The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-10-30

Ja1. but there, what pO66lOle &Ooo oIu
it serve to attempt to resurrect that
dead and buried allegation OF it's falling
upon foreign manufacturers and pro
ducers? Compared with this venerable
corpse, Lazarus was sweet and fresh.
II the tariff tax falls upon the foreign
er, why did these New York importers
shout themselves hoarse as ship after
ship arrived in time to anticipate the
action Of Carter's bill? II the foreigner
pays that tax what was there in it for
them? These importers of New York
had not escaped from the county luna
tic asylum. The consumers of this
country were going to pay an increased
tariff tax on these goods. They them
selves were to pay at the old rate and
sell at the new. Millions of dollars
were made in those few hours. The
American people paid them. II the
tariff tax falls upon the foreigner, why
has congress, upon the occasion Of some
great disaster such as the burning Of an
entire city, voted that goods for the re-
lief of the inhabitants might be admit
ted free Of duty? They have done so.
II the foreigner pays the duty, what
possible difference did it, could it make
to our people? That venerable chest
nut is enough to make the bells in every
building in Montana shake with mirth.
"The tax furnishes the revenue for the
support of our general government" It
does not. The tax goes straight into the
pockets of the manufacturers, the privi-
legged class that swore and demanded
the passage of this bill for their especial
benefit. The object, the declared object
OF the bill is to shut out foreign impor-
tations, SO as to leave the manufacturer
free to make his own prices and force
the sweat on the laboring man. If the
general government, being interpreted,
means the republican party, we with
draw our objections to the wording of
ukase. This tax does furnish
the principal source of revenue for the
support of the republican party. The
brings down the fat of the
man by the hard labor he COM
pels him to undergo in order to secure
The necessities of life. The manufac-
turer himself loses fat by the frying
process, and the hotter the fire, the more
prosperous the republican party.
When the tax upon an imported arti-
Gle, we are assured, is equal to
the difference between the cost
II manufacturing or producing it and
the cost Of the manufacture or produc-
tion of similar article IN this country,
The domestic article is protected. It is.
How often is the amount of protection
equal to that difference and no more?
Who ever heard of a manufacturer
pocketing an extra dollar over and above
that difference, or charging his custo-
mers cent more than that difference?
What sweet, gushing, pap nourished
innocents these committeeman are!
They never heard of duties that
exceeded that difference by 20
and 80 and so per cent. Carter would
not do such thing. It would be false
to the interests Of the people. But that
is the very object Tom Carter's tariff
bill has in view from first to last, to
plumber the people. How the manufac-
turers persuaded or drove him to this
rank treason to his hard working con-
stituents Tom Carter may add to his
long list of explanations. When the
tax is equal to the difference-pshaw,
what rot! 1t costs Just 10 cents more in
this country to produce ton of steel
rails than in England. Does the manu.
facturer add the difference to the Eng
lish cost and sell at that price! That,
says the republican committee, would
protect him. He is not built that way
He is protected to the extent of, not 10
cents, but something like S13 ton, and
he regulates his price accordingly.
American working men are naturally
fair. They want every man to have
square chance to earn his living. They
wish to encourage American in
dustries and fill American mouths. II
the manufacturer must be paid differ
ence, difference Of 10 cents ton or
whatever it may be, to enable him to
prosper, why he shall have it and vel
come. But in the name of common
honesty and fairness between man and
man, the wage-earner of Montana can
not for the life OF him see why he should
be compelled to rob himself, his home,
his wife and his little ones, to pay, not
not that difference, but an exorbitant
tax to any man. because he happens to
be manufacturer, has already more
money than he can use, and expends the
surplus in propping up the wrecks of a
knee-bending, fawning, contemplate
party.
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