The sun., 1884-04-20
Mr.. Morrts0n's Present Attitude.

Before tho tariff bill Of the Inst Congress
fnnlly brcnmc q Inv it was estimated that
Tho reduction In the rcvrnuo would amount
&C. little loss than thirty-ilve millions cf dol
lnrs year. or, In othor words, about three
million dolnrs n month. How truo that esti.
mnte was cnn he seen from the following
figures which our netghbor. tho Times, has
taken from the Financial Chronicle:
The Financial, chronicle has analyzrd the working Of
II. tax aud tnrif law for nine months with some
surprising results. The decrease In receipts from nte.
bs revenue and misc siAueos fOs tile current
Year estimating the last quarter upon the experience OF
t,s hrN three viii Le s.4rUycCO instead OF S34 10000
- had been expected Ent IN the past the receipts from
these sources have shown constant increase the
bsinx unchanged Hence for the next the docrsase
viii be less than s.] OLUr, comclus,ou which there
aru special reasons for regarding with conn.
aencs. Tho customs receipts tor the three quar-
tiers decrsssed. respectively, by s7.StOOOO. $3.50
ouI and SSUCOOUo. That IL 10 Ssy. the decrease is
itself constantly diminishing and for the third quarter
averaged only si nOUD monthly. Even this decrease 1t
aresr not das to tho alleged reduction Of rates Of
suso but IN the decline In imports which subject
10 tax To state this differently the decline In customs
receipts for the third quarter was $3.UUOu but the
decline IN imports slOODDOU The conrlusion 10
that the for the next fiscal year will be f,
0UOO0 and the surplus si2DOOO!Uu. Perhaps cause
Of business depression 10 prominent than excessive
taxation and yet the debt which for special
wants paid quickly. goes diminishing at o rate
sever before known. Meanwhile the Democratic ma.
1oriy continues tO discuss what It shall do about the
tarh with eye sinxy devoted to Presidential strategy
and with regard to the Intrinsic marits Of tile
euestion."
1t will DO seen that the decrease In the
revenue for the last three of the nine months
during which the new tariff law had been in
operation was only about million dollars
month. or twelve million dollars year In
stead OF thirty-five. And that, too, with de-
creased imports. 1t Is not at all improbable
that by the last month OF the first twelve
under the new tariff law the Custom House
will find Itself In constant receipt OF as large
revenue as 1t was before the law was
passed.
The MORRISON bill inits present shape, ac-
cording to the opinion Of its author. will re-
duco the revenue from twenty-five to thirty
millions. But when we look at the enormous
complcxlty OF the problem and the previous
foilure Of experts to foretell anything like
the true results Of change In the tariff, such
predictions become Of little practical value.
Other economists, and Of greater experience
than Col. MORRISON. differ with him In re-
gard to the figure Of the prophesied re-
ducttOn. Some, aud among these Mr. HEw-
TIT, oven assert that under the proposed re-
vision Of tie tariff the revenue would be
greater than 1t IL now. So, when we con-
slider In what an uncertain form the bill
would emerge from the House Of Represen-
tauves. provided 1t ever did pass that
body, 1t becomes apparent that with the
question OF revenue reduction that measure
has little or perhaps no relation. 1t would
be as likely to Increase tho revenue as to
diminish it.
Tho Idea, then, embodied In the MORRISON
bill, 1t Ii fair to say, Is that the tariff must
be slashei, even at the risk Of swelling tho
enormous and indefensible surplus OF taxes
which Is now annually piled up In the ma
tionnl treasury.
Such IL the present attitude assumed by
tho tarifr reform statesmen, and such Is the
business In which they would exhaust the
strength OF tho Democratic party when oT,-
portunitles for succnss aud usefulness were
laid bcior., 1t such as have not been offered
to my political organization siuce the close
Oi tho civil war.