The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-19
TARIFF THUNDERCLAPS.
BRECKINRIDGE OUTROARS RAN
DALI AND MKINLEY.


The Pennsylvanian Sets the Ball Roll
ing with His Protection Reasonings
Mr.. Mills Inclined to Cut Mr.. Ran
dali Off Before he Finished-The
Kentuckian Defends the Wavs and
Means Committee.
WASHINGTON, May 1S.-The House was
called to order this morning by Mr. McMil-
lin, of Tennessee, as Speaker pro tenn. The
House Immediately went into committee of
the whole, with Mr. Springer, of Illinois, lin
the chair, on the tariff bill Mr. Anderson,
of Iowa, denounced the protective system
and its horrible progeny, the innumerable
modern monsters known as trusts sired
by greed and damned by contrivance
which eliminated from American COM
merce the vital principle of competition.
[Applausel
Mr.. Cheadle of Indiana confined himself
to discussion of the question whether pro
lection protected and maintained the af-
tirmative of the proposition.
The floor was then accorded to Mr.. Ran
dali, of Pennsylvania. He opened his
speech by referring tothe Presidents recent
Congress that the surplus in the treasul y
by June 80, at the end of the current fiscal
year, would be expected to reach the sum
of Sl4O,OOO,0O0, including prior accumula-
tlons, or more closely stated, the sum of
Sll3, 900, apart from prior accumula-
tions, over and above all authorized expen-
ditures, including the sinking fund for the
current year.
THE INTERNAL REVENUE.
He then quoted from the Presidents mes
sage, defining his position on the tariff and
internal revenue questions, and said that
from the utterances of the President he
understood the Executive to be adverse to
any reduction of internal taxes, as that
mode of taxation afforded, in the opinion of
the President, no just complaint, and that
nothing is so well able to bear the burden
without hardship TO any portion of the peo-
pie" The President further said that the
tariff law was vicious and illogical source
of inequitable tax and ought to be revised
and modified, and the President had urged
upon Congress immediate expression of
this matter to the exclusion of all others.
The President had asserted, In substance,
that the reduction necessary should be made
by additions to the free list and by the
lowering of the rates of duty. In the pres
ence of SUCH language, emanating
from an Executive, authorized by
direction of the constitution to
communicate from time to time, to give to
Congress Information of the state of the
union and recommend such measures as he
should judge necessary, it was impera-
lively required of the representatives of the
people TO give fair, intelligent and prompt
attention to the suggestions made. He had
done so. He had Introduced and had re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and
Means a bill to reduce and equalize duties
on imports and to reduce internal revenue
taxes, and some provisions of the bill
showed that the remedies ne would apply
were at variance with those recommended
by the President. The President sought to
prevent continuation of the surplus rev.
enue by resorting to changes in the Gus
toms duties.
HIS OWN PROPOSALS..
The only remedy he (Mr Randall pro
posed was thorough repeal of the internal
revenue taxes as well as by full revision of
the tariff as promised to the people by the
Democratic convention of 1884 The re-
ductions provided for in his bill aggregated
SIT 900, 600 on internal taxes. Those taxes
mad always been tho last to be levied and
the first to be repealed when no longer
necessary. jefferson had given death
blow to excise taxes, that most vicious of
all taxes. and among the things he received
the thanks of the legislature of his
native State for doing was for having the
internal taxes abolished. The first
tax also to be repealed after
the war of 1912 had been the excise tax,
which was recommended by President Mad
ison, and was the first law enacted under
the administration of President Mouroe.
The Democratic convention Of 1884 de-
clared that the internal revenue was a war
tax, and this declaration, taken in connec-
tion with the other declarations of the
platform clearly established the fact that
the opinion of the convention was that
some Of the internal revenue taxes should
first go, and that they should all go when
ever a sufficient sum was realized from the
custom house taxes to meet the expenses Of
the government, economically administered.
The country was practically in such
a condition now, and the true response
to these declarations warranted the repeal
of the internal revenue taxes to the extent
proposed by his bill He favored now, as
he had always done, total repeal of the
internal revenue taxes. [Applausel In
the bill which he introduced, he proposed to
sweep all those taxes from the statute
books, except the tax of SC. on whisky, and
he would transfer the collection of that tax
to the customs officers, if.that was found to
be practicable.
II this internal revenue system was
abolished to-day we would have no surplus
revenue to scare the country, while the ad-
ministration of public affairs would be rem
dered purer and better. His ill proposed
revision of the tariff on principles believed
TO be in harmony with the authorized dec
larations of the Democratic party in its
last convention.
WAGE DIFFERENCES.
These declarations clearly recognized the
fact that difference existed in the cost Of
production Of commodities in this and
other countries on account of the higher
rate OF wages III the United States,
and declared for O duty ample to
cover that difference. There was
a cardinal principle which must cover every
intelligent revision Of the tariff. Labor in
this country received much larger share
of what was annually produced than in any
other country, and this advantage TO labor
could only be maintained by giving to the
indu tries protection equal 10 that differ
ence. While a dollar might buy more in
another country than here, a days labor
here would obtain more OF the
comforts of life than anywhere
else. Under free trade, this advantage
20 labor disappeared. IL was impossible
that IL should be otherwise. If the tariff
itself did not give higher wages to the la
borer It. did preserve from foreign competi-
tion the industries from which the laborer
received his wages He wished TO refer 10
a few fundamental propositions which have
been maintained throughout this debate,
and which appeared TO exercise a controlling
influence over the opinions OF mem first,
that the duties were always added to the
r,rica to tho conSIImpr on articles not pro-