Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-08-25


myself when they find one, The proceeds
of whose profession don't afford him and
his family q comfortable support -why
don't they tax you all for his benefit, 90 as
to protect him? Or when they find doc
tor whose income is not sufficient to sup
port him or his family, why don't they tax
all the people of Port Huron in order to
add to the wealth of that doctor? And 30
on with everything else. Why don't they
do it? And yet they do tax man, or did
tax him, aud do yet, pretty highly some
times, on the medicine. that he Is Obliged
to take. remember one Of the most sat
isfactory votes that cast when in the Sen
ate of the United States was to abolish the
tax on quinine, 80 that a man with the
fever and ague could have his quinine
without being robbed of his means OF sub
sistenee. Applause.
WAVES THE BANDANA. =
know there are q few cases, but they
are very few and exceptional and not OF
sufficient Importance TO make 1T necessary
for me to speak of them to-day, in the
limited time have to speak, in which the
duty or tariff tax is not all paid by the
consumer, but they are 30 tritilug In
amount and 40 insignificant thatit is not
necessary that I should occupy your time
with them. The principle, the general
fact, is that this tax Here the speaker
was interrupted by cheering and applause
which followed his producing bandsna
handkerchief.) Well, gentlemen, this is
a good, honest handkerchief, and could
have bought it a good deal cheaper if it
had not been for the tariff tax. Great
laughter and prolonged cheering
Now, there are men who say the con-
sumner don't pay the tax. have said that
that il a most audacious assertion, and
have tried TO show you that he must ueces-
ssrily pay the tax. But if they want au-
thority upon that subject let me refer to
some men who have spoken upon it and
whose words will hardly be gainsaid
First, / will 20 back to John Quincy Ad-
ans, and dsresay there are plenty OF Re-
publicans aud some AbOlitionists in this
crowd who have great veneration for that
mans memory. knew him we'll; served
in the House of Representatives with him.
and know how intelligent he was, and |
know how frank and outspoken ne was.
In the year 1882 he was Chairman of the
House Committee on Manufactures, and
he said in a report made by him in that
year:
The doctrine that duties Of import seein
to cheaper the price of the article on
which they are levied seems to conflict
with the first dictates of common sense.
The duty constitutes a part Of the price,
the whole mass of the article in the mar
ket 1t is substantially paid upon the
article of domestic man ufacture, IA well as
upon that of foreign production. Upon
one 1T is bounty, upon the other burden,
aud the repeal of the tax must operate as
au equivalent reduction of the price of the
article, whether foreign or domestic. We
say 80 long as the importation continues,
the duty must be paid by the purchaser
of the article. The general and per-
maneut effect must be to increase
the price of the article to
the extent of additional duty, and 1t is
then paid by the consumer. II it were
not no, if the general effect of adding 10 the
duty was to reduce the price of the article
upon which it is levied, the converse Of
he proposition would also be true, and
the operation for Increasing the price of the
domestic article would be to repeal the
duty on the same article imported, an ex'
pertinent which the friends OF our internal
industry will not be DESTROYS of making
We cannot subscribe, therefore, to the doc
trins that the duties Of imports, protective
of our own manufacturers, are paid by the
foreign merchant or manufacturer.
ANOTHER HIGH AUTHORITY.
Bot John Quincy Adams knew better,
and he was too honest a man TO make such
a false pretense. Well, what said President
Arthur? In his annual message to Congress
in lS82-S3 President Arthur said:
81 recommend an enlargement of the free
list; that is, OF goods that pay no duty--so
a. to include within it the numerous ar
ticles which yield an iDconsiderable rev.
enue simplification of the complex and
inconsistent schedule OF duties upon GER
tain manufactures, particularly those OF
cotton, iron and steel, and substantial
reduction of the duties upon those articles
and upon sugar, molssses, wool and wooden
goods"
Well, that is precisely what the Demo-
Gratis are striving to do. That is precisely
what the Mills bill, ~ it is called, attempts
TO do; and yet these gentlemen who are
bowling around about the benefits of pro-
lection and the ruin that the Democrats
are bringing on the country tell you that
this thing which President Arthur recon-
mended only so lately is nothing in the
world but free trade. They are more
afraid of free trade than they are Of rattle
snakes. Laughter and applause They
are terribly alarmed lest they should be
bitten by free trade. Renewed laughter
Well, now, 80 far from this being free
trade, the most striking thing about the
Mills bill il that it is the most moderate
reduction of tariff duties that has ever
been attempted in this country. The
average duty levied under the present tariff
was AZ per cent. and under the Mills bill
the average would he only about 40 pei
cent q reduction of only per cent on all
commodities taken tagether. o. course
there are some things upon which the duty
was reduced more For instance, the duty
is taken of of q number of articles called
raw material, which are used by manufac'
turers in their work, in the fabrication OF
their products, and "a they receive this
great benefit of having their raw materials
free, or with superlstively small duty,
the bill wisely provides that the articles
manufactured by them when brought into
the country shall pay lower rate Of duty
than they did before But that is nothing
more than compensation for taking of
the duty from the raw material.
PRESIDENT GARFIELD QUOTED.
President Garfield said III the House Of
Representatives on March 10, 1871: IL
was surprised at remark of the distin'
guished gentleman from Michigan-(I do
not know who that distinguished gentle
man was, hut he was Michigander.) he
asserted that there is no item in the whole
tariff that can stand alone on its merits,
but that all must he taken III lump in
order to stand; that coal must take salt by
the hand and they, too, must take some
thing else by the hand; and thus all inter
ests unite with all forces before they can
make a stand before the country. If this
remark be true il strikes blow at the
whole tariff system; blow am not will
ing to strike. am unwilling TO admit
that bad taxes must he tied TO good ones