Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1888-07-27


Sth E. Z. MEREDITH, of Prince William.
9th. JOHN A. BUCHANAN, of Washington.
10TH r. B. POORE, of Appomattox.
HON. JACOB YOST WANTS A
STILL HIGHER TAX ON
THE PEOPLE.
We are indebted to the courtesy OF Hon.
Jacob Yost, member of the House OF Re-
personalities from this district, for copy
of his speech on the Tariff delivered June
18th, It is founded on an amendment he
offered to the Mills bill, taking tin from
the free list and increasing the tax on it to
s.2-lO cents pound. He pleads that, 'In
my district alone a large deposit OF tin OF
fine quality is now being developed" He
makes calculation to show that it the
2eS 1854 tons of tin-plate imported from
Great Britain in 1887 had been made in
the Tenth congressional district of Vir-
ginia, it "would have given every man in
that district 81. so for every working day
of the year." This is an arithmetic
al calculation worthy Of the hopeful
Wilkins Micawber. Now. as matter OF
fact. there has not been pound of tin
produced in Mr.. Yost's congressional dis
trict since his birth, nor for one hundred
years before that. nor during the colonial
days yet before that, nor is there pound
produced in the United States. And yet,
upon the possibility that 'large
deposit" may be developed in the fu-
ture, he not only wants the present
tax of SIS. 100000 on tin continued, but in
creased to over two cents a pound noa0.
There would be exactly as much justice in
the Directors of the Valley turnpike rails
ing the rates of toll on all farm products
passing over their pike, to the high level of
railroad freight noD, on the ground that
at some future day their pike might be
developed into railroad.
Mr.. Yost talks of the interest OF the
interest of the workingmen in this tariff
on tin. Let US look at this. What work
ingmen can possibly be benefited by the
tax on tin ? There is no workingman in
America engaged in making tint all
comes from Great Britain-but there are
thousands of workingmen engaged in the
manufacture of tinWare. It is estimated
that of the value of tinware now made by
those workingmen. twenty-five per cent. is
their wages-the other IS per cent. goes to
the tariff tax, the price Of the tin plate, and
the profit of the manufacturer. By the adj
mission of tin free, the Mills bill leaves 81
per cent. more of that IS per cent. to go to
the workman the consumer, and the manu-
facturer, and completes with no American
industry. 1t enlarges the consumption and
furnishes more work. With cheaper tin
ware there is less tinkering and mending
of the old, and more use of the new manu-
featured article. But Mr.. Yost would
wave all this advantage to the workman
and the consumer aside, for the benefit of
capitalists who own deposits which, it is
supposed may at some coming day, darkly
obscure in the future, be developed. Ac-
cording to Mr.. Yost's figures there are
the tons reduced to pounds ,073 1855 900
pounds of tin imported in this country
every year, which now pay tariff tax of
$780, 900. This tax he proposes to increase
to the higher tax of 2 and 2I0 cents a
pound, making total tax of ST. sos. O66 to
be borne by the consumers until tin mines
have been developed in this country. 1t is
to be paid forever unless some day tin is
produced in this country-and then 1t is
to be continued forever under the name of
ssprotection'' for the benefit of capitalists
who own the lucky mines. And, mark you,
this additional tax is paid by the working
men and farmers of Ghis country-for the
poor are the largest users of tinware.
Now look at how this tax bears upon
the first diversified industry that the
farmers of Virginia, and especially those
in the counties of Mr.. Yost's district, are
attempting to make. We say the farmers,
because the farmers get the bulk of the
money it brings. IN Rockbridge there are
some ten canneries starting, in Augusta
two, and perhaps others in other counties
of the district Besides these, canning is
largely done on farms. The steady, direct
and Increasing drain upon this industry is
the tax on the tin made into cans. The
consumption of tin by it is enormous.
Upon this industry, which literally springs
out of the farm soil and is often carried
to its end on the same farm, Mr.. Yost
proposes not only to continue the tariff tax,
but to increase it-increase it forever, and
rather than to abate one cent of it, to give
the people-free whiskey That is the
platform he is standing upon.
And now about the benefit which the
manufacturer, gets from the tariff tax on
it. The tinWare workers of Stauuton paw
the price fixed on tin at new York by the
Importers. If the tariff is high the price
is high, and going on down, the timer is
forced to charge his customers more
Mr.. Yost's 2 2.10 cents a pound drops
square on the shoulders of the people in
the end. In this business higher tariff
is a straight jacket on the work1ngman.
1t reduces the consumption. gives less
work to the workmen and drives small
employers with little capital out of the
business as it did in 1868. The higher the
tariff, the fewer the timers that have
steady work.
1t is such propositions as that of Mr..
Yost, that will kill true Protection in this
country if it ever is killed. There is no tin
developed in Virginia, there has been none
in century, and yet Mr.. Yost proposes