Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1892-08-12
ANNAPOLIS Md FRIDAY EVENING. AUGUST L. 1899.
MKINLEY DROLLERY.
AMAZING EXHIBITION sY THE Au-.
THOR or THE TARIFF BILL.

Appropriations In the Minneapolis Gath
ering which Put Little Ben Up to BE
Knocked Down-vhat the Infamous
Tariff Brl Does in Actual Practice.
The tariff controversy has provoked a
great many dron things, but the most
amazing exhibition of mingled drollery
Ind effrontery that has marked it was
reserved, as it should have been, for the
distinguished author of the Mckinley
bill, and the place chosen for the exhir
bition was, as drought 20 have been. the
Republican national convention of 1892,
We mean the wonderful body that met
nt Minneapolis and nominated Harrison
bnd Reid. Major Mckinley was made
chairman of it, and this was another ex-
hmple of fitness. The presidential con-
hest is to be fought on the tariff ques-
tion, very largely, and it was in perfect
accordance with all the proprieties that
khe most conspicuous exemplar of a
policy which takes three out of every
ten drops of productive sweat on q
farmers brow and gives them over to
the favored manufacturing class should
preside over the deliberations of an as
semblage called to indorse this sweat
taxing system.
OF course Major Mckinley said some
thing about the protective tariff policy.
He was expected to, and he did. And
this is what, among other things, he
said;
"The Democratic party believes in d.
- %hn% ID sxa 20
selves; but we do not believe in that
principle SO long as we can find any
body else to tax. We propose to raise
our money to pay public expenses by
taxing the products of other nations
rather than by taxing the products of
our own people"
The meaning of this statement, as ex-
planned by similar assertions in his other
speeches, is that our protective tariff
forces outside nations to pay our taxes
and transfers from our shoulders TO
theirs the burden of paying the expenses
of our government. If this were true,
then the French protective tariff on
American grain compels our western
grain raisers to help support the French
government, and the German protective
tariff on American meats enables the
German empire to collect taxes in Mis-
souri, and Illinois. Last year we collect
ed $219, 800, 900 in duties on imported
goods. Major Mckinley pretends that
this money came out of the pockets of
foreign nations, but he knows better.
He knows that it was added to the price
of the $S45, ZOO, 900 worth of foreign goods
we imported, increasing the price just
that much and compelling our people
to pay 81 .O64, SOC, 600 for the $S45, 600, 900
worth of foreign goods, so that the $219,
5000 came out of their pockets in the
end.
When the Mckinley bill reduced the
duties on sugar the author of it asserted
that this reduction relieved the people
of $54, ,00O, 900 a year in taxes, and in his
Ohio canvass speeches last year he
pleaded this relief as a claim on the
gratitude of the people. He did not
say, as he might, that Republican tar
iff had been for twenty-five years taxing
the people $54, ,000, 900 year on one of
the necessaries of life, when the govern
ment had no use for the money; he con-
tented himself with telling them that
they ought to be thankful to the party
for its magnanimity in consenting to rob
them no longer. But if what he said in
Ohio was true, how could that be true
which he said at Minneapolis? If the
sugar duties had been taking $54, ,000, ,000
a year from our own people, how can he
have the effrontery to assert that the
~Al ~ 1.x,
the same people?
But this is not the worst of it. If the
Mckinley tariff did nothing more than
collect the government revenue from
the people, it would not be so offensive
and oppressive. But it does great deal
more. It forces the people not only to
supply their government with revenues,
but to supply the favored manufactur-
ers with revenues also. We imported
and consumed last year $S45, ,000, 600
worth of foreign goods, paying on them
$219, 500, 900 in duties to the public treas
ury; but in the same time we consumed
three times that value of protected home
manufactures, paying thereon three
times $219, SOC, 900 to the favored class
engaged in making them. The very re-
lief of the people from sugar duties to
the amount of %, ,OOO, 900 year was in
this way annulled by the increased du-
ties on other necessaries Of life. In
fact the favored manufacturers got the
S54, 900, 900, and as much more besides,
and every dollar of it came out Of the
pockets of our own people.--St. Louis
Republic.