Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-02-03

kASS
covered many pages of text. The nv
Iousu reason to which the honorable Sena-
tor from Ohio alludes consisted OF the TACT
that the President was called upon TO afhx
his signature to a bill appropriating Sl4,-
OOO OOO Of the public money without the
opportunity TO read or know a line Of Its
provisions or an object Of its application.
He wss engaged in the very act Of reeding
the bill and in this Capitol when the ham
mers fell and Congress adjourn ed. Faith
fitness to public trust and a judicious re-
gard for the public interest stood aIlke as
barrierst 10 an act whose omission the honor
able Senator from Ohio condemns. 10
such a verge have we come at last that the
President is denounced because he does
not choose to play hide and 60 seek"
with the trivial sum of $4,000 OO and
affix his signature to u bill appropriating
that amount OF the public money, sight
unseen" simply TO aid III the disposition
of an unSeemly surplus.
THE BLAIR L
But the honorable Senator complains
that the House of Representatives refused
TO pass a bill for the support and encourage
meny OF SCuOOI5. MI. itobaOh1I
been the friend of what is known as the
Blair Educational bill to which the Sena-
tor alludes. In spite of the warning OF
MANY Senators that it would tend to break
down the public school system of the
States and eventually defeat the object it
was designed to accomplish, a general
sympathy for its purposes, even with
serious misglviDgs of its policy, commended
il 10 my solicitude and elected my support
of the measure. But when the honorable
Senator from Ohio invokes tbs Blair bill in
opposition to the relief of the present bur-
dens of the people, and holds it up a menace
and a reproach to the demands OF the
country for reform and a reduction Of taxa
ton, the Blair bill and | must part COM
pany. "
have been afraid before, but yielded
that apprehension, TO q generous impulse
for the schools, that the theory of Blair
bill would ultimately interfere with the
school systems of the States. But when
it is boldly asserted now that it shall in
terfere with the tax system of the Govern
ment and contribute by its passage to the
perpetuatiou of intolerable burdens upon
the people, l cannot yield to that. / shall
interpose my objection to that, and | adj
monish the honorable Senator from Ohio
that if his purpose has been to defeat the
passage of the Blair bill in this Congress
be has adopted an entirely practical and
feasible way TO do it. l for one shall &C
cept in this feature at least the full force
and measure of his argument.
But, Mr.. President, the Senator
MAKES A SWEEPING REVIEW
of the Presidents message. 10 q single
dash he dispOses oft all:
"All this is under the pretext that the
surplus revenue must be deminished."
He says:
docs not experience show that reducing
the duties increases importation and adds
to the revenue ?"
Let US examine this assertion, and in
woke the testimony of the Senator himself
in solving it. The tariff laws in force now,
with some notifications adopted by pecu-
liar and questionable methods in 1882, are
substantially those known as the Morrill,
tariff of 1867" The Senator from Ohio
aided largely in passing that tariff. He
denied that the large increase Of that period
were intended for the protection OF
labor. He denied that reducing the
duties increased the revenue, for he
supported large additions to the duties for
that purpose. And SO the Senate has re-
cognized the fact, which we are all bound
to admit, that whether the lowering or in
c~reasing the duty will add to the revenue
is a question of depending upon other COL
sideratiOns than the arbitrary amount OF
the schedule. A duty may he 40 high as
10 prevent impOrtations and yield no rev.
enue. The other extreme is free trade,
which would likewise destroy the income;
and nobody asks Tor free trade. The true
solution isthe fair and Just medium which
shall produces the reyenues the country
needs, no more and no less, according to
the plain dictates Of common honesty, as
DECLARED by the last Democratic platform,
in "a spirit of fairness TO all interests"
But, Mr.. President, let us, as ! have
suggested, compare with his present atti-
tude the former utterauGe5 Of the Senator
from Ohio himself OH the subject. The
President, i'll his message, uses the follow
ing language:
Our progress toward q wise conclusion
VIII uOJ bS ll1ItONCu w uNCAtlhH uPJh
the theories of protection and free-trade.
This savors too much of bandying epithets.
II is a condition which confronts ne, not a
theory. Relief from this condition may
involve a slight reduction Of the advant-
ages which we award u home produc-
tions, but the entire withdrawal Ofsuch ad-
vantages should not be contemplated. The
question Of free trade is absolutely irreley-
ant: and the persistent claim made in GER
tain gu arters that all efforts TO relieve the
people from unjust and unnecessary taxa
ton are schemes of so called free'traders is
mischievOus and far removed from any
consideration for the public good"
Mr.. sHERMAN'S VIEWS IN 1867.
The Senate and the country will be sur
prised to find how closely allied TO the sen
timent Of these expressions were the utter
ances of the honorable Senator from Ohio
when this very tariff of 1867 was under
consideration:
'tIn considering 80 complicated a subject
as q tariff, nothing can be more deceptive
than Interpolation of ~suchlgeneral phrases
as a protective tariff; a revenue tariff; a
free-trade tariff. 1t imposes a burden upon
the purchase and sale of imported goods
and tends To prevent every importation.
The expression of a free-trade tariff in
wolves an absurdity, = = so the
phrase protective tariff may be applied to
every bill imposing duties on imported
goods"
This was in 1867, when the large in
crease demanded in our impost duties, by
the honorable Senator and by his associ.
ates, was based on the necessity for in
creased revenue, and on that alone.
THE inst aud obvious inquiry Of every
Senator discussing the question" said the
Senator from Ohio, lis, how much is it
necessary to raise by tariff on imported
goods" and, going on, he declared:
1T is, therefore, simply an absurdity to
talk To- about a free trade tariff, and 10
talk about a protective tariff is unneces'
sary, because the wit OF mau could not pos
sibly frame q tariff that would produce
$40, COO, 600 in gold without amply pro-
tecting our domestic industry"
Yet, Mr.. President, when our finances
are reduced TO a gold basis, and when this
very system is yielding in a single year
A. 49, - e111 nnn nAn =. -ol5