Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-03-22
The Tariff.
BY HENRY wATTERsoN.

40 4Hoi0 udHStTOuS weapons. Our rep
resentative government is exposed t,
the criticism that it represents tn,
great body of the people, who are busy
with their everyday pursuits, and have
little time to engage in political move
ment, only when scandal and outrage
have passed tile bounds of decent en-
durance and reused men to action
while to the approaches of mercenar,
and clandestine adventure it is at al
times accessible. That which has mon
ev in it never wants for a n attorney at
Washirgton; and the eI-offcao depart
ment of the government, known as the
Lobby, has come to he only degree
less potent than the Congress. Mean
while the interests of the country al
large are too often left to take care o
themselves.
All this is the outcome of false the.
orv OF the functions of the government
ard All organized form of corruption
attendant upon this false theory, tC
hich the protected or subsidized in.
terests have constituted themselves q
hody-guard It should be the aim c1
conservative men to stand between the
two extremes thus marshalled upon
the field of political combat, ,aud though
so wide apart playing into one anoth-
er's hands. The surplus pouring into
an already overfiowing Treasury as the
r. suit of excessive taxation cnnmands
immediate attention. All admit that
it must be stopped. and stopped at once
1t can be stopped by abolishing the in-
ternal taxes on distilled spirits aud to-
bacco, leaving the tariff taxes untouchs
ed, or it can be stopped by reduction
of import duties. The party of revenue
+, xEs4t FIo
protectionists, on the other hand. urge
the abolition of the internal taxes. In
that House of Congress to which is
committed the enactment of revenue
laws the revenue reformers have a
working majority, and are therefore
charged with the possibility of an
affirmative policy. What will they do
with it?
They can undoubtedly reduce the
taxes without reducing revenue, and
Uice versa, reduce the revenue without
reducing the taxes. 'To reduce both
revenue and taxation at the same
time" says Mr.. Speaker Carlisle, sis
the problem now represented, and the
true Democratic solution is to abolish,
as far as racticable, the taxes on the
actual necessaries of life, and on the
raw materials used in their production,
and 10 revise, simplify, and in proper
cases to reduce the duties on the other
articles embraced in the tariff sched-
ules" This is, and has always been.
the position and the sole purpose OF
the advocate of a system of taxation
brought to the revenue requirements OF
the government economically admins
tered.
But it is one thing to deny the eff
cacy and to expose the fallacies of the
dogma of protection, and to maintain
that the government has no right tC
tax the citizen except for public pur'
poses, and it is another thing to revise
and reduce the tariff to an exclusively
revenue standard. The house which
is set upon an unsafe foundation and
built of rotting timber, yet is full o.
occupants, may not be suddenly razed
to the ground.
No one entitled to the name ofstates
man would advise the precipitate sub.
stitution of "a tariff for revenue only
for the system of bounties, ,denominated
protection, which we have maintained
for quarter of century. That clause
of the tariff plank in the last national
| Democratic platform " hich pledged
| the party to revise the tariff Gin spir
| it of fairness to all interests" was as
sincerely as it was unanimously adopt.
ed. In making reductions it could be
the purpose OF no responsible party tt
iniure the industries Of the country. .bu
the rather to promote their healthy
growth; and it being true that many
industries have come to rely upon leg
| islation for successful continuance
changes in our revenue laws should be
at every step, regardful of the labor aE(
capital involved. All revenue reform
ers agree to that. That which they
insist upon is that we shall begin tht
work, already too long deferred, ofput
ting the war tariff on peace footing
and that to the process of the revision
and reduction shall be applied th'
wisdom Of economic experience, th'
principles of the Constitution. and th
equities of just taxation. which mus
be general, and not special.
The manufacturers, who think the,
cannot live and prosper without th
subsidies which they enjoy under tn
tariff, aud who refuse to listen to th
lust demands Of reform. should take t
their minds and hearts lesson on
of the darkest chapter in American
history. The slave-owner thought b
could not raise sugar, rice, and cotto
at a profit without the protection h
enjoyed in slave labor. Out of tha
error rose the gigantic and baleful pow
er which through fifty years threaten
ed our national life. Beginning upo
the lines of an economic fallacy, th
institution thus arrayed against tn
Fundamental principle of our republ
can fabric, at once illogical and il
human, developed into an oligarch
stronger than the union of the States
All the while it was a thorough dt
lusion; as system of labor, clums
| and costly; as political influence, ,des
pntic: as moral force, destructive
Like the protectianists of to-day, it
friends would listen to nothing, and j
blood and flame it was swept out of e2
isterce. And now what do we see?-
such productivity under free labor d
was never dreamed of under slav
labor.
Let our manufacture RS reperuse til
story and mark the parallel betwee
the progress of slavery and the prt
gress of protection. They will find tn
analogy perfect to the point whic
brings US to the present attitude
protection. May it go no further! bt
may the point attained be point
departure from the arrogant claim
and violent methods OF the Old Sia'
cry. varying the destiny of the futul
from the history of the past. as to th
! spirit of enlightened justice it sha
disclose in those who cling with sue
mistaken tenacity to the New Shaver
embodied and viialized by the dogm
of restrictioD!
Southern California.