Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1888-10-27
TARIFF REFORM.
Extract From a speech of Roger A.
EsiIIs delivered at East Sc. Louis.
EycEssrYr REYENrEs.

H-A1EonlNt- KEW IN = f-,s
Now. my friends. the President Of the
United States at the assembling of the
present Congress sent a message to both
Houses Of Congress, urging upon them 10
reduce this taxation. urging upon the
consideration Of Congress the importance
Of the fact that the revenues of govern
ment were excessive. and the excess was
constantly growing larger. It is to-day
Sl3O,O0OO00 and rapidly accommodating.
1t is increasing at the rate of $s. 900. 0D0
or SO, 600, 900 Il month. What is 10 be the
effect of this? live refuse to empty the
Treasury and put this money back into
circulation what is to be the effect upon
the country? AS the circulation is with
drawn from the channels of business,
prices of property must fall; all values
must shrink; the debtor dey by day and
hour by hour becomes more of a victim
TO the creditor The mortgages on your
farms are maturing; the values of your
property are shrinking. Consumption is
restricted, and when consumption is re
stricted production is restricted also, and
when production is restricted labor is
thrown out Of employment [Applause.
Transportation is restricted. Fewer
trains and fewer cars are required TO
carry the restricted amount of produce
from the producer to the customer, and
the wages of conductor. of the engineer
the fireman, the brakeman and all labor
connected with our vast system of trans
portatiOn find themselves either discbarg-
ed or their pay greatly reduced. Cheers
This is the condition that confronts the
people to-day. and Grover Cleveland
never spoke a trner or more serious word
than be did when he said that is not
theory, it is a condition that confronts US.
Applause.
Now, there are two ways in which this
reduction of taxation can occur There
are now only two sources from whence
we derive the revenues of the Federal
Government. One is from internal taxes
on whisky and tobacco and eleomargarine,
] beiieye-oh, | mean beer and other
liquors and oleomargerine. The other
source of revenue is from a tariff, from
taxes en- goods imported into the United
States. The Democratic party was UNI
willing TO permit the high rates Of taxa
ton, higher to-day than they were on
the average through the four years of the
war: they were not willing that these
taxes on the necessaries of lIfe-on wool
en- goods, on cotton goods, on iron and
steel, on sugar and on all articles so nee
essarY TO the existence of our people
should remain as they are. and to turn
loose a great river like this which washes
our feet, of free whisky. and to invite
our people to go and drown their sorrows
and drink in the sparkling current as ii
runs. lGreat applause. They prepared
bill. X was the same sort of bill as
that my old friend Col. Morrison prepar-
ed. We worked as hard at il as he and
his lieutenants worked several years ago.
fIbngt Erh R~a f1pf,r-ar fFiaT-4l aTnA lhaa nd
dressed not only Congress but the entire
people Of this country, and arraigned this
system Of oyertaxatiOn, and sc3urged it
before the bar Of intelligent people. it
was easy for us 10 pass the bill reducing
taxation on the neoessarics of life
Well we have passed such bill that
reduces taxation SO, 600. 900, $50, 600, 600
on duiiable goods and So, 900, 600 on the
free list. Now, that seemed 10 be a very
small reduction. The average rate of
duty to-day ON dutiable goods is SS47. 10
on the Si00worth imported tits a little
reduction OF which l am ashamed after
so much effort We have only reduced
il from S47.10 to $40 80. II is still not
enough, and l am ashamed OF it when
stand before the farming peop,e. who
live by exporting agricultural products,
and whose wealth has been sinking as the
pulse Of dying man for the last ten years,
because market has been denied them.
When 60 home and stand before my
poor overtaxed people who have no bag
ging with which to wrap their cotton,
[cheersl because the Republican party
has put sach high duties on bagging that
no man can import il from foreign cnun-
tries and send it where all the cotton is
grown, and so all the bagging industries
are here. and they are in trust. And
yet we find ourselves to-day unable to
give any relief to II. 600, 600 or 10, coo, 900
of hard.working people.
My friends. our Republican friends
have made ngly faces at us about this
poor little diminutive bill. and they have
met it with scott and denounced it as
free trade measure. What excellent ideas
they have about a protective tariff, If
tax of S42.50 on average on clothing,
on food. and on implements of labor, on
every 800 worth of consumption-if this
is free trade. tell me. in Gods name, what
is protectionS GGreat applause.