Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-05-15
EXPOSED BY MILLS.
The Texas Congressman Dissects
tho Mckinley Bill.
A Mastery Reply to the Opening Speech
in the Great Tariff Debate-One of the
Most Eloquent Speeches Ever De-
li,ered in Congress.

WASHINGTON, Nay THE tariff de-
bate in the House was begun yesterday.
Mr.. Mills, of Texas, replied to Mr. Nc
Einley's opening address in eloquent
terms.
The Democratic party" said Mr..
Mills, ''believeS in maintaining taxes
on such articles at such rates as will
bring revenue sufficient for economical
administration with the least possible
Interference with the expectation and
pSS vate business of the people. The
Republican party, on the other hand,
desires to maintain such taxes as will
induce the largest possible restriction
on impOrta ton consistent with the rails
ing of revenue. The chief object of the
Republican party is to check importa-
ton, but it has a secondary object, and
this is not to check it entirely, but to
check it Just so far rs will bring revenue
for the needs of the Government The
ways and means committee comes in here
with bold and unequivOcal declaration
| of this taxing principle. 1t is the
first bill in the history of the coun-
try that has come before the people
with the mask torn off and demanding
with the audacity of a highwayman
that the people shall surrender.
| We lay down this principle on this
side of the House, that to check i'm
| portation is to check expectation. Cen
tlemen may split hairs, but no man can
call to mind a trade which was not made
on the basis of some sort of reciprocity.
One man gives something that he may
receive something in return from an
other man. This is trade the world
! I'D 81 I,o IL e
universe are laboring to get the best pos
sible product of their toll. When they
sell something to others it is with that
purpose in view You can't make any
thing else out of it Mr.. Mills elabor-
ated this idea at some lcngth and con-
tinucd:
Protection boiled down to its last ex-
IRENE means more work for less re-
| suits. We hear much about the impor-
| tatiOn of foreign wares taking the bread
/ out of the mouths of home workers. If
that is true in any thing it must be true
/ in metals. Let us see what the figures
/ sent me by Mr.. Swank, of the Iron and
/ Steel Association, protectionist as high
/ as any and Republican of good stand
! ing, says on this point.
| In 1870 we imported 100000 tons of
/ pig-iron: in 1872, 5000, 900 TONS and in
/ 1878, 1000. 900 tons. If the doctrine of
/ protection be true this competition from
/ abroad should have caused a correspond
| ing diminution of the American product
! Of pig-iron, but was that the result? In
| 1870 America turned out 81 000 600 tons
| of pig-iron; in 1872 So, 600, 900 tons, and
| in 1873, 119, coo. 900 tons. As the impOr-
tation of the foreign iron increased the
| output of the home mills increased in
| even greater ratio. This shows contfu
| Siyely that the Democratic position is
! right-that increased importation does
| not diminish the demand for home
| product nor interfere with the prosperi-
! ty of domestic manufacture.
| But there is another phase of the
! same subject which will interest us.
/ There came period during which the
/ importations diminished, and, if the
! protection doctrine be true, with dimi-
mutton of competition from abroad the
| output of the domestic manufactures
| should have increased in like ratio. In
| 1878 the importation of pig-iron had fall
! en- to $50, 900 tons. Did the domestic
output show corresponding increase as
competition was withdrawn? No. The
| in 1873 to $1,000, 900 toSs in 1876, and to
| SO, 600, 900 tons in 1878. AS importation
| diminished home production dimin-
! ished, just as home production in
creased all the time that importation
had been increasing. According to this
same iron and steel authority, at the
very time when foreign importation had
fallen almost to nothing million
] Ill oI 1,1 &c
country were without work simply be-
| cause there was no demand for their
| product. If foreign competition is the
| great bane of our National prosperity
why did not the home manufacturers
! take the market when their foreign
| rivals withdrew from it? Why, this
iron and steel authority says that the
very moment open foreign competition
was withdrawn the smokestacks of the
iron mills of Pennsylvania had no other
use than for observatories from which to
study the signs of the heavens. Laugh
ter and applause.
Let us look at the agricultural sched-
ule of this bill. Our Republican
friends seem to have so much SYM
pathy with the farmer. Two years ago
we told them that the signs of the
times were gloomy for the agricultural
| interests: that dark cloud was rising
above the horizon of the farm, but they
said the mortgages with which our
| farms were covered meant merely that
| the farmer was trying to extend his
! scope of operations, and that the mort
| cages therefore were sign of pros
| perity. Now the ways and means COM
mittee comes in here virtually on its
| knees at the confessional. 1t has dis
| covered, it says, after two months of
patient investigation, the very facts
which we pointed out two years ago
Something must be done for the poor
farmer to whom the mortgage has not
| proved a great blessing after all, and
we are told that what he needs is less
! competition. He must be relieved of
the competition of the $3.50, 900, 900 worth
of farm products which, according to
the statistician of the Agricultural De-
partment, are now imported each year.
One of the very first items we find in
the list OF $3.50, 900, 600 imported farm
products is sugar. But what has the Re-
publican party done for sugar? Why
did it not treat sugar as it treated wool
and put prohibitive duty on it? Why
did they consign this one struggling
and pulling infant industry to the free
list? The second item of agricultural
products in this list is coffee. Seventy
five millions of dollars worth of coffee
comes in each year, which, added to the