Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-04-26
MR. MILLS SPEAKS.


Strongly Urges It's AdoptIon-OpsniDE
OF What Promises to R- the Most In-
teresting Deba.e OF the Decade-rhs Is
sue Drhned.
WASHINGTON, April 1S-The great de-
bate on The TAR Il question was opened a
Few m Hutes after 1 yesterday, when Chair
man Mills moved that the House consider
the Tar. Il bill The resolution was adop: ed
W thout opposition Mr. Mills. who has
not entire.y recovered from q recent attack
OF illness, looked little paler than Is his
won't, but had strength enough 10 make q
grand speech one hour anl forty minutes in
length
bfr Mills began his speech by saying that the
great increase OF duties made during the war
had been ar the time they were made stated TO
be only temporary. Yet quarter OF n centu-
~ later these duties were higher than they
were during the war. aud they now average 41. 10
per cent. on imports The income tax had
been imposed to meet war expenses. IL was
gone. II was a tax wealth, ana The S72. 000,-
l0J annually realized from that source was
swept away. But the war tax On cloth ng. on
food. on implements of labor remained,
ana the war was still being prose
cuted against the reople-a fiscal war,
exhausiing in its demands, and every effort 10
remove or lower that taxation had been re-
sisted defeated The Democrats had been
tainted with the charge that they had failed to
reduce taxation Tais charge had been made
venting action on The many bills brought into
The House by the Con mittee on Ways and
Means. Mr.. NJ lis turned his attention 10 The
wooden manufacturers and argued that the
public at large WAS injured By the present tax
and nobody benefited.
High duties, said Mr.. Mills, prohibited and
limited importatioEs and expectations. We
were feeding the people of Europe, and when we
put high duties on the goods they sent in
change for food it amounted to tax NJ
our own agricultural exports. A reduct on of
outies would not. as asserted, check manufac-
turerS and cramp labor. We always imported
more goods when prices were high. Under
lower duties we could export more goods,
manufactures would run steadily and labor
would be constantly employed. Not more than
i FER cent. of the &, DDS consumed in the On ted
States would be imported il all The custom
houses were torn down and the Government
supported by direct taxes.
IN 1853 tie party in over took OF the tax on
playing cards and Ut q tex of 20 per cent. on
the Bible. II did not lie with The Republican
party to accuse the Democratic party OF failure
10 reduce taxation. Time and again they had
mustered the full strength of their party to
strike out the enact'ng clause Of q tar!f bill.
Twice they had succeeded. and twice they
had refused altogether TO consider This sub
lect The duties CT this ccuntry prohib ted
and limited impoI tation, and this prob b. ted
and linn ted expectation. This was the greatest
evil resulting from The war tax. Our home
products were therefore thrown upon home
down. The average rate of duty during the
last five years amounted to ADJ per cent. And
during the last year the average Was 47. 10.
After this large increase had been made by
Congress, Congress had imposed j 81 ght direct
or internal-reVenue tax upon domestic manu-
features, and that tax had brought into the
Treasury in 1856 Si27 GG0. 100. That was about
1.-THE OF the heavy bun dens that We're laid
uTo imports. 1t amounted to about per cent.
on the whole manufactured products OF the
country in 1865. 1t was thought to be a reason
able tax TO impose on manufacturers who were
receiving large bounties from The Government,
in the enhancement on the pr ces OF their prod
ucts, to pay per cent when they had increased
their bount es up to ,! per cent. Bat that tax
was gone. 1t could not live. II was tax on
wealth.
Congress had imposed a tax on incomes to
help carry on the war; and there were AGO, 40
people in the United States IN 1866 that had
s7O7, OO0,1U0 OF net income, upon which they
were assessed a duty which brought into the
Treasury, n 1866, SEQ 1000. But that tax had
gone; II was q tax on wealth. There had been
a tax on insurance companies; 1t was gone
There had been a tax on express companies: it
was gone. There had been a tax on bank de-
posts and bank cap tall ii was gone. Three
hundred million dollars that had been paid by
the wealth of the country had been swept
away, and The burden or taxation had been
maze heav er, it had been loaded upon
the shoulders of those who had to support
themselves and the Government. Was tax
the manufacturers of blankets, weight more
enormous than the tax Of 80 per cent. paid
by the consumer on imported and do
nestle products? Was the tax OF per
the tax Of do per cent. women's
and childrens dress goodsr Yet all these taxes
on wealth had gone, and the gentlemen OF The
minority boosted that they had reduced taxes
to the amount of s.G00)O.OO0, while the Demo
GRAFT party had reduced it only q bagatelle
That was the splendid column those gentlemen
had erected. All the taxes on wealth had passed
ewLy and all the burdens were now cast
upon the shoulders of the laboring man. In
1888 taxation had still further been reduced,
and this magnificent shat, which the party
then in power had erected to commemorate its
leg slatlve wisdom and the benetcence OF its
laws, crowned with capstone-taking of
the internalrevenue tax on pllying-cards and
putting tax of - per cent. on Bibles. Laugh
ter
Protect onists argued that manufactured
articles were cheaper here than IN any other
country result OF protection. 1t was not
SO; but, surprising it WAS, why, then. should
they resist so st-enuously any effort 10 lower
duties if they were able to undersel European
manufacturers
Did the manufacturers pay higher wages be-
cause protect on enabled them 10 do it?
tinued MIR. Mills. No; Jay Gould was
able 10 pay his bootblack $500. but he
price; re paid his nickel, Ike a little
man. Higher wages were made by
coal. steam and machinery. and higher wages
meant lower cost OF production. This account
ed for the fact that free-trade England paid
higher wages than protection France and Ger
mary, and yet controlled the world market. he
had Tt QuesIed the present Chief OF the Labor
Bureau ascertain II there was any exception
10 the rule that wages depended on the EN-
cheney OF labor and the result OF highly-paid,
Cfic.ent labor was the low cost OF the product.
In answer he read q tabulated statement pre-
pared by Mr.. Wright, giving the result of IL
curry in q number of cases which appeared TO
fully bear out the rule.
In conclusion Mr.. Mills said he hoped the bill
which had favor throughout the country would
receive a majority of the votes of the
House, though il not all the COM
mittee could ask. 1t is very moderate
bill, yet il would send comfort and
happiness into all the homes and bosoms
OF the poor laboring people OF this coun-
try and he asked the House in behalf OF these
hair eli anHh eI