The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1890-05-21
VIM. M'KINLEY. OF OHIO.
HIS SPEECH IN THE HOUSE ON THE
TARIFF BILL.

Lucid Explanation of the Measurable Is
Calculated tn Reducc the Revenues of
tho Government by Reducing the Inn
portations.
In the last political campaign. said
Major Mckinley, in opening debate on tho
tar II bill in the House, the tariff had
been the absorbing question before the
people. 10 seemed to him that no ex-
ended discussion OF this principle was
expected or required or necessary under
existing conditions: for II amy one thing
was settled by the political contest OF
1893 it was that the protective policy, as
promulgated by the Republican raity in
iis platform, "a maintained by the Re-
publican party through long series OF
years, should be secured in any legisla-
ton which was TO be had by Congress
chosen in this great contest and on this
master ng issue. He interpreted the VIC
tory 10 mean, he interpreted the majority
in this House to mean, he interpret d the
incumbency of the Presidency of the
United States by the present Chief Ex-
ecutive TO mean that a revision OF the
tariff was demanded by the people, and
that that revision should be along the
line ard In full recognition of the prin-
ciple ana purposes OF protection. The
people had spoken and they asked this
Congress to register their will and en-
body their verdict into public law. The
bill presented by the Committee on Ways
snd Means to the House was thorough
answer to that demand. 1t was in
full communion with the principle
and policy OF the protective tariff
The bill had not abolished the
internal revenue tax, as the Republican
party had pledged itself 10 do In the
event that that abolition was necessary
10 preserve the protec i've system, because
the committee had found the abolition of
the one was not necessary TO the preser-
walton of the oher. The bill recommend
ed the abolition of all special taxes and
tn reduction of the tax on tobacco and
snuff, and il removed the restrictions
upon the growers of obacco. With these
exceptions the internal revenue law stood
as ut present. Ifthese Recommendations
were agreed to in ernal taxation would
be reduced little over SIC. OCO, 600. The
C mmittee also recommended a provision
requiring all imported articles to bear a
stamp or max IdicHti & the country In
which such articles are manufactured.
The reason that actuated the committee
was that it had ecome too common
among some of the countries of the world
to copy some of our best known brands
aud Sc | them in competit on with oar
osn home made product. The next p o.
an lib rlllzIbg of the drawback Sec
tons of the law. Under the ex-
/ tug statute any citizen of the United
Sta'es could import an article, pay
duty upon 1t, make it into a complete
product. export it, and the Government
refunded 30 per cent. of the duty paid on
the raw material. The committee recon-
mended that hereafter the Government
SHOULD retain only per cent, instead of
10 per cent. This g we to the people of
the United States practically free Iaw
materi ! for the export trade. The COM
mittee said to the capitalists of the coun-
try: If on think you can get INTO the
foreign market with free raw material We
give you within | per cent of flee raw
materisl and you try and see what Nou
can do. This provision completely dis
posed of what had sometimes seemed an
almost unanswerable argument urged by
gentlemen on the other side that If the
manufacturers only had tree raw ma
terial they could compete in the markets
of the world
Mr.. Springer, OF Illinois, inquired
whether this provision applied to wool
Mr.. McKin ely repned That it applied to
everything. 1t was as serted by the minor
ity that the bill would not reduce the
re enues of the Government, but. on the
contrary. it would increase the revenues.
This staten, Mt was misleading. 1t could
only be valuable on the assumption that
the importat ons of the present year un-
der this bill would be equal to the i'm
ponation of like art cles under existing
law The instant dut es were incrl ased
to a fair protective point, that instant the
importation diminished and the revenues
correspondngly diminished. No one
could dispute that proposition. If tn,
1. II. Il h.a lnsU o
OF the Govern ment would be dimin-
ished from $50, 0J0, 5000 to S60, 000, 900.
After discussing the bill more in de-
tail, Mr.. Mckinley said that under the
duties liked by the bill, the annual i'm
ports of S2j,0J0, 900 of agricultural prod
ucts would be supplied tue people OF the
United States by the Americ IN farmer
rather than by the Canadian farmer, and
that 100000 distributed among the
farmers would relieve some of the de-
preston prevail ng and give them CONT
dence and courage and increased ability
to raise the mortgages upon their farm.
During the twelve years of reciprocity
with Canada, the United States had
bought much more than it had sold.
What Canada wanted, what other coun-
tlies wanted, was q froe and open market
in the United States. What the I'm ted
States wanted, if it ever had reciprocity,
was reciprocity with equality, reciprocity
that was ir reciprocity that was just,
reciprocity that would give her her share
in the trade or the b rydin she made with
the other countries OF the world.
Whenever the Tn ted States had had
trade, reciprocity or low duties 1t had
always been the loser. But he would not
discuss reciprocity. This was a domestic
bill; it was not Ioreign bill.
Mr.. Mckinley expla ned and defended
the wool schedule and the paragraph in
the met al SEIZED lie concerning tin plate,
and then passed to the consideration OF
the free list. He sail that the committee
had taken from the free list and placed
on the dutiable lit eighteen articles, ten
of which were articles of agriculture. If
the same quantity should lie imported
this year as was imported last year this
would increase the revenue S2.400,OJ0.
1t had taken from the dutiable list and
put upon the free list forty eight arti-
cles, which lat year paid into the Treas
ury SCI. 800, 0O0, $4,000, 900 OF which
was from sugr alone.
Referring TO the growth of the carpet
industry in the United States, he said
that the price OF carpets hal gone down
while he advalorem equivalent had gone