Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-01-20
CURRENT AFFAIRS.
TIIE TARIFF
senator John sherman's Answer to the
presidcut,- MessnRe,

his speech in the Senate in answer TO the
Presidents message, said
The President of the United States, de
parting from the practices Of his illustrious
predecessors, dropped from his recent an
nual message all reference TO the foreign
relations of the country and the interesting
questions in national affairs, even omtting
the usual recognition Of the supreme ruler
of the universe, and pUstponing all things,
celestial and terrestrial, until tine surplus
revenue be got rid Of This extraordinary
message | feel called upon to consider to
| inquire whether the dangers spoken of in
/ IL are exaggerated or not, and to examine
the remedies proposed The existence Of a
surplus revenue has been constant occur
renee before and since the close Of the war.
Instead Of ITS being Il danger, it is an indi-
| cation of the continuous increase of the do,
nestle productions Of the country, its for
| eign and domestic commerce, and of the
steady Improvement of its financial condi-
tiun When, in 1906, President jefferson
had the good fortune of a surplus revenue.
1 he asked, IN his message to Congress, tu
what purpose the surplus should be applied,
and expressed his belief that the patriotism
of the people would prefer the continuance
of nnposts and the application Of the money
w NH' Ei'hl pun lp7t0 VI llt lWlllt tNu
cation, rUadS, rivers and canals
Mr. Sherman then proceeded to show
that large ourpluses were frequent under
Republican administrations, and were in
vnrabl, dealt with wisely that the only
Republican House OF the present decade re
viscd the tariff in order to reduce unneces
sary revenues. and that the Democratic
House has uniformly resisted every scheme
of revenue reduction which did not embody
free trade ideas. As practical fnancier,
who had himself been at the head of the
treasury department, the senator found lit
tie difficulty in subiecting TO destructive
criticism the Presidents confession Of help
leasuess in dealing with the surplus. He
proved that the power of the secretary OF
the treasury to purchase bonds was not Il
Prctencc nor debatahle supposition, but
an unluestionable right. With equal sue
cess, as a defender Of the American econ
omlc system, the senator repealed the at.
tack made in the message upon home indus
tries. Proceeding to details, Mr.. sherman
said that
During the fiscal year ending June 80.
1851, the total value Of foreign importa
tions was >6S3, 900 900, of which S433, 900,
900 was free of duty. 50 that as to over
one third ui all article, of foreign produc-
tIuu consumed IN this country there was
absolute free trade. They we're mainly
such as 10y reason of climate could not be
produced here and did not come into com
petition with domestic industry With that
kind Of free trade hc wa, iu hearty sympa.
thy. He would extend IL 10 every article
OF common use. the growth or production
Of which ia the Omitted States was unproht
able. IL was exactly the opposite that was
proposed Toy the President aud by the school
to which the President belonged. They
sought To- place taxes upon articles nov
free. such as coffee aud tea IN order that Il
greater reduction might hc made ON arti
Gle, that did come into competition with
home industry. After deducting the free
list. the value Of imported goods last year
was $50 900, 900, on whFh duties were
levied Should there be a uniform rate of
duty on the goods No. hut there should
be IA careful discrimination and claSsiiica-
ton OF rates, depending upon the nature
and quality Of the goods and upon the cf
feet which the rates proposed would have
ON domestic industry. Therefore articles
"
appetite. not in common use among the
people, and which are purchased almost eN-
cusively bv the wealthy. should bear IA
higher rate of tnNatiou-thr highest rate
collectablc without excluding them or in
ducius smuggling. This was founded upon
the admitted maxim Of political economy
that taxes should be assessed upon those
best able to pay. This applies to wines, ii
Iuors and cigars supposed to Ice superior IN
havor o. the domestic urticlesi, and tu silks,
,atius. brun'lclOth>, nnumerablc articles Of
dress ornament, To porcelain, statuary,
painting, glassware, aud the like As To
all these articles the price wa, a matter Of
Indifference To the consumer, aud the rate
of duty was very much like the price fixed
10y the manufacturer that Is. as much as
could he got. lhi, was the policy Of the
present tariff, and 1t had operated even
better than had been hoped The value of
such article, imported was not less than
Sl2u, 900 800, aud the duties collected ON
them not less than SGD, OOO. OO0--nearlv one
third Of the whole amount collected.
IL certainly could not be said of these du-
ties that they imposed burden upon
those VINO consumed domestic products as
well aS upon those who consumed imported
articles using the Presidents language
On the contrary, these duties had imposed
the chief burdens of taxation upon articles
Of voluntary luxury, and had still melted
American artists and mechanics to compete
in those branches of industry with the skill
ed artisans Of Europe and Asia In this
way remarkable progress had been made in
those expensive productions, and porce
lain, tableware, ornaments, clothing, deco
rated and enameed furniture, and multi
f ..f
the work of American mechanics had
been brought within the means of great
masses OF the American people. To reduce
the duty ON these foreign luXuries would be
to transmit the burden Of taxation from
those who now bore it willingly to the
shoulders of the people. Another class of
duties was on articles of food and ON ami
mails OF these the value imported the
last fiscal year was Sll2. 900, 600, and the
duty paid ON them S6S 0OO, 900. OF this
sum the sugar, rice and fruit imported were
valued at $9l ,OJU, 600 aud paid a duty Of
So, 1000, ,OOO-or more than nine teuths of
all the taxes levied on food aud animals
These were article, that entered into the
consumption of every family in the United
States.
II the object were to reduce surplus rev
enue what b tier mode could he suggested
than To repeal one half Of the duty ON sug
nr. aud thus directly relieve the people from
S2s 2jO, 600 ot taxes on an article in gene
raj Il e and now bearing "A tax of 81 per cent.
No such suggestion was made by the Presi
dent or the secretary of the treasury, and
he did NO, care to explore the reasons for
their silence.
The oti.,t nF the tariff laws vvas tn an