains, and yet the gentleman from Ken
lucky Mr. Turnerl returned TO congress every
year because he advocated placing trace chains
ON the free list.
MIR. Turner said that that was good proposi
tion which he hoped would be adopted.
NJ Lal1n nd tlNuI NNn
ize 90 or 60 cents week for making trace chains.
Goa forbid that any Kentucky woman must ever
WORK a. such masculine GmPloyshs 10y 10 d9r suGn
Storrs to an Engshman, " no, ut dinner given
by Minister Lowell, was badgering him about free
trade, ~ will admit that free trade is best for you,
at least for those of you who can afford to con
sumo anything that Is produced, but claim that
production is best for US You think more, great
deal, for cheap shoe than you do fora prosperous
shoemaker, while in America we think more OF
the artisan than of his work" Applause on the
condition Of laborers in birmingham and
surrounding towns he said he did not
want American goods to become so cheap
that they could be sold to other people. God for
bid that American labor should ever be embodied
In any production that should lie cheap enough
to De sold to the industrial towns that surround
Birmingham Much was heard about free raw
material. He denied that the ree-trade democ-
racy of the country, as represented Oh this hoor,
present tariff every element of raw material which
could be discovered was already on the free list.
The pending bill put twenty or thirty articles on
the free list, but not one OF them was raw ma
terial. The raw material for salt was the brine
which was pumped out. Coal in the earth sellingat
certain rate per ton 'unsight, unseen vast raw
material, but when thousands and hundreds OF
thousands of dollars had been expended i'll
making II accessible to mans use, IL was not.
Alcohol was raw material, and only two demo-
crats, Mr. Hewitt and Mr.. Randall were in favor
of putting 1t on the free list.
What was charged for the use Of natures SOL
vent, for which the wit of man had yet discovered
no substitute2 Before an American farmer could
advance his raw material-corn, one stage in
manufacture, he had to pay 30 cents a peck. The
same was true of tobaGco-it was n tax on the pro-
ducing and trading classes In the race for cheap;
let counties hd bnaa and
whose people would work for the smallest modcum
of food and clothing. The United states had en-.
he asked that the tariff rates be reinstated, as
he had hoped that they would have been by the
majority in the last congress- by G6olishing M the
manufacturer in the country had been obliged
70 send all h SSk aSSSd and to
raw material in its manufacture. BY putting. u
duty Of 81 cents per pound on Tin plate the
United States has succeeded in establishing manu-
factories but by the displacement of a comma 1t
has been held that only duty of IL cents had
been imposed. The effect Of this had been TO
Of the treasury had held that the word highest"
in the last tariff law meant lowest" and on ac-
count of that ruling wire-rod makers were i'm
porting wire rods pretty well made from the other
side of the water.
Mr.. Hewitt, of New York, suggested that a re-
publican and not democratic tariff had done
that.
Mr Kelley replied that If 90 per cent. of the
democrats in the last congress had united with
the republicans the tariff on wire rods would
have been placed at such II rate as to enable
Americans to manufacture them.
Mr. Hewitt. Would you have allowed US to fix
the thing in conference committee.
Mr.. Kelley. Yes sir. No democrat would
| serve on that committee save Mr. Carlisle, who
served quietly in order TO observe what was done.
Nary one dared.
Mr.. Hewitt Then the whole performance was
republican performance.
Mr. Kelley. The conference had to deal with the
materials you sent us. Arc they republicans in
this house who propose to reduce the duty on
wire rods 20 per cent? Who voted for 1t to-day
republicans or democras2 Don't let us talk about
what occurred year ago; let us go back only
two hours [Laughter,l Mr.. Kelley then repeated
the assertion he had made that production had
| outrun consumption. Every reduction of wages
diminished the power OF the masses TO consume,
the whole industrial world were now suffering.
This evil could not be mitigated by 20 per cent.
| reduction in tariff now too lighton good many
| United States, nor by blow at the agricul-
| tural interest. The south OF Russia was
build factories for American agricultural machines
and TO aid in the construction OF railroads to the
| seaports and If the farmers Of America did not
| care for their Interests. and did not strive by
proper legislation TO diversity their agricultural
products their markets would be gone and In
| comparison with the price they now received for
than nominal. He could see but two means by
which the market could be increased, with a
third means glimmering in the future. Stop all
importation OF cheap labor. Send back to what
ever country they come from, mon or women who
had signed contracts in foreign lands or on ship;
board TO work ut lower wages than the wages of
American labor. [Applausel See that wages
were kept so high that the public schools might
be well sustained and children reasonably well
educated. Let not the American woman become
degraded. Protect American motherhood against
the degradation of becoming the drudges on men
aVNhp
cessary by declaring eight hours as the longest pc
riod in the,twenty-ollrthat men or machinery may
run. lie advocated the production of sorghum in
the west and especially in the southwest as means
of diyersifyng the labor of the American farmer
and Of enhancing the sale of his productions
other. 1t was not monarchy or an empire. 1t
was a free republic every human being belonging
to which was citizen with the rights of free
man, and with the duty before him Of helping to
maintain a government which could only live as
long as virtue, intelligence, and Independence
charaoterized its citizens. And this 1t could not
do II 1t was to begin in the unhoy race for the
''cheap and nasty" under the teachings ofthe dis
NAL science. Applause on the republican side.l
Mr.. Mills, OF Texas, was the next speaker, Re-
duction of taxes must come on something and the
question presented for the decision of congress
was as TO the articles on which the reduction
should be made. What article commended itself
most strongly to consideration? What article
should be cheapened in order that consumption
should be increased among the people? Was II
whisky or food? WHSit whisky or clothing Was
II whisky or the implements of labor2 The de.
mand for a repeal Of the whisky tax came from
three claSseSthe disillers the holders of govern
ests aud they were urrayed against the Internal
revenue because all three were deeply interested