Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-01-11

and approved by the President
and had the residue of the surplus been
applied to the liquidation of the pub
lie debt, the condition of the treasury
which now so alarmed the President
would not have existed, the public debt
would have been greatly reduced. and
improvements of vital importance to
American commerce would be in course
OF construction.
THE REVENUE SHOULD BE REDUCED.
The President had cast doubt upon
the power of the secretary of the treas
ury to enter the market and purchase
bonds. He spoke oft as "pretense', or
a ''supposition But the second section
of the sundry civil bill of March 8, 1881,
gave the secretary of the treasury power
at any time, to apply the surplus, or so
much OF it as he might consider proper,
10 the purchase or redemption of United
States bonds-such bonds to be can
celled, and not to constitute part
Of the sinking fund. That law had been
passed at his (Mr. Sherman's) request
while he was secretary of the treasury
to meet the very difficulty and to oper-
ate at any time. Under it the secretary
OF the treasury could have, and ought to
have, applied the surplus. from time to
time, to the purchase or redemption OF
United States bonds. Besides, if the
dangers from the surplus revenue We're
SO great and imminent as the
President said, why had not the
last summer, 20 deal with what he called
" the precarious condition of financial
affairs" and the absolute peril at hand
What more extraordinary occasion could
occur for the exercise of the power to
convene Congress? But the President
had not done this; and Congress (now
in regular SESSION. was not to be driven
pell nell by an cutlery to reverse the
country's policy for thirty years-that
policy being to build up domestic indus
tries by reasonable and proper protec-
ton against foreign productions.
He (Mr. Sherman wished to approach
the question presented by the President
with sincere respect for him and his
high office, but with a consciousness
that senators and representatives. had
the responsibility, of acting upon such
matters, with fuller information and
broader view of the interests of their
constituents than any executive officer,
however elevated, could have. He
agreed Gas he had said more than once
last Congress) that the revenue
should be reduced. 1t would be
pleasing and a grateful task,
and the moment that the House
OF Representative would give the SEN
ate jurisdiction of the subject matter,
the Senate would be ready to share in
that duty as it had done as many as six
times since the close Of the war. And if
the secretary of the treasury would from
time to time only do his part of apply
ing the revenue to current appropria-
tons and to the judicious purchase OF
the public debt, the delays of the Demo
cratic party might be repaired, and tax
alton reduced without crippling indus
try.
He did not attribute either to the
President or to the secretary of the
treasury an intention to produce the
dangers and difficulties by which the
country was threatened; nor did he call
in question their integrity or fidelity !;
but when they tried to alarm the
country so as to induce Congress to
break down great industrial interests,
he pointed them to the neg
lect of a public duty entrusted
to their discretion, as the fountain of
their woes. If evil came to the Repub-
lie by this surplus, it was their fault.
They had the power now, and a power
neglected was often as great crime as a
power usurped. An artificial scare
could not be made to cover the faults
and defects of the administration.
REMIT THE TAX ON TOBACCO.
The country had two distinct systems
of taXation-one upon the American pro-
auctions of spirits, tobacco, and beer,
and the other upon imported goods, the
products of foreign nations. The first OF
these the President had dismissed with
single sentence, saying that none of
these articles were necessaries; that
there seemed to be no just complaint OF
such taxation by consumers; and that
there seemed to be nothing SO well able to
bear the burden, without hardship to any
portion Of the people. 1t might be that
there was no complaint of consumers;
but could that be said of the producers
of these articles? They were ali the
product OF the farm. Their chief cost
was in the leaf tobacco, the corn, the
rye. the wheat and the barley. Did not
the farmers complain Of the tax? If the
President thought they did not he was
greatly mistaken. The tax on whisky
might land to a certain extent did, re-
strain the use of whisky as a beverage !;
and in that way the tax did good; but
the taxes on beer and tobacco did not.
The traditions and policy ofthe Amer
lean people were against internal taxes.
They were necessity during the war;
but now, if continued, they should be
reduced. and the tax on tobacco espe-
cially should be RENTED. Though not
necessity like bread and meat, the use
of tobacco was so general that it's tax
was burden to the farmer and to the
consumer. The special taxes Oh
rectifers, special dealers, stills,
etc., yielding annually $5,20O,-
0G0, ought to be repealed, and their i'm
position left to the states; and the tax
on spirits and beer might be SO modified
that the states could make taxes on the
consumption OF these articles boun-
teous source Of revenue and a proper
means of relief from the burdens of local
taxation.
If the object sought was only to avoid
the accumulation of surplus, the easy,
natural and logical course was to repeal.
or largely to reduce internal revenue.
But the President proposes to continue
these taxes, without dlminution. so that
he might strike more effective blow at
the taxes now resting upon foreign
productions. It was of these latter