The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-09-26
ANSWERS.

W1ere qulte u NUMBER OF Questions WAS
asked and to which he replied. His
answers may have satisfied himself and
his party organs, but they would be far
from satisfactory to an audience com
posed Of intelligent, thinking people.
The first question asked was:
rs it not true that the duty paid on
an article imported into our country and
called a tariff is a tax to be paid by the
person that consumes or uses the article.
Major McKinley's answer was: AZ
revenue tariff is always paid by the con
sumer, because if you put a tariff on a
non-competing foreign product. a pro-
duct we cannot produce in this country
then the price of that product to us is
the foreign price with the American
tariff added, and that is paid by the
American consumer.
an the case of a protective tariff, 1t
may for a time be paid by the consumer
while we are building up the industry;
but when we have reached the success
ful manufacture of any product in the
United States under a protecting tariff,
competing at home fixes and regulates
the price, and the American consumer
does not pay the tax
1t cannot be presumed that the party
asking the question was satisfied or M
WINGED with the answer. Mr.. Mckinley
confesses that Il tariff Isl tax provided the
tariff is placed upon an article we do not
nor cannot produce in this country. For
instance we are not producing tinplatc
and hence his tariff of 80 cents per
pound upon it is a direct tax upon the
consumer. Hence it follows that a duty
levied upon all other articles of which
we do not produce what we consume
wool for instance is Il tax. In the case
of Il protective tariff he admits the TAX
must be paid by the consumer, while
now note his sophistry-while we are
building up the industry. When that is
accomplished competition, he says, regu-
lates the price. and the American cor
sumner does not pay the tax.
That is very pretty in theory and the
a b c students in tariff lore may believe
it. But there are two objections to ac-
cepting it as truth which Mr.. Mckinley
has no removed. In the first place.
during the 115 years of this governments
we haven't got a single indus
try in the country that isn't protected
today than it ever was before, the
business of sugar raising, q%uinine
manufacturing and one or two other
minor industries excepted. We have
been building up the iron and wooden,
and steel and cutlery, and crockery and
tinware, and scores Of others which may
be mentioned, and still everyone of them
it needs more protection. The
people are daily taxed to support them
and Mckinley cannot deny it. There is
competition among a very few of these
manufacturers--but among only a few.
has bred pools and trusts and
combines to keey up prices, and protec-
ton will breed more, so that prices for
any American manufactured article will
De placed at just that figure, which will
prevent the foreign manufacturer from
competing in our home market. The
will pay the difference which
S a tax. :
There is another proposition to be con-
'idered in connection with Mr.. McKin-
ey's answer. 1t is this. Any tariff law :
which will make the American consumer
If any article pay more for il than he !
would without the tariff. that consumer
s taxed to an amount equal to the diff
erence he must pay. When he is not :
a!lcd upon to pay that tag - Mr.. Nc J
Smiley says he will not when 'com- =,
regulates the pricc"-thcrc will
10 longer be need for n tariff upon the I
1t will be us cheap or cheaper :
han the foreign made article without
he tariff upon it. Another question was:
rs it not true that the taxing powers d
IT the government are exhausted when '
t has raised an amount of money sufli- ,
lent for the administration of the gov !
rnment:" c
Major Mckinley said: MY answer to 4
hat is that under the democratic rev. +;
nue. policy from 1916 to 1860 the taxing !.
overs of the government we're exhaust Il
. before money enough was raised to C
the ordinary expenses Of the gov q
rnment." =
That is no answer at all. Under the l
'olk- Walker tariff of 1876 the rates av- d
ragged only22 per cent, including the !
on ~luxuries. The compromise ID
aritf Of 1857, for which republicans as u
ell as democrats were responsible, re- II
uced the rates of the Polk-Walker tar I
7 On the plea that the revenu was ex- !
Mr.. McKinley's tariff raises the ,
GO per cent. Now comes the !
u~estion: If the taxing powers of the :,
overnment were exhausted in the levy :.
lg of duties, averaging % per cent, and 4
in what condition are the taxing
overs Of the government that can't -
aise enough to run it under a tariff y
7eraging 60 per cent? Will some Nc .
.~inleyite answer? Still another ques-