The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-06-28
"THE TARIFF IS A TAX"

Among the Democratic legends borne
aloft on Saturday evening was the favorite
utterance of that melancholy, not to say
stupid political starting, Grover Cleveland
"The tariff is a tax" Very true; but
under protection who pays the tax? Un-
der . tax for revenue only there is no sort
of doubt that the American consumer
would pay the tax on sugar, tea and cof-
fee. which are now on the free list, but
when Canadian farmer brings his wheat
to Buffalo he gets the same price as the
Erie county farmer. less IS cents, the
American tariff. In that event who pays
the taxi
Governor Mckinley, in his great debate
with Governor Campbell, of Ohio, told
who paid the tax when he said in illus.
tration how the multiplication of interior
competition forced down prices:
The duty on salt is y 40 cents barrel or II
cents a hundred pounds. II can be purchased
for 30 cents a barrel where 1t 10 manufactured or
30 cents barrel in a barrel which costs 20 cents
which makes the cost of the salt, If the governor
be right, 70 40 cents. The duty on wire nails
was AZ cents a pound. We reduced il to q.
cents. They can be- bought at the place they
are made for 22-io cents a pound. Who pays
the tax? Cut nails can be bought for &C. 100
cents pound. Steel rails can be bought for $50
ton. So above the average price in Liverpool.
The tariff il 1884 a ton The duty is 25
per cent. on boots aud shoes; the duty was so
per cent: and yet they can be bought for less
than they could before the duty was put on
The duty on linseed oil is 81 cents gallon, aud
the farmers fiaxseed y cents bushel The
oil sells at So cents gallon. In London IL sells
n a tha fax l. 1Asi
tinseed oil should sell here for IS cents a gallon
But II does not Who pays the tax? lLsughtsr.l
A tax for revenue only is always a tax,
like the tax on sugar. but protective tar
lit is never a tax except when the buyer
will have an imported article or when we
are temporarily dependent upon foreign
supply. II person prefers q foreign arti-
Gle he can have 1t. and the very small
extra cost is less by one-third than would
be his taxes upon sugar, tea, coffee and
income under the tariff for revenue onlv,
which the Democracy would substitute for
protection. Another familiar illustration
is that of the growth of the steel
vail industry, which has enormously
forced down prices 10 the consumer and
made the United States not only entirely
independent of Great Britain, but Ia. out
stripped her in annual output OF recent
years. So in the matter of iron ore The
output of iron ore in the United States in
creased from 7.l2o, 562 long tons in 1850 to
I,5lS,O;l long tons in 1890, or los. 50 per
cent. The value increased 4t0S per cent.
This is less than one.half the increase in
quantity: therefore protection, by causing
great development, has reduced the cos:
to the people. The average price in 1850
wsss325. In 1890 ii wsssa3l The num-
Der of persons employed increased %. %
per cent. and their wages increased 81. %
per cent.
The facts are conclusive that the fo-e,cn
manufacturer, rather than the domestie
consumer. pays the increase in taria du.
ties provided by the Mckinley law on sew.
era important articles Of manufacture.
An instance recently cited by the Posr-IN.
rEIlIGESCgR was the reduced prices ms Il
By the manufacturers Of Chemuitz. Ger
many The increased tax on German
hosiery forced the manufacturers - CT
prices down on German goods, while a
the same slime the increased protection
opened American factories and incre9 Sc
the employment of American labor an>
capital.