Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1892-08-27
DsMocaAcY AND SUGAR

Iua Do Ksnsas CITY. Mo-. Journal
HJust a soon q tho democrats gel
The power" says Colonel Henry Waiter
son in the Louisville Courier journal,
s'thsy win wipe out the atrocious repub-
lican sugar beunties and restore the
sugar duties" Colonel Watterson ID
probably as correct an exponent Of the
plans and purposes of the democratic
party as any other of its distinguished
members. He has personally formulated
the democratic national platforms for q
number of years past in their most i'm
portant features, and has thus largely
shaped the paity's policy.
Before the duties were removed from
sugar consumers bought the granulated
article at from twelve to thirteen pounds
for. dollar. Immediately upon the re-
moval Of the duty the price went down
till in few weeks twenty pounds could
be purchased for dollar. This made q
direct saving to every family of con-
siderable sum of money in the course
of the year, and was consequently q
very popular measure. 1t was one Of
the provisions of the much abused Nc
Kinley law, which was to have raised
the price of everything and really raised
the price of nothing.
Now that the people have become &C.
customed to cheap sugar, it would be
rather hard with them to return to the
old twelve pounds to the dollar basis.
As removing the duty brought down
tho price, restoring the duty would, OF
course, send the price up again. And
yet that is Just what the democratic par
ty, If Colonel Wotterson knows any
thing about it, proposes TO do. How
de the people of the west, who have
been preached to 80 long about the evils
of taxing necessaries, like the prospect?
And not only sugar, but coffee would
have duty placed on it also and 60 up
in price with sugar; for tie principle
of the revenue only policy is to levy
taxes upon those articles which are i'm
ported in large quantity and will yield
the greatest amount of revenue. A re-
publican congress put coffee on the free
list in 1883, and when the Mckinley
law took the duty from sugar the Amer
lean family sat down to an uutaxed
breakfast table. It is this beneficial
legislation that the democratic party
proposes to undo.
The Journal speaks of duties on sugar
and coffee as tax. And they are
tax. The tariff is tax, then, after all ?
Yes, when laid upon such articles. Sugar
is not made in this country in any con-
siderable quantlties-not in sufficient
quantity to effect the price. What our
people consume must come almost en-
tirely from abroad, without regard to
the tariff. All our coffee is imported,
for the coffee plant cannot be grown
successfully in the United States. So
in cases of this sort, where the supply
comes from other countries,
the tariff is added to the price and is
tax which the consumer pays. In
hardware, tinware, ETC., where
the articles can be end are produced in
this country in ample quantities, the
tariff is not tax upon the consumer,
because he uses the homemade goods
and gets them cheaper than he used to
in the free trade times. If the foreign
maker, sends his goods into our market,
he must cut the price low enough to
pay the tariff and still sell as low as the
American producer.
The sugar industry in this country
may some day develop sufficiently to
meet the home demands. The republl-
can party desires to encourage that in
dustry, and yet to give the people
cheap sugar. 1t does this by removing
$50, 000, 900 Of annual sugar duties, and
paying home producers about $1,000
600 in bounties. It is this wise pro-
vision which Colonel Waterson says the
democratic party meaus to upset and