The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-01-10
TARIFF PROBABILITIES.

Very great anxiety 10 felt Throughout,
the country TO ascertain the purposes OF
the gentlemen who compose tho new
House Committee on Ways and Means
as they will practically determine what
tariff legislation Is to be had, If any,
during tbs coming session Of Congress
It seems tc bs pretty veil conceded tbs!
8 majority CT tie members Of the. Gem
mittee favor some Immediate action for
the reduction Of tariff revenues. They
will, however, meet with no little Difficult
ty when they begin their WORK, for their
views as to the different industries will
bo very divergent. For instance, 1t ia
reported that seeing the havoc the Ohio
wool. growers played with the Republican
party in that State for taking the tariff
of of manufactured wool, the Demo
Gratis will seek to placate them by restor.
ing the tariff at once. 1t 10 also serious.
ly stated that there ie strong pfobabili.
t. that the tariff ON sugar will be remov.
ed or very largely reduced. 1t will,
therefore, be seen that there is danger OF
the party running into sec!iona! end
class legislation on the matter Of tariff
reform. To further reduce the tar.
iff on sugar, without greatly re.
ducing it on all other protected
industries would be little less than an
outrage upon the agricultural interests OF
the country, and would most probably
make Louisiana Republican State,
besides producing SERIOUS troubles in
several other States.
It will not be possible, in our opinion,
to make any material tariff changes
without doing injustice to some interests,
until the party is ready to formulate its
position in full..upon the important issue
of the tariff. There is but one Of two
plans that strike US as entirely fair and
equitable. The first and simplest mode
of collecting revenue is to ascertain the
ac!na! financial Necessities of the govern.
ment, and then levy q uniform per cent.
on oil imports suiiicient 10 meet those
necessities and no more. This is tariff
for revenue only, making the matter Of
protection q, incident, and not the pur.
pose OF the duty levied. In this levy
the Decessaries Of life should Us far as
practicable be admitted free of duty, TO
tho end that labor might be burdened an
lightly as the needs Of the government
will permit. 1t is true that this policy
would afford undue protection to some
articles, and inadequate protection to
others, but protection not being the pur.
pose Of o revenue tariff, this would not
enter into the confederation Of the quca.
::;;eS, theoretically speaking. il might,
however, as o practical question render
the uniform rate of tariff impracticable,
for revenue beins The objec. whenever
tho uniform rate goes 90 high NJ TO stop
by permitting American In.
dustries to entirely undersell any class of
the revenue from 'such imports
would be entirely stopped and on the
other hand, when the uniform rate reu.
ders the duty on certain class OF arti.
cles 90 low that the mani. ;acture of such
articles entirely stops at home, such or.
Acles would y.s!d a h;sasr revenue if
the rate Of duty were raised to the high.
est point which would eJnis such foreign
products to thio country at rate which
would underseli the home article.
Whenever the duty Is made high enough
to enable the homo producer to compete
with the foreign supply, the tariff be.
comes In its nature protective. We be-
iieve that nil tariffs levied by this govern
ment have been either directly for the
purpose Of protecting home industries, or
such protection haa been kept steadily
In view % an incident Of such levy.
Then the only other equitable form of
sari6 !. lie efscts upon American indus.
tries, would be tariff adjusted 80 as to
raise the necessary expenses of the gov.
ernment, and laid upon all imports other
than the exempted uecessaries of life in
such manner as to permit the American
manufacturers to make q uniform small
prodtin competition with imported goods.
This, while In one sense Il might be
termeds tariff for revenue, would in re.
ality hecome protective, for protection
would bs the basis of tho levy, and not
merely an incident to IL. 3,
The tariff Is the moat complex question
Of the day, and any policy that may b.,
adopted will be severely criticised. II
seems to rs, therefore, that the safest
course for the party now Is 10 content
Itself with the investigations necessary
70 enable It 70 act with a t.erouph
knowledge upon this matter. Any ro.
vision that can bs made now will be Of
2 necessity Yery imperfecs, and viii doubt.
!sss injufe instead Of advancing parry
interests The, present. Indications are
.aat the Democratic 1 majority ID ,be
House : Nili not = bs prscipitate Ia iss action,
'nd .aIs there sa ds ne take is but little proba.
'i ,illt Al % 3 apiuda dapt Ja venture % the
sasthef Y sspaoval ef the duty on eusars
I1ti sIh1tiiletds tariff remains, as IL pfesent Il.
saliiged e would be both apjass and
nroiiiic On the other Hand, 10 : , think