Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-09-22

had to buy 1t in winter when it was dear,
and he said that of all the taxes that he
paid ON all the goods he purchased he
grudged most the money he paid for coal.
That sounded good. l thought to my
self, if the Mills bill has tackled the coal
question and has done something in that
regard, as Colonel irish would have us be-
iieve, perhaps it is entitled to some credit.
| have here the Mills bill, issued by the
Democratic Committee of the House of
Representative OF the United States, signed
by Roger @. Mills, as Chairman of the
Committee on Ways and Means, contain
ing every letter, every line, every tax,
every reduction and every particle of free
list with the law as ii now is printed side
by side with the Mills bill, and | tell you,
feilow-citiE9n they have not reduced
the tax on coal ene single cent. They have
not touched il. Applause Where, then,
comes the argument and the talk of Col
onel Irish with reference To coal? Il was
Irish tslkr lApplause.l
THE SALT TAX.
Again, he spoke of the tax on salt. He
spoke Of that as being something that was
awful to pay; something that oppressed
everybody. Well salt is something that
we all use. Salt, understand, is now from
a cent TO two and half cents g pound in
this city. Rather Highland an average
family containing six people, as mine does,
uses in the course Of year about sixty
pounds, and the tax that we pay, estimat-
ing that he is correct in the matter and
that tariff is q tax and raises prices, would
be about three and eight-tenths cents
something near four cents a year. Four
cents year is not very large sum for a
man to pay in indirect taxes. Now let us
see-assuming that it is a tax, which it is
not. Assuming that il is something that
is necessary, and that it ought to be re-
duced, let us see what will be the result
claim to know something in reference TO
this matter, because l was born in the CITY
of Syracuse, in the State of New York,
where the salt works of New York State are
situated, from which most of the salt used
in the East and large portion of the salt
used in California is derived. l have here,
cut from a Syracuse paper, the views of
Mr.. Thomas Gale, of Syracuse, q man
whom | have known since | was born, a
Democrat always-neyer voted any other
ticket but that-always engaged in the salt
business-one of the leading men OF
Central New York, and this year he
publishes a communication in the
Syracuse Journal, in which he says that
he leaves the Democratic party this fall
because of free trade and because of free
trade in salt, which will crush down that
industry in Syracuse. Applause l will
read from this sufficient to show you the
figures in reference to salt. That is, | said
| would, but the light is 50 poor that l
cannot see to read it all. l think | can
state it correctly, having read it. He says
That the six million bushels of salt produced
III Onondaga county brings return to Syracuse
City and the State of New York of S60OQ0O a
year. 1t comes out of the ground here We
don go away to buy the product and then sell
IL again. II you buy salt OF a foreigner, in con-
sequence of taking off the tariff you get salt that
answers the same purpose. But see here YOU
have lost S600,00 in each year. You have got
the salt but the English have got your money.
When we make the sa { the country has got both
the product and the money. Ny works alone
pay $1,000 year taxes to the town of Salina
Ihe salt works of Syracuse pay S24 600 year in
taxes. Bear in mind that the foreigner does
not pay one cent OF our taxes, and yet the Demo-
cratic party wants TO admit salt free so that the
foreigner viii make all the money
! go to New York with hoatload of
and he has boatload of salt He comes
into New York free. Both of us sell
to the same man for the same price Now then,
my cargo has paid a school tax, a highway tax,
poor tax law and order tax, pension tax
a county and State tax. What has the British
importer paid? Why, nothing. He carries the
money away with him TO the land where labor
costs half that it does here. l bring nv money
home, pay my taxes, pay my employees living
wages and improve my locality. Ny land that
now pays one tenth the tax of the town of Sail
ma didn't pay one shilling before it was i'm
proved. How are you going TO build up the
country unless you improve it? And how are
you going to improve, or even venture to i'm
prove, unless you have encouragement?
Is not that the question in nutshell ?
lApplause That is the testimony of a
man who for more than thirty years has
been leading Democrat in Central New
York-giving the figures, showing wherein
the tax upon salt, as Colonel Irish calls it.
or the tariff on salt, as it really is, has given
hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxes
to the State of New York and the United
States. The industry pays into the State
OF New York 100000 of taxes, and in the
United States over So, ,000, 600 of taxes; and
yet they desire to strike that interest down
IN order that they may benefit somebody
in the old country. Forbid it, forbid it,
ye American citizens [Applause1
PECULIAR STATEMENTS.
Another thing in connection with this
salt tariff, as illustrating the peculiar man.
ner In which these Democrats make their
speeches. Colonel Irish first spoke of the
manner in which salt was taxed by the
tariff, and then he said that the fisherman
of New England using the salt to cure his
fish was entitled to use it free, while a
farmer of the West curing his hams or
bacon must pay for his salt, and he asked
why 1t was that a man that had hog to
pickle could not have the salt free as well
as the fisherman. That sounded as though
there was something in it, as though an ad-
vantage was given to one, although the an
swer would have been verv promptly that
if it benefited the fisheries of New Eng
land it benefited the whole nation, But
the answer to it is better than that for the
answer is contained in this Mill BILL and is
20 be found on page 46 OF the bill where
you will find that under the law as il now
stands the man who pickles his hog has
Just the same free salt as the man who
pickles his fish. Applausel Then what
becomes of his argument that there was
discrimination in favor of the man
who salts fish as against the
man who pickles hogs? God
knows the American hog has
a hard enough time of il in life and death
without making it harder for him by unfair
statements. He nearly brought us into A
war with Germany by reason of his peculiar
antics there, and now Colonel Irish wants
the East and West 10 fight over him and
fish Laughter and applause He made
the most Of this argument, as showing the
inequalities of the present tariff, but the
Mills bill, that | hold in my hand, shows
the same privilege is now given to the man
that pickles the hog as is given to the man
that pickles the fish. | referred to that TO
show you the insincerity of these argu-
ments. | am not a shorthand reporter.
and l never wished in my life / was one so
much as | did two weeks ago when heard
Colonel Irish's speech, that I could have
taken down, word for word, some of his
statements that have called your attention
to, because it would better enable me 10
show the sophistical rhetoric and unfair
method in which he brought up his facts
and marshaled his arguments in favor of
free trade. This pretended conflict between
hog and fish, with advantage to the fish.
does not exist and it was unfair to pretend
that 1t did.
THE WOOL TARIFF.
But be went on and spoke of wool and
drew picture in reference to that staple.
and what was to be done about it, which
also appealed to every man very strongly.
He said that the idea of the Democrats
was to reduce the tax on the raw
material; to reduce the tax on wool itself.
so that the American manufacturer might
import fine wool from Australia and else
where and mix it with the coarser grades of
American wool, and thus be enabled to
compete with the foreign manufacturer in
the same line of goods. That sounded
reasonable and as though there
might be something in the proposition but