The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-09-06
THE TAX ON NECESsARIEs.
Where the High Tariff Touches
the Poor Man.

/ Does the tariff tax take anything out
. Of the pockets Of the Esge-earner: No
csr ga.herer ever comes 20 his house with
: bill for tariff taxes and demands set
! Element. Nothing is heard about II the
year round. There is nothing on the
! surface 20 indicate that the day lsborer
the clerk, the mechanic, the car driver, the
! c, achuan, the cook, the nurse, or the
newstoy ever contribute anything toward
cae income OF the government or the
extra profits Of the manufacturing
capitalist. But they do. nevertheless. For
/ every 81 that goes to the goYernmeu;
! s. goes TO the manufacturer a. bounty
I The tax vas collected when the persons
named bought what they had IL their
houses and on their backs. On one mans
/ working suit of clothes, costing 81, the
bounty TO the manufacturer Hes 1927;
one good suit costing $50, bounty $6.4.:
overcoat costing SIS, bounty $4.85; two
flannel shirts $3.50, bounty CT cents; two
flannel drawers $50, bounty 81 cents; six
wool sacks s., bounty IS cents;
one wool hat IS, bounty $129;
oue wool cap 81, bounty 43 cents;
one pair suspenders 80 cents, bounty II
cents; one pair shoes $3.50, bounty 10
cents: one pair wool gloves 80 cents,
bounty q cents; rubber coat $3.50, bounty
81 cents; umbrella, 81, bounty 81 cts; three
linen handkerchiefs 81, bounty 20 cents;
one silk tie 80 cents, bounty II cents; one
pocket knife $125, bounty ~ cents:
razor $1.25, bounty IL cents; shaving
brush So cents, bounty cents: four
cotton shirts, So, bounty 10 cents; two
pair cotton drawers 81, bounty 81 cents !;
one woo! scar; 80 cents, bounty
81 cents. Any laboring man or
other person having small income is
able TO Judge whether he Is in a position
to make present to anybody of the
bounty he pays on each of the articles
here mentioned. If he is single man
perhaps he can spare the sums named,
and is willing to do so. But if he has
use for the money, amounting on these
articles alone to $22.29 year, he has a
right 10 vote at the polls to keep it in his
pocket. Put in life insurance, or in the
savings bank, $22 30 year may provide
very nicely for rainy day. But if he is a
married man, with family, he will find the
tariff tax taking the following sums also
out of his pocket to swell the surplus at
Washington, or to add to the profits of
the manufacturer: three calico dresses for
wife, cost 1925, bounty 90 cents; three
aprons, so cents, bounty 10 cents; two
woolen dresses, SIC, bounty $3.50; two
balmo-aI skirts So, bounty S11O; two cot
ton skirts $3.50, bounty % cents; two
suits fannels So, bounty $1.29; two suits
cotton underwear 81, bounty IS
cents; three pair cotton hose 81,
bounty % cents; wooden cloak S12,
bounty, $3.50; shawl, Sc, bounty S2.79:
hood 1925, bounty 81 cents; straw bon
net 81, bounty % cents; two pair shoes
81, bounty so cents rubbers 80 cen s,
bounty 10 cents; parssoI 81, bounty ~
cents; veil 20 ceuts, bounty 24cents; five
yards ribbon 80 cents, bounty II cents:
three liner collars 90 cents. bounty II
cents; three pairs linen cuffs 60. cents,
bounty II cents; three handkerchiefs rs
cents, bounty 20 cents; tuck comb 90
| cents, bounty cents; tooth brush So
cents, bounty 5 cents pair wool mits 80
cents, bounty 81 cents; pair gloves $1.25,
bounty Il cents. On the expenditure OF
SCI 80 in settlement of the wife's store
bill, the struggling citizen has thus paid
Spills in tariff taxes, about one-tifth OF
which went into the government treasury
and the other four tifths to some far off
manufacturing capitalist Part of this
tax the poor man will be relieved from
small part, it is true-if the Mills bill
becomes a law, that much the larger part
ne will always have to bear, as it is the
settled policy of our government TO obtain
the most of its revenue from tariff taxes.
Still he will not object if the Mills
bill gets him discount of from to 10
per cent off his wife's and his own store
bill If the wage- Garner has one daughter
to clothe he will feel additional interest
in the tariff. as it Will make her store bill
S5S 50, or $20.15 more than it would be
without the existing high tariff. If there
is boy in the family to buy for, his store
bill will be increased about S1S.12 on q
total expenditure of $500. With a
family, consisting of wife and two
children, it is expedient to keep
house. This is the opportunity of the
tariff lord. To furnish the kitchen, $3.50
will have to be paid out, of which sum
S2974 is tariff tax. On the cook stove
alone costing SIS, there is tariff tax of
$l2; on iron pans tariff tax of SPAS; on
dishes costing so, tax of $3.50. Pass
ing to household furniture, the mechanic
in furnishing his dwelling, will find that
in buying one heating stove at SO he is
paying a tax Of S4.65; on so yards of
carpet costing $40, tax of $40; on
three sets of bedroom furniture costing
SIS, a tax of $19.45. If he spends
S2396O to furnish his rooms, be will have
paid tariff tax of $6766, In the course
of year he will spend some $50 at the
grocer's, S2Oof which will be tariff tribute.
But the housekeeper's wants are as uu-
merous as the holes in cornmeal sitter.
He will want a Ratchet, costing 81, on
which he will pay tariff tax of 81 cents;
a file, costing % cents, on which he pays
10 cents tax; basket, costing 81, on which
the tax is 80 cents; grirdstone, costing
So, on which the tax amounts to 80 cents |:
spade, costing 80 cents, on which the
tax is 10 cents. If he should buy 20
pounds of nails his tax would be 25
cents. These are few of the things the
householder buys, and on all he is taxed.
His rent is even higher by reason of the
tariff, as the tariff has enhanced the cost
of the material of which his house was
built. Anybody can see that a reduction
of tariff duties is desirable. As the aver
age rate now is 47.1O per cent, it is plain
that the Mills bill is moderate in pro-
posing, as it does, reduction of but Z
per cent. The entire duty in Washing
tons time was but s per cent, and when