St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-19
CORRUPT CRAFTSMANSHIP.

i CORRUPT CRAFTSMANSHIP
4 Senator DAVIS says he regards the
! MCKINLEY bill as the highest achieve
i IneIEt OF American craftsmanship. This
is an exaggeratiOn born of the intense
excitement of bitter craftsmanship; fer
when the senator gets into counseI with
his better judgment. and his mind is
free from partisan coloring, he will
be better able to see the inlquities of
the new tariff law.
1t is not pretended that the MckIN-
LEY law was constructed as a revenue
| measure. Nor is it pretended by its ;d-
voeates that it was intended to promote
4 commerce. And as the federal consti-
tuition confines the taxing power of con-
| gTeSS to the purposes of revenue and
! commerce, this Ideal measure of mod
\ ern American craftsmanship" marks a
| new departure in the financial policy OF
! the government.
1t is asubsidy measure fer the benefit
| of private interests. And when that is
1 said the alpha and omega Of the Repub-
lean tariff policy has been spoken.
1 There is no language within the scope
/ of the human tongue which can exag-
! gerate the WickedneSS of this great
/ achievement OF modern craftsmanship,
| because 1T imposes burdens upon this
nation which are not borne by any other
! people upon earth. There is not an
other nation under the circle of the sun,
between the two poles of this fertile
globe, whose la5Oring classes pay such
heavy tribute TO an untaXed plutarchy
as Is paid by the wage-earners i'll this
country to the favored SONS OF mo-
nOpOly.
Taxation stalks up and down the
land with hungry and rayishing strides,
like furnished beast of prey, commit
ting It's rayages upon every substance
except that which is richest. Lit pur-
Sues every footstep, and haunts all Inc
humble ways and homes OF the toilers.
The taXgatiterer is omnipreSent. He
goes with you to the counter of the
merchant and collects Tribute for the
trusts from tue common people Oh
every purchase they make. He takes
out his toll Oh the price of suit of
clothes, OH the shirtings. fannels. cali
Goes. muslins, cassmereS, bonnets,
l. hOsieries, buttons, needles, thread,
hooks and eyes, sifoe-fasteners, thlnl
| bles, and almost every conceivable artl-
| cle III daily use. lie walks by the side
! OF the farmer in the field while at his
| daily labor, and gathers a golden income
| for the manufacturers from the plough
| share, the hoe. the scythe, sickle, reap
4 er and mower; he gathers his tax from
| the iron bands and claSpingS of the
wagon, from the buckles Oh the har-
/ ness, and from the bit i'll the bride.
| lie goes with the mechanic to his work
shop and puts iwo-fold tax on his
augers, knives, saws, chisels. planes.
/ anvil, topgS. bellows, and even the very
! hinges OH the workshop door, and the
glass which lets a ray of light into the
building. he sits with the laboring man
at his humble meal and emphasizes the
! beauty of protection by collecting tax
| on the knives. forks, plain table ware,
i eggs, potatoes. I'iiisbury or Wash
burn flour, of which his bread is made.
! He sits with him by his fireSide at even
ing and collects d tax on the coal which
4 burns in the CRATE, and then puts an adj
! ditlonal assessment on the CRATE itself,
i and the tOngS. He then goes TO bed
with the tired laborer when he retireS,
| and collects anOtnertaX Oh the blankets
that keep him warm. the sheets and
| the pillow cases. Nor does water, God'S
free gift to man, escape the notice of
the taXgatherer; he collects revenue for
i trust from the pump machinery, the
windlaSS, the old oaken bucket and the
/ tin cup which lifts the sparkling
draught. Nor is the taXgatherer re-
specter of persons, except that he dis
| eliminates in favor OF the plut0cratS.
The MANNED soldier who left a hand to
perish where the stormy charge swept
on under the blessed flag tolls with the
other hand day in and day out to meet
the eXactions OF the pap-fed monepe-
list. The widow sits in her be-
reavement and thinks of her far
away dead, who once made life
warm and beautiful fer her, but who is
now sleeping with his face upturned
to the flowers that grow above his head;
| AID, although he gave his life Tor his
country, she and her children are not
/ spared from the rayages of the tariff
/ barenS. The old soldier, who left leg
on the Southern battlefield as memo
rial of his patriotism, pays tax on the
erutches which support him as he hob
/ bies along on the street. Nor are the
] precincts of the death chambe and the
/ tomb sacred from the invasion of the
taXgatherer. He collects 70 per cent
1 tax on the Bible from which the good
priest reads words of consolation to the
4 dying. He walks by the side of the
1 hearse on the way to the cemetery and
eXacts tribute for the coffin trust His
hard hands even gather the tax from
i the screw and the screwdriver which
/ close the lid and shut the faces of our
i dear ones from sight forever. Nor does
his rapacity stop here, for he imposes
tax on the tombstone which is erected
as loving memorial to the departed.
And what is all this for?
Not because the government needs
the revenue, for the government gets
but a small per cent of it. Nor do the
| conditions of our trade in commerce
require it, for the very life is he ng
crushed out of them by this nefasious
tax policy.
What, then, is it all for?
Simply that the rich may be made
| richer and the poor be made poorer.
| That few miIlionaires may increase
| their profits immensely while the toll
Ing many are subjected to greater pri-
/ vatieDs.
| All this twaddle about home market
protecting home industry is hypocrit-
icai cant. Official statistics prove that
| there Is not such another tax-burdened
country on earth as our yonug nation.
And yet the enforcement of a policy
| which has created such direful result
is pronounced by Senator DAVIS to be
the highest achievement of American
| craftsmanship.
Isn't it time we were getting some
one with a grain of common sense to
represent US in the congress of the