The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1890-04-19

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| is believed, diminish importat ons and thereby
reduce instead Of increase the revenues ana
/ transfer To the country the manufacture OF
/ from ,l5Uutu To sanODOO Of wooden goods
| now mace abroad. The average rate Of the
| woolcn-goods schedule proposed, including
! the specific duty en- the whole used ana
the manufacturers duty, IL 9l.'s per cent
! The average rate al present II b'h per cent
OF lumber the report says that the reduction
| of the light duties would have discouraged the
I proper care Of our timber lunds ANA have In
ured 10 the benefit OF Canada without dimin'
ishing market prices.
OF the metal schedules the report says that
no reduction can ne made on pig'iron or ore
duties without detriment toexisting Industries,
and the committee has not felt justified In IN
terfcrinf It'll the further development OF our
iron-ore resources, now 50 promising IN the
Southern States.
OF sugar the report says;
"Ihe committee recommends that sugar up
TO and including No. 10 Dutch standard OF color,
and molasScs bc placed on the free list with
duty of 40 Of cent pound on refined sugar
above No, ~, ANA that Il bounty oi cents "a
pound IN paid from the Treasury for period Of
fifteen years for all sugar polarizing at least -
per cent. made In this country from cane, beets
or sorghum produced in the United States"
OF the internal revenue sections the commit
tee, after reciting them, says II has recon
mended the repeal of the statutes imposing re.
strctions upon farmers and growers OF tobacco
so that they will sell with freedom.
In conclusion the report says that the id
vance of duties on agricultural products would
increase the revenue II the imports continue To
be as large a. during the last year. But as
they are for the most part articles which
this country can produce to the extent Of
our wants the increased duty will reduce i'm
portations so that the revenues will not be iu
"A hpi
markets The same result will follow in other
cases OF increase, and where the revenue is In
special cases increased the increase will be far
less than is indicated by a computation based
on the theory that the importations will con-
tinue as large as under lower duties.
Several thousand words are devoted TO civ.
ing reasons for increasing duties on agricult
ural products. Concerning silk the committee
states that in order 10 secure this industry Is
speedily rs possible it offers the necessary diff
ferential OF bounty Of 81 per pound. about the
equivalent of 10 Per cent. OF the market vafue
OF good silk. A bounty OF cents per pound, il
is stated. is also allowed on cocoons.
THE MINORITY REPORT.
The minority report rs signed by all
the Democratic members of the commit
tee. 1t is in brief as follows:
1t says that the remedy proposed by the ma
jority Is the imposition OF more taxes upon
every article OF foreign origin which the people
of this country desire to buy and for
which they are ready and anx.
ious to exchange the cotton which they
can not spin, the corn and wheat which
they can not consume, the Oil and coal
which they can not burn, and many other prod
ucts Of our farms, our forests and our mines.
These surplus products must find q market
somewhere out of the United States Under
our unwise system Of taxation there is no
,yat oh kUil1 nav intu. trias nd 70.
attempt TO remedy the evil by increasing
the cost of production is simply to begin Gt
the wrong end, and will greatly aggrayate the
situation.
The majority bill is framed upon the as
sumption that as our Industries grow older
they grow weaker and more dependent upon
the bounty of the Government. II devolyes
upon those advocates now To explain, If they
can, why it is that after a lowtarir policy has
been abandoned for more than Il quarter OF d
century and high-tarf policy substituted IL
its place the manufacturing and mechanical
industries OF the country are less able to mann
tain themselves than they were when the
change was made. And when this is done il
will still remain for them to show upon what
principle of Justice or sound pU)c policy
consumers can he periodically subjected to ad-
ditional taxation, not for the benefit of the
Government which does not want the revenue,
but for the exclusive benefit OF private business
enterprises which are not able to sustain them
selves. The silk bounty is severely criticized IL
the report.
Continuing the report says the bill will In.
crease the taxes on wool and wooens BIO
10000 per annum, according to last years
but really to much greater
sum while taxes on tobacco to the amount OF
S. 800 9aI are abolished. The minority can not
agree to do this al the price OF an increase Oh
necessares. The only substantial reason
urged for the repeal Of the tobacco tax Is the
relief from Governmental supervision, but a
mere reduction of the tax from cents to
cents does not dispense with this supervision OF
reduce the cost of collection.
or the metal schedules the report says that
there are many increases and scarcely any re.
auctions on articles that can be imported at al.
1he bill proposes to make large increases in
the duties on carpet woods, and take silver ores
containing lead from the free list and subject
the lead contained in the silver ore to duty
of T.. cents pound, not because need the
revenue, but for the sole purpose of prevent
ing these articles from being imported into this
country.
The bill increases the rates OF duty on ala
classes OF wool imported into this country.
These increases have been made principally
upon the demand Of a few large flock masters
in the State of Ohio, and they will be defended
by the majority on the alleged ground that
they are beneficial to the farmers Of the coun-
try who keep sheep ON their land. The fact Is
thai wool is one OF the least important .agri
cultural products in point OF actual value ana
by comparison with otheSs. II does not amount
to more than 3 per cent OF the total value OF
farm products
The report criticiscs tine sugar bounty ana
protests against the gross favortism and IL
Justice OF such - policy. The sugar duty Is
defended As far more just and equitable than
that on many other articles, and. while the
minority believes the duty should DE resuceo'
it can not see the justice or propriety OF max
ing this revenue article free, paying bounty,
and making this an excuse for imposing S5,Uc-
600 additional taxes on the other schedules OF
necessarieS.
The minority finds it impossible to state with
accuracy the effect of the increases IL eN-
presses the opinion that the increase OF the to-
bacco duty will be tl6.s0i 90 and that other
items will show an increase of SUrOO. Add
ing these amounts TO the si00ti, la3 shown
by the committees tables to have been added
TO the duties On articles remaining on the
dutiable list shows total increase OF duties
on articles still dutiable outside Of the sugar
schedule of about ID oOo,Uuu and the minority
is satisfied il i more than that.
Mr.. McKenna Cali Republican
member of the committee. submitted a
report dissenting from the sugar sched-