Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-06-04
M'KINLEYS REBATES.

How He Encourages Manufacturers to Sell
to Foreigners Cheaper Than in the Homo
Market - An Unjust Discrimination
Against the American People in the Hum
bug "Amerfcan Bill"
The Mckinley bill is bill of false
pretenses. Besides it's attempt to gull
the farmer there are various other de-
ceptions aimed at in it. One of the
most notable is in the matter of rebates.
When any material is brought into
this country and is then sold outside of
the country again, either in its first
form or after being worked up into
some manufactured product, the Gov
eminent refunds 80 per cent. of the duty
which had been paid on this mate
rial when it was brought into the coun-
try. This part of the duty refunded by
the government is called rebate, or
drawback.
The Government now gives back, as
stated, 30 per cent. of the duty. Mr..
Mckinley proposes that the Govern
ment shall hereafter pay back 80 per
cent, keeping only one per cent. to pay
expenses for collection.
This measure was claimed by McKin-
ley, in his opening speech on the Tariff
bill, to place our manufacturers in pre-
cisely the same position, with regard to
raw material. Mckinley has heard the
foreign trade, as if they had free
voice of the manufacturers of the East
demanding free raw material He has
seen the petition of the New England
manufacturers, with the names of hun
dreds of the most prominent firms at
tached to it, asking for free coal and
eoks ana free pig iron,
Something had to be done to make it ap-
pear that this demand had been granted.
Accordingly the rebate on raw material
was raised from 80 per cent to 90 per
cent. This, Mr.. Mckinley said, would
give the manufacturers, so far as i'm
ported materials were concerned, all the
advantages Of free trade in the foreign
market. In this way the Lord High
Tariff Maker thinks he has silenced the
demand for free raw material
But it is just here that the false pre-.
tense comes in. This rebate, as is we'll
known in manufacturing and trade
circles, is practically dead letter. 1t
is worth so little to manufacturers thew
seldom apply for it. Tho a4@.,cn,t;as
and delays in the way of settling the
rebate are so great that it is almost en-
ttrely ignored.
speaking of Mr.. McKinleys claim
that the 80 per cent. rebate gives the
manufacturers all the advantages of
free trade, the New York Commercial
Bulletin has this to say: .'Manufact-
urers who have had experience of the
visionary character of rebates will not
be deceived by this. They know that
rebates, although ostensibly put forward
s-ene9Aragemehts to the export trade,
have no effect in that direction.
and simply serve to mislead
public opinion, if they are not
so intended. The conditions under
which the rebate of duty can be claimed
are so onerous as to be practically pro-
hibitiye. In the first place, exports OF
such manufactures as textiles, to QUALITY
for it, must be wholly composed of i'm
ported materials, and in the second.
such articles as plows, moving machines
and shoyeis must have imported mate
Tfal Incorporated in their manufactures
TO an extent exceeding one half of the
fetal Of the materials used. 1t is attn
4NeS4OA HSSoooefJs ~ OIUcI 10 maze q
claim leg innate, that the imported
materials shall be identifable, that is.
in every step of the manufacturing pro-
cess they shall practically be under the
surveillance Of Government officials.
The present tariff allows rebate Of 90
per cent, under the above conditions,
but the trouble and expense attending
any attempt at its collection have been
so great that exporters have found it to
their advantage to ignore it altogether,
II y not at all likely. theIsfore. that the
proposed change from a rebate OF % per
cent to one OF 90 per cent. will prove q
satisfactory solution of the difficulty.
and the clause will therefore continue
useless"
Mr. 4. B. Farouhar. Of York. Pa. ens