Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-10-05

The increase of the duty on wood is de-
nouuced, and it is asserted that the "leveiing
up" process applied to cotton goods only fur
Their complexities the execution of the law.
The subject of trusts is referred to, and the
present tariff denominated the nursing
mother of those combinations. Tariffs keep
out foreign competition and the trust de-
stroys the domestic, says the minority, while
language is inadequate to describe the in
iqnty of these corporations They are not
aprivate affairs" as has been asserted, but
public evils o the gravest character, affect
ing the price of every article which contrib
utes to the comfort and support OF the peo-
pie The provisions of the substitute favor
them greatly, and will serve to encourage
their formation in still other branches of
manufacture. Many of those belonging to
trusts appeared before the finance commit
tee, clamorous for such legislation as would
promote their interest, They are all op
posed to the house bin, which should com
mend it to all who condemn their methods.
1t is bad enough to permit those who are
most Interested nanufacturers-to appear
before our committees and suggest the legis-
lation they wish, but surely We should not
listen to the trusts, and aid them to rob with
both hands.
The absurd accusation" that the Mills bill
means free trade, the ruin of industry, and
the degradation of American labor, the mi
uority say, is rs false as misleading. How
the flow OF surplus money into the treasury
can be stopped without reducing the taxes
which produce it no man can devise. How
these taxes can he reduced without taking off
ton can conceive. Therefore, it would seem,
no man can propose to cut off excessive taxa
tion without subjecting himself to the charge
of free trade. because any reduction what
ever ''looks toward free trade True, gov
erument revenues might be reduced by max
ing duties so high as to prohibt importations
altogether; but that is the other end of the
road, which increases the taxes paid to pri-
vate persons II the first method of reduc-
ton leads to free trade the other leads to free
| plumber, which is worse.
| An argument is made in favor of free
| wool, which takes the same line that has
been so often repeated during the campaign,
| and the minority closes its report by recon-
| mendng to the senate and the country the
| Mills bill as a measure for the reduction of
taxes, based alike upon justice and good
policy.
| The report is signed by Senators Harris
Vance, Voorhees,, and Mcpherson; the lasi
named qualifying his endorsement of the
report with this statement: "Iconeur in the
above report, indorsng the house bill in re-
| spect to articles placed upon the free list,
| but desire some notifications in the dutiable
list"
Senator Beck made an individual report on
the substitute bill in which he says that the
struggle of the ma lority of the committee OF
| finance seems TO be, and its certainly
| is, TO close our ports far as possible
against commerce from abroad and sur.
render to other nations the trade and com
Inercc Of the world, and subject our exports
to such axtortions III freight charges as com
binations of foreign ship-owners may see fl
to exact Tie argues that the attempt of thu
ma jorty to restore specific instead of ad val
orem rates means that the good
used by the poor shall he taxed
and out OF all proportion to tn os
used by the rich. The preteIlses upon which
high tariffs are now demanded will be a,
strong, he says, fifty years hence, rs the,
are at present. The bills now presented b,
the respective political organizations are IN
finitely more important in the principle
they represent, than in the amount of taxa
ton they propose to remove, measure,
merely in money
Referring to the presidents mess ge, h
says: II any president ever satisfied tn
American people that lie subordnatei pri
waite ends to public interests, and had the couT
age to express convictions regardless of per
sonal consequences President Cleveland, i
This message, has salts fed them that he ha
icted with an eye single to the public good
1t will be a striking evidence of the power q
employers over their workingmeu if the
succeed in making them believe that thei
welfare enters into the contest 10 be waged
The struggles made by their leaders. Gen
Harrison included to food the country witt
Chinese, sending money to China and i'm
porting $1,000 of them &, time as tn
managers of the Central Pacific railroad dit
give the lie to all their professions of syn
pathy with high priced American labor
The presidents message aud the house hi
are both eminently conservative, says Becl
The senate bill in the wool, cotton and otht
schedules not only increased the rate of tai
but did it in the form of compound and sp
citc duties so as to conceal the increase
The cotton schedules were simply outrag
GUS. Beck says he is glad the committee h,
| gone to the extreme of protection, restri
ton and destruction.