St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-05


slider proper, to the purchase or redemp-
tlon of United States bonds-such
bonds to be Cancelled, and not to consti-
tute 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 operate at any other 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 re-
demption of United States bonds. Be-
sides, if the dangers from the surplus
revenue were so great and imminent as
the president said, why had not the
president convened congress during the
last summer, to deal with what he
called the precariOus condition of
financial affairs?" If the secretary of the
treasury would from tine to time only
do his part of applying the revenue to
current appropriations and to the jul
diciOuS payment of the public debt,
the delays of the Democratic
party might be repaired, and taxation
reduced without crippling industry. He
did not attribute either to the president
or the secretary of the treasury an i'll
tent to produce the danger and difficult
ties by which the country was threat
ened; 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 aneglect
of a public duty entrusted to their dis
erection, as the fountain of their woes.
If evil came to the republic by this sur
plus 1t was their fault. An artificial
scare could not be made to cover the
faults and defects of the administration.
Senator Sherman then
CRITICISED THE SPIRIT
of the presidents message with regard
to internal revenue taxation, and said:
The traditions and policy of the Ameri-
can 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 remitted. Though not
necessity like bread, and meat, the
use of tobacco was so general that its
tax was burden to the farmer and to
the consumer. The special taxes on
rectifierS, special dealers, stills, etc,
yielding annually S5,2O0,000 ought to be
repealed, ,and their imposition left to the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 bounteOuS source of
revenue aid 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 re-
peal, or largely to reduce internal rev.
enue.
1t was at the tariff laws that thepresi-
dent and the secretary of the treasury
aimed their epithets and arguments
the surplus revenue being the mere
preteXt or occasion. 1t was the pro-
tective industrial policy, built up by the
Republican party, that they would
break down. The presidents message,
fairly construed, showed that he ia
vored public policy which would leave
American manufacturers and work
men to the hard, sharp and grinding
competition of the capital and labor of
the world.
PROCEEDING TO DETAILS,
Mr.. Sherman said that during the
fiscal year ending June 80, 1887, the
total value of foreign importations was
S6S3, ,000, 900, S233, ,00O,0 900 of that amount
being free of duty; so that. as to over
One-third of all articles of foreign pro-
ductiOn consumed in this country, there
was absolute free trade. They were
mainly such articles, as by reason of eli
mate, could not be produced here. and
did not come into competition with do
mestic industries. With that kind of
free trade he was in hearty sympathy.
1t was exactly the opposite policy that
the school to which the president be-
longed. They sought to place taxes
upon articles now free, such as tea and
coffee, in order that a greater reduction
might be made on articles that did come
into competition with home industry.
Articles of voluntary use, or luxury,
ornament or appetite, not in common
use, among the people, and which are
purchased almost exclusively by the
wealthy, should bear higher rate of
taXation-the highest rate collectable
without exclqding them or inducing
smuggling. This applied to wines,
silks, satins, broadcloths, innumer-
able articles of dress ornament,
to porcelain, statuary, painting, glass
ware and the like. 1t certainly could
not be said of these duties that 'they
imposed burden upon those who con-
Sumed domestic products as well as
upon those who consumed imported
articles" (using the presidents Ian
guage). On the contrary, these duties
had imposed the chief burdens of taxa
ton upon voluntary luxury. TO reduce
the duties Oh these foreign luxuries
would be to transmit the burden of tax
alton from those who now bore it will
ingly to the shoulders of the people.
ANOTHER CLASS OF DUTIES
was OH articles of food and on animals.
Of these the value imported the last fiS-
cal year was S112 000.000, and the duty
paid on them S69,000,000. OF this sum
the sugar, rice and fruit imported were
valued at S91, 1,0O0,C00, and paid duty of
s63, 200, 900, or more than nine-tenths of
all the taxes levied Oh food and animals.
saln lot
| consumption of every family in the
| United States. If the object were to re-
duce surplus revenue what better mode
| Che asked could be suggested than to
repeal One-half of the duty on sugar,
| and thus directly relieve the people
| from S2S, ,250. 900 of taxes on an article
| in most general use and now bearing
a tax of 50 per cent? No
| such suggestion was made by the
| president or the secretary of
the treasury, and he (Mr. Sherman) did
not care to explore the reasons for their
| silence. Still, in view of the hopeful
prospect of producing sugar from beets
| and sorghum cane,aS well as from sugar
cane, he would not cripple that industry
| by reducing protective duties except by
| giving the producers of domestic sugar
bounty equal to the reduction of duty
on the imported article.
No reason could be given why wool
| should be made free and wooden goods
! should be protected. If there must be
| cheap wool there must be cheap WOOL
ems; and if the labor of the farmer in
producing the wool was not protected
against undue competition with Aus
tralia or Buenos Ayres, then that of the
clothmaker should not be protected
against competition with the looms of
Manchester or Lyons. If there were low
duties on iron ore, there would have to
be low duties OH iron and steel in all it's
forms. The farmer performed as valu-
able labor as the artisan, and the rights
of every producer should have equal and