Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1890-06-07
M'KlNLEYS REBATES.

| bug "American Bill"
The Mckinley bill is bill OF false
pretenses. Besides its attempt to gull
the farmer there are various other de-
ceptions aimed at in 1t. One of the
most notable is in the matter of rebates.
When any material is brought into
this country and is thon sold outside Of
the country again, either in its first
form or after being worked up into
some manufactured product, the Gov
.ernment refunds % per cent. of the duty
which had been paid on this nate
rial when it was brought into the coun-
try. This part Of the duty refunded by
the Government is called rebate, or
drawback. - y
The Governheftf fnow gives back, as
stated. 30 per- cent tofsthe duty. Mr..
IsMcKinley proposes thxs ohe' Goverps
ment shall hereafter pay back 90 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 Tar. Fl
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
coke and free pg iron. ... .I..---
Something had to be done to makeit APP
pear that this demand had been granted.
Accordingly the rebate on raw material
was raised from 90 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 well
known in manufacturing and trade
circles, is practically dead letter. 1t
is worth so little to manufacturers they
seldom apply for it. The difficulties
and delays in the way Of settling the
rebate are so great that it is almost en-
tirely ignored 'r 81
Speaking of Mr.. McKinley's 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
as eIoouragemcnts 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-
hibitive In the first place, exports OF
such manufactures as textiles, to qualify
for it, must be wholly composed of i'm
ported materials and in the second,
such articles as plows, moving machines
and shovels must have imported mate
rial incorporated in their manufacture
to an extent exceeding one half of the
total of the materials used. 1t is still
further necessary, in order to make a
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 80
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 advantaga to ignore it altogether,
1t is not at all likely, therefore, that the
proposed change from rebate of 90 per
cent. to one of % per cent. VII prove a
satisfactory solution of the difficulty,
and the clause will therefore continue
useless"
Mr., a, b. Farquhar. of York, Pa, one
Of our largest manufacturers and ex-
porters of agricultural machinery, has
written a letter to the New York
Tribune in which he calls attention to
the embarrassments which combine to
make the drawback or rebate provision
practicallya a dead letter. THE least of
these he says, lis the fact that the
duty is not refunded but only a
portion of it--90 per cent, Then the
regulations which are required by the
Treasury Department to guard against
frauds, the necessity ofproving that the
imported goods in each article exceed
half its value, the limit of time in which
wfacks can be claimed the danger
of having orders couutermanded by con-
tinual delays practically involve so
much annoyance and precious time as
to eat up ali tie profits there were in
the drawbacks, even when the material
was as mu:h as 80 per cent? cheaper in
England than here I1F'
And thus it is seen that the tariff
makers talk about his rebate placing
all the advantages of free trade in the
hands of the manufacturers is simply a
piece OF pretense. 1t is like his duty
on eggs, which Mr.. Butterworth, his
Republican colleague from Ohio, says
means lone omelct year"
But why should Mr.. Mckinley propose
to give foreign buyers great advantage
over the home consumer at the doors OF
the home market factories? He held up
his bill as IAN American bill not a
European bill Why then should
Americans be Disseminated against in
this precious American bill? Our tariff.
maker gives Europeans, who buy the
products of our factories, the advantage
of free raw materials; but he refuses
this same advantage to the American
buyer. And yet he calls it an "Ameri.
can bill" What has the American citi.
zen done. that he must be made to paw
duties on raw materials which are offered
to the European without duty? Does
Mckinley think that tho people will
look upon this as just and fair to them:
This looks as If Mr., Mckinley regard
ed the home market theory as hum
bug, and the home market itself as en-
titled to no special consideration. II il
known that many of our manufacturers
secretly entertain the same feeling;
toward the home market. They will
contribute literally for election ex
penses to hold the home market fol
themselves, and will make expensiv,
trips to Washington to see that the
agreement is carried out by putting OF
high tariff-all this they will do; but
when it comes to the question of show