St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-08-06

sue of class legislation, laying high dis
terminating duties upon certain inn
ports. prohibiting thereby the importa-
ton of the products Of foreign industry,
and suppressing foreign competition.
Such tariff will be subject to several
fatal objections. 1t will be politically
unconstitutional; it will be highly I'M
just, and it will be destructive of our
ocean marine.
1t will be politically unconstitutional
in two respects. First, its purpose is
one which the constitution explicitly
ignores and repudiates; for that in
strument defines the purpose of federal
taxation to be ITO pay the debts and
provide for the common defense and
general welfare of the United States"
That is, to obtain revenue. And the
Tenth amendment declares that A'All
powers not delegated to the United
States by the constitution nor prOhib-
tied by it to the states are reserved to
the states respectively, Or to the peo-
pie" And secondly, such tariff will
be at variance with the essential nature
OF our government, which is designed
to guard and foster public instead of
private Interests. Our government is
not fraternal or individualistic one,
impartially protecting individuals in
their various pursuits and competitions,
and not patronizing one in distinction
from another. This
PROTECTIVE TARIFF
project is essentially paternal. Or social
istic, helping certain classes of persons,
especially in their private enterprises.
Again. this proposed Republican
tariff will be unjust, inasmuch as it
proposes to discriminate between i'm
ported articles, taxing them in different
degrees, and leaving some entirely eX-
empt from taxation. Equal justice
would treat all interests alike. But
this would not suit the high protection
lists. If all should be treated alike,
there beng only certain amount of
money to DO raised, this would give the
country the benefits of the policy of
moderate protection, and that would be
what they do not want. Therefore
some interests must be but slightly fay-
ored, and others not at all, in order that
the rest may enjoy the privilege Of the
Chinese exclusive policy. This is
clearly wrong; nothing could be more
adverse to the just spirit of our institu-
lions.
Again, the Republican method of
tariff revision, like the present tariff
itself, will be destructive of our ocean
marine. One of its avowed purposes
IS to suppress the importation of
Ine products OF foreign INDUS
tries. This means that in our
commercial intercourse with the
world at large. there shall be compare
lively few return cargOeS. Nothing
could be better calculated to discourage
the building OF ships. Leaving the
home port with cargo, and returning
i'll ballast is not a prosperous kind of
commercial business. To remedy this
difficulty it is proposed to grant subsi-
dies to ships engaged in foreign COM
merce. But in order to raise the money
to pay these subsidies, the pecuniary
burdens of foreign commerce must be
increased-that is, we should patroniZe
commerce with one hand and suppress
it with the other. This policy would
also violate the spirit of the constitu-
ton by legislating for private interests
aud administering the government on
the paternal or socialistic principle.
A revenue tariff with resulting mod
crate protection would obviate all these
fatal objections. such a tariff would
be politically constitutional, would be
just and would soon restore our ocean
marine to its pristine strength and
glory. What our commerce needs is
the removal of grievouS burdens and re-
strictionS. A. b. j.
New Haven, Aug. IL, 1888.