Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-02
MR. PLUMB's PROTEST.
He Makes tho Chinaware Schedule the
Basis of Some Interesting Remarks.

Senator Plumb made yesterdays tariff debate
more than ordinarily interesting by entering a
protest against the chinaware schedule as re-
ported by the committee. Mr.. Plumbs text
was letter from merchant doing business in
St. Joseph, No., and Atchison, Kan, stating
! that on an invoice of crockery he had paid that
day customs duty of s16.40; that under the
pending bill the duty on the same invoice
would be S3l32 and under the Mckinley bill
$57.I2.
The whole tendency Of civilization, Mr..
Plumb said, was toward the reduction of prices
of all products of human labor. To claim that
| the tariff had been the sole or the main factor
in the reduction of the prices Of manufactured
goods was to ignore all tine forces of civiiiza-
ton. The American people were entitled to
have cheap goods if competition could bring
that about.
When he asked, was the time coming when
the people OF the United States would get some
benefit from the establishment of home in
dustries2 But just as fast as the point was ar
rived at when lower prices might be expected
the manufacturers came to Congress and said
that they wanted more duties, whereby that
downward progress of price might be arrested
The people of the United States ought to have
their Timing" some time, and he thought that
| that time had come.
The article of chinaware, he went on to say.
was to be found on the tables of rich and poor,
50 that the high tFx on it had to be borne, not
in accordance with the ability OF the taxpayer to
pay. but as practically per capita tax. The man
on the farm used as much chlnaware as Van
derblt in his palace. The duty on chinaware
was not a tax on a luxury, but on a necessity OF
life.
He believed in so distributing the duties that
were necessary for the purpose OF raising rev.
enue for the support of the government in
such way as to equaliZe the conditions exist
ing between the manufacturers of this country
ami those abroad Ii he were in doubt he
would resolve that doubt in favor of the Amer
lean manufacturers. But, if he knew what the
exact conditions were, he would put the home
and the foreign manufacturer the same
footing precisely. lie should be recreant to
his duty II he gave his support to such propo-
sition as the chinaware schedule. He knew
that the pottery manufacturers OF Ohio were
rIch-far richer than the people whom he rep
resented. But if they could take half of the
American market why, he asked, could they
not take the whole2 1t was evident that they
did not care to do SO, but only that part of it
which left them the greatest profit.
He could see that game of battledore and
shuttlecock between free trade and protection
constantly going on for political advantage on
the one side and for personal advantage Oh the
other, and between tho two extremes the great
body of the American people were being
crushed and ground He would apply the rule
that whoever demanded tax for his own ben
eft should be ready to show conclusively that
his interest was also the public interest. The
onus was upon him. The demonstration should
be made that every single penny OF tax pro-
posed was absolutely necessary. He would cast
no vote that did not represent an informed
Judgment in that direction