Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-09-10
The TARIFF TAX.


rHE May.
According to the census Of 1890, the
1.rI states has IN round numbers G3,-
Il Of population and S63, 900, ,00j,
~ worth Of property, yet less than
taa.tv-'tye thousand individuals own
l' u this vast wealth. IL has
TO- pied up for the most part under
o.. t.ritI systems within the last thirty
y
1.r.ng TINS period, labor, the primary
II z.1 u wealth, has produced this vast
ii mutation, three fourths OF which
rs been monopolized and concentrated
il The. hands OF one twenty fifth
lIadredth part Of our population.
I! tie question is asked how this has
l.ett done, the answer will be found iu
~! 'artf taxation laws, of which the
Mckinley act, passed by the Ffty-arst
Congress, - = pertinent example, since
J. illustrates the most perfectly organ
;zel Y-tcm for the scientific plunderinr
.. ne masses q the people that has been
Ge9.e sncc the establishment OF our
comment.
\ "siif tax, briefly explained, is one
IA requires the citizen to pay for the
gIyi.c-,c Of buying certain things he
sElg need outside Of the United States.
II cgmpcls him TO buy things at home at
Higher prices, the difference or profit
Iptag into the pockets Of the home
manufacturer.
tndcr It's operation, when the mer-
slaut orders his goods from abroad, he
Il
enter the United States throuy yh the
Custom House, but the consumer pays it
back - hiin as part of the price of the
goods. They may pass through n dozen
i4uis from the importer to the com
mission merchant, the jobber and the re-
r4ier, Int they will carry all the while
tHc,burlen of this tax, aud in the end
thr consumer will foot the bill. Thus
1ac tariff becomes tax, whatever ,n-
tcgupnIous politicians may say to the
contrary.
duty levied upon articles not pro
duced in this country, such as tea, cof-
fee, spices and the like, is simply
ceaI letter, but that which is LEVIED
upon articles manufactured here and
which we can buy more cheaply abroad,
enables the home manufacturer to
charge for his products with tue tariff
Tax added. That is what is meant by
protection against foreign competition,
HUT the process compels the farmer and
pmccAanics to 90 down in their pockets
and pay bonus for the privilege Of
Rnyiug what they need
In illustrating this point Congressman
bushnell, Of Wisconsin, recently pre-
sented 4 familiar example. He said
"Suppose a Philadelphia man manu-
factureS all the hats made in this coun-
try and makes u hat at a cost of labor
and material that enables him to sell it
faI dollar and make fair profit. a
FTenchnan in Paris makes precisely the
same kind Of hat at the same cost and
sells II ut the same price Ii buy IA
ha, from the Philadelphia nan he gets
the profit If l order hat from the
Frcnchman lie gets the profit aud pay
the freight to bring 1t home. The
Philadelphia man has The advantage
over the Frenchman by reason of the
freight. But, understand me, the French
man buys our shiploads Of pork, Of
which we have more than we can use or
fell at home, and he trades us his hats
For our surplus pork a. n better price
than we can get for il at home. Natural
ly we buy good many hats from that
Frenchman.
This, however. does not suit the Phil
.adclphia man. He wants bigger profits
and the monopoly Of all the hats that
1a,i p tl,tI ,,,,tr al
make Us pay for the privilege Of buying
that Frenchmar's hat. How does he
obtain it lie SAYS ia Uncle Sam.
liza. Frcnclnan : trading here ami
scinE Aats IN my home market where
ny yes and he does not, therefore he
j 'aNu- money out of the country, and
Mt protection. Suppose you make
ia" tuat .or every ha; that Frcnchman
sel., INTO TINS country he shall pay you
one collar, that will put money into
Your treasury and protect my home
market
Forthwith law is made that the
Irtn>nman's hats shall pay tariff duty
ol 81, Wien they are brought into the
UnItcd States. Now what Is the sstua-
ton n buy one OF those hats must
.
IaIis AMI II - Uncle sam al the Gus
tom House. How about the Pilade!-
pima man selling lis hats nnwi VIII ne
continue ( sell his hats a: 81 eacill No.
much. lie viii charge 81 each. 81 OF
which is the increased profit We are
forced 10 pay him by reason OF this
Abomnab,e tari.i tax. Thus, the tariff
IS Iract;caly prohhiiury.
Aside from ,Als Grant OF special priv
ileye, or a monopoly 10 the home man
utacturers, however, and It's eject in
restraining foreign competition, the
Mckinley law imposes burden upon
our people, and takes from the consumer
The profits that MAKE the home manu-
fac:urers rich. This is the load which
the working people OF this country are
+; ~ ,t ha ~