The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-05-19
RANDALL SPEAKS ON THE TARIFF,
Making So Many Points Against the
Dark Lantern Bill
That mr.. mills objects to an Exten-
sion of His Time.
Arguments ForcibIy Presented b,
Mckinley and Breckenridge.

see, as Speaker pro tenn, and the chaplain
being absent and the reading of the journal
dispensed with, the House Immediately went
into committee of the whole, Mr.. Springer OF
Illinois in the chair, ON the tariff bill.
Mr.. Anderson of Iowa denounced the pro-
/ tective system land its horrible progeny, the
innumerable modern monsters known as
trusts sired by greed and damned by con-
trivanee, which eliminated from American
commerce the vital principle of competi-
tion."
Mr.. Cheade Of Indiana confined himself
to discussion of the question Of whether
protection protected, and maintained the af.
firmative of the proposition.
The floor was then accorded to Mr.. Ran
dali of Pennsylvania. He opened his speech
by referring to the Presidents recent mes
sage, in which the Executive advised Con-
gress that the surplus in the treasury by
June 30th, at the end of the current fiscal
year. would be expected to reach the sum OF
$140.0OO,OOO, including pfior accumulations,
| or more closely stated, the sum of S113,000,-
700, apart from prior accumulations over and
above all authorized expenditures, including
the sinking fund, for the current year. He
| then quoted from the Presidents message.
defining his position on the tariff and inter
nal revenue questions, and said that from the
utterance of the President he understood
the Executive to be adverse TO any reduction
OF the internal taxes as that mode of taxa
tion afforded, in the opinion of the Presi-
dent, mo Just complaint, and that nothing is
SO well able to bear the burden without hard
ship to any portion of the people,"
THE PRESIDENT FURTHER SAID
that the tariff law was a vicious and Illogical
source of inequitable tax and ought to be re-
vised and modified, and the President had
urged upon Congress the immediate express
sion Of this matter to the exclusion of all
others. The President had asserted in sub
stance that The reduction necessary should
be made by additions to the free list and by
the lowering of the rates of duty. In the
presence OF such language, emanating from
the Executive, authorized by the direction Of
the constitution to communicate and from
time to time give to Congress information of
the state OF the union, and recommend such
measures as he should judge necessary, it
was imperatively required Of the representa-
tlyes OF the people to give fair, intelligent.
and prompt attention to the suggestions
made. He had done so. He had introduced
and had referred to the committee on ways
and means bill to reduce and equalize du-
ties ON imports and to reduce the internal
revenue taxes, and some provisions Of that
bill showed that the remedies he would APP
ply were at variance with those recommend
ed by the President. The President sought
to prevent the continuation of the surplus
revenue by resorting to changes in the Gus
toms duties only.
The remedy he (RandalD proposed was
through the repeal of internal revenue taxes
as we'll as by a full revision of the tariff as
promised to the people by the Democratic
for in his bill aggregated $77, 600 900 on inter
nal taxes. Those taxes had always been the
last to be levied and first to be repealed, when
no longer necessary. Jefferson had given
THE DEATH BLOW TO EXCISE TAXES
that most vicious of all taxes, and he re-
ceived the thanks of the Legislature of his
native State for having the internal taxes
abolished. The first tax. also, to be repealed
after the war of 1872 had been the excise tax,
which was recommended by Madison and
was the first law enacted under the admins
tration of Monroe. The Democratic conyen-
tion of 1884 declared that internal revenue
was war tax, and this declaration, taken
in connection with the other declarations of
the platform, cleaely established the fact
that the opinion Of the convention was that
some OF the internal revenue taxes should 90
andsall go whenever sufficient sum was real
lied from custom house taxes to meet the ex-
penses OF the government, economically ad-
ministered. The country was practically in
sucn a condition now, and the true response
to those declarations warranted the repeal of
the internal revenue taxes to the extent pro-
prosed by his bill. He favored now, as he
had always, total repeal of the internal
taxes. lApplause.] In the bill which he in
troduced, he proposed to sweep all these tax
es from the statute books, except a tax of 80
cents on whisky, and he would transfer the
collection OF that tax to the customs officials,
Albert Gallatin, he had regarded excise taxes
as offensive to the genius of the people, toll
Grated only as measure of emergency, and
as soon as the occasion for them had passed
away they. should cease to exist.
Ii the proposition were true that the customs
tax on the articles produced in the country
was bounty paid by the consumer to the
producer, it would be no more justification
for the Mills bill than for the present law,
but the proposition was erroneous. Adam
Smith proved that larger profits could not
long preyaller in one Industry than another
in the same country. The United States
FORMED A WORLD BY ITSELF.
1t was impossible for one class of .consum-
ers to pay perpetual tax to another. The
farmer and manufacturer of this country
must depend almost exclusively on the home
market. Any other policy would mean ruin
and bankruptcy. The greater the producing
power of the people the more independent
and wealthy it would be. In his bill. the
rates of duties had been fixed as nearly as
possible to cover the difference in the cost of
production here and abroad. The bill low
cred duties wherever possible. There was
line between Tree trade and a prohibitiye
tariff where the difference between the cost
OF production here and abroad could be bal
anced and enough revenue raised to meet the
needs OF the government. When the goods
came in sufficient quantity to suppress the
home manufactures, the duty should be
raised. When the duties were so high that
they permitted trusts at home. they should
be lowered. Ii his bill furnished more pro-
lection IN any case than was necessary to
balance the difference in the cost of pr0duc-
ton. he was willing to lower it, MonopO-
lies existed without the tariff. The Stand
ard Oil trust, the cotton seed oil trust and
the whiskey trust were not protected by the
tariff. He was for protection of labor in
every State and the present industrial sys-
tenn.
Mr.. Randall devoted some time to an
swerlng attacks on his bill, and quoted
of duties that is established by it.
Ee then criticised the Mills bill at length.
showing that it left many raw materials of
the free list, while putting many manufac-
tured products in which the said raw materi-
ais are used, on the free list, thus placing an
lnsdrm0untable barrier in the way Of max
ing such articles here, and actually protect
ing che foreign laborer against our own.
Again, the bill placed lower rates on some
manufactured articles than on the materials
uotu III uldkluR tu6ln. liz luSbduceu many
of these, and showed that the difference was
such as would destroy the manufacture of
these articles here, except on the condition
of levelling wages to the European standard
by reduction of duties, so large in many
cases as to restrict home manufacture and
enormously increase importation, thus in
creasing the revenue instead of decreasing
it. The supporters of the bill claimed to be
the champions of the farmer, while taking
from him protection on wool, hemp, flax,
meats, vegetables, etc. They profess to give
the manufacturer better rates. If so, where
does the farmer get compensation for the
loss of his protection. Much was said
about removing the taxes on necessaries and
imposing them upon luxuries, but the bill
gives free olive oil TO the epicure and taxes
castor oil 81 per cent. 1t gives free tin plate,to
THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY
and the great meat canning monopolies, and
imposes duty of 100 per cent. on rice. 1t
gives the sugar trust free bone black and
proposes prohibitory duties on the grocery
grades of sugar. 1t proposes duty of 40
per cent on "The poor mans blanket and
only 30 per cent on the Administer carpet of
the rich. 1t admits free the animals import
ed by the gentlemen of the turf, the paintings
and statuary of the millionaire and the
coal baron. Mr.. Randall said: II can
not be coerced into any particular
action upon economic questions by
the direction of a party caucus
The period of the political caucus has de-
parted, never to return. Yet we should con-
o.. "A. All lo 4 4