Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-01-12
THE TARIFF.
The President S Message Reviewed
SENATOR SHERMAN'S
Masterful Speech.
Masterful Speech.

of Senator Sherman's great speech, re-
viewing the Presidents Message:
The President of the United States, he
said, in departing from the practice OF
his illustrious predecessors, dropped from
his recent annual message all reference
to the foreign relations of the country
and to the interesting questions in Ma
tional affairs, even omitting the usual
recognition of the Supreme Ruler of the
Universe, and poStponing all things, ce-
lestial and terrestrial, until the surplus
revenue be got rid of. This extraOrdi-
nary message he Mr.. Sherman felt
called upon to consider; to inquire wheth-
er the dangers spoken of in it were ex-
aggerated or not; and to examine the
remedies proposed. The existence of a
surplus revenue had been a constant oc-
currence before and since the close of
the war. Instead of its being danger
it was an indication of the continuous
| increase of the domestic commerce and
of the steady improvement of its fnan-
cial condition. When, in 1906, Presi-
dent Jefferson had the good fortunes of
a surplus revenue he asked lin his mes
sage to COngress) to what purpose the
surplus should be applied, and express
ed his belief that the patriotism of the
people would prefer the continuance of
the imposts and the application of the
money ''tO the great purposes of the pub
lie education, roads, rivers and canals"
Gen. Jackson, when he had the like
good fortune, had recommended the dis
tributiOn of the surplus among the States,
and bill for that purpose had been in
treduced by Mr.. Calhoun, had passed
both houses by large majorities, and had
been signed by Presidedt Jackson.
Larger surpluses had frequently been
dealt with wisely by Republican Admin
istrations, being either applied by the
executive authorities to the payment of
the public debt, or its accumulation hav-
ing been prevented by Congress from
time to time by the reduction or repeal
of taxes. These simple remedies had
been applied in the Administration of
each of Mr.. Cleveland's predecessors
(since the close of the war; without 9TH
er matters being neglected or cry of
alarm being raised. Al such reductions
of taxes had been made by the Republi-
can party. The Democratic party had
now had control OF the House of Repre-
SentativeS since the success of "the Mis-
sissippi plan" Except for two years., and
had not in that time originated or pro-
posed reduction of taxes. The only
Republican Congress in ten years had,
by the act of March, 1888, largely re-
duced both internal taxes and customs
duties to meet the very difficulty which
now so alarmed the President Why had
not the President followed the example
of his predecessors by using the powers
conferred upon the Secretary of the
Treasury and applying the surplus to
the reduction of the public debt?
Instead of that, and though outstand-
ing bonds were redeemable at pleasure,
his Administration had changed the.
form of the debt statement so as to con-
ceal nearly thirty millions of money as
unavailable assets, and had swelled the
surplus for nearly year, until friend
and foe alike cried out against it. If the
President regarded this growing surplus
as danger, why had he not, as soon as
possible, brought his influence to bear
upon Congress to provide for a reduc-
ton of taxation? And why had not Con-
greSS applied the remedy! The forty
ninth Congress had lived its two wears
and died. Mr.. Cleveland was then Pres
ident of the United States. The House
Of Representatives contained a large
majority of his political friends. They
| oil ad iY,if
tional power to introduce bill to re-
duce taxes. Why had that not been
done? The only answer was that con-
trolling majority of the Democratic par
ty would not allow bill to be reported
unless it contained provisions which Gn
the opinion of majority of the mem
berS of the House, would greatly injure
or destroy domestic production, creating
real distress and reduce wages If it
had been the desire to reduce taxes with
out reducing American production, the
task ives easy; but the enormous powers
of the Speaker of the House were used
to prevent even the presentation of such
a bill; and in this the Speaker had (it
was understood) the hearty sympathy
and support of the President and the
Secretary of the Treasury. He (Mr. Sher-
man) had called the attention of the Sen
ate on the 18th of July, 1886, to the
precise difficulty and danger Of the sit
uation and to the readiness of the ma
jority of the Senate to provide for The
reduction Of taxes and the application of
the surplus; and, if it had not been for
the action of the President and his Ad-
ministration (ncluding the Democratic
majority in the House of Representa-
tives) the taxes would then have been
reduced without endangering domestic
industries. Even without a reduction
of taxation the surplus revenue might
have been applied for great national
objects but for the vetoes of the Presi-
dent, for the failure of the Secretary of
the Treasury to exercise plain diScre-
tionary powers conferred upon him by
law, and for the failure of the Demo
cratic House of Representatives to make
appropriations for some of the highest
National objects demanded by the peo-
pie. The President had, on what he
(Ir. Sherman) regarded as a frivolous
reason, refused his signature to the river
and harbor bill, which would have ap-
propriated more than ten millions for
necessary public works; and by his veto
of the dependent pension bill, he had
withheld from Union soldiers appropria-
tions made for their relief. The House,
too, had refused to provide for system
of coast defenses, for proper increase
and building up of the navy and of the
commercial marine, for postal commu-
nication with the South American States,
and for the encouragement and support
of schools. 1t had also neglected or re-
fused to appropriate for eight millions
of deficiencies admitted to be due, or to
pass the Senate bill for the refunding to
the several States the direct tax levied
in 1862 (S14,00000O. And had these
several appropriations, sanctioned by
the Senate, been made by the House and
approved by the President, and. had the
residue of the surplus been applied to