Montgomery County sentinel., 1888-05-25
The Two Giants Speak.


The Two Giants Speak.
The following are the speeches delivered
by Messrs Breckenridge and Carlisle in
Congress last week upon the question of
the tariff. The latter closed the debate, and
it is not known exactly when Il vote will be
taken. Mr. Mills, whose bill it was that was
discussed, is much pleased with the impress
sion that the representatives have received,
and he is of the opinion that the bill has
now Il better chance to pass than it had be-
fore the debate.
He began with review OF the situation
as far as the surplus is concerned and IA
statement of the dangers attendant on Il
further accumulation OF money in the Treas
ury. When the Committee of Ways and
Means was appointed, he said, it necessa.
rily had to confront this condition of affairs
rand attempt to frame bill which would SO
reduce the revenue as to bring it closer to
the legitimate expenses of the Government
and this, too, In such way as TO reduce the
burden OF taxation upon the people. 1t
recognized that the revenues could be re-
duced by raising the duties to prohibtory
standard, but this only increased the bur.
dens Of taxation. The repeal of the internal
revenue law would also reduce the revenue
to Il point where there might be an annual
deficit OF $20,000,000; but no large section
of the American people really favored u
plan which removed taxation from spirits,
besr, and tobacco, and left the necessares
OF lite burIiened nor was the committee
willing To adopt plan which did not light
single furnace, cause q single wheel to re-
volve, give TO labor u single days wage,
remove from commercial activity any bur
den, nor from the manufacturer any annoy
ance Rejecting, therefore, the proposition
To increase the duties for the purpose of re-
ducing the revenues OF the Government and
increasing the revenues of the manuiac-
turers, and the proposition to repeal the
internal revenue system, the committee at
tempted to frame u bill which would reduce
the revenues by a safe amount, and would
relieve, as far as moderate bill could do,
the evils of the present unequal system, re
form the inequalities OF the present tariff,
and promote American industry by giving
to American labor the hope of a permanent,
stable, and profitable market.
"fhe changes proposed by this bill, he
said, "are designed TO give to the farmer, by
whom all provisions are raised, market
for his breadstuffs and for raw materials,
which is only profitable when he has II
prosperous manufacturer for purchaser !;
to the laborer, the hope of constant mar
ke; and To the manufacturer, freedom from
unnecessary burdens. We have, therefore,
put upon the free list as far as we felt il was
just, the materials necessary for the manu-
facturer We have reduced the rates,
wherever we have touched them to point
that gives to the home consumer the hope
of fair competition whenever demand may
be made by an internal trust to advance the
prices beyond fair consideration for the
article to be sold, and yet We have left the
rates SD that the protection afforded is greater
than any necessity requires and makes all
competition of foreign manufacturers upon
terms of great advantage to the American
manufactured We do not believe there is
single instance in the bill where the duty
left upon an article is not more than the
difference between the cost of production
in America and the cost of production
abroad, plus the freight.
A protective tariff does not, he argued,
and in the nature Of the case cannot, fix the
wages of labor Labor, like all commodi;
ties, will, under the operation of the law of
supply and demand, command its worth in
the market where it is for sale; and all that
legislation can possibly accomplish is to in
teriere in the natural operation of this law
aud so tar as it does this only harm can en-
sue. If there is demand for labor equal to
or greater than the supply, then labor Is
protilably paid; and if combinations OF
capital to force labor to sell itself at prices
fixed by the combination cannot be success
fully formed, then labor will be free to make
its own bargains But if the market be so
restricted that the supply OF labor exceeds
the demand, or il capital is enabled to com
bine to prevent competition, then labor must
be sold at the price fixed by the employer
Now our present system does both. II re-
siricts the market to be supplied by our
labor, and it enables the manufacturers to
fix the price they will pay to labor. When
ever the duty is high enough To prevent
foreign competition, then the operative max
ing and the consumer purchasing these
"protected" fabrics are in the power OF the
manufacturers. No organization of labor, nc
Knights OF Labor, can break such shackleS
the strikes" giving only assistance to the
"trust," who own the market. The only
relief is in Congress by the reduction OF duty
to the competitive point
The bill now reported is incomplete, in
that it does not remove all burdens. The
principal items put upon the free list have
been wool and. timed plate, and the real
issue between US and our opponents cannot
be better illustrated than by the different
propositions concerning duty on timed
plates. Not one pound of this is made
in America; not one pound OF 1t can
be used except in helping some other indus
try; it enters into many OF the most I'm
portant of our native industries. Our fruits,
our fish, our vegetables, our meats, our milk,
are canned in these timed plates; it enters
into the domestic economy of every house
wife. There is hardly any material of which
the distribution is so wide and the use so
various. and the burden imposed by the tax
levied on it so heavy. 1t will relieve in more
ways, and to a greater extent, more of the
miner industries of the country, than almost
any repeal Of tax upon our whole schedule.
Its repeal does not injure single human
beings it affects no interest, no industry.
Passing TO a consideration of the wool
schedule, he referred to the meeting of the
Wool Growers Association and the Wool
Manufacturer Association, and to the reso-