The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-08-24
A REVENUE TARIFF.


1t Means Duties Levied on Imports which
DO Not Compete with Our Productions.
Those Democratic papers which see in
the pronounced free trade plank of the
Democratic platform serious danger
and there are not few of them-are be-
ginning to shift anxiously about in search
of an argument with which to nullify
that platforms influence. No longer
having to deal with that large and elas-
tic term of tariff reform" but con-
fronted with the bold issue of free trade
itself, they are finding the contract on
their hands bigger one than they bar
gained for, and are now scrambling
around in all directions to devise some
means of softening down the hard tones
of their free trade proclamation. The
favorite plan hit upon by these waver-
ing Performers" is one first enunciated
by one of the most eloquent advocates of
.Mugwump doctrines, the Springfield Re-
publican, in the following paragraph:
"Governor MeKinley brings into all his
tariff speeches the bugaboo of Demo-
cratic revenue tariff, which he describes
as tariff confined to certain luxuries
and articles not produced in this country
to large extent. But he never under
took to explain how 5000, 900, 900 of rev.
enue was to be raised from such a tariff.
1t is an impossibility. Tea, coffee,
sugar, tobacco, wine and other spirits
could not be made to yield more than
one-half the necessary revenue. The
rest of the tax must be distributed over
the schedule of manufactures, and $780,
600, 900 from this source would give all
the protection any industry needs."
This argument is decidedly weak
one, firstly, because it beautifully ex-
poses the honesty" of the Mugwump in
supporting platform which promises
something that he thinks impossible of
performance. and secondly, because it is
untrue. The Democrats advocate tar
if for revenue only, and according to
the doctrines Of the most distinguished
members Of their own party, from the
s1te Daniel Manning, secretary of the
treasury, down to Roger Q. Mills, if this
means anything at all, it means duties
levied on noncompeting products. The
construction of such tariff, far from
being impossible, is ono of the easiest
things in the world, as can be readily
shown. As late as the year 1870 we
levied revenue duties on tea, coffee and
sugar, these duties being twenty-five
cents pound on tea, five cents pound
on coffee and three cents a pound on
sugar.
Suppose those duties on coffee and
sugar would be reimposed today, and
allow even for lowering of the duty
on tea to twenty cents per pound. Dur
ing the year 1891 we imported 1.782, ,4e8,-
233 pounds of sugar (unretined), $780, $685.
985 pounds of coffee and 81 1925, ,27e
pounds of tea. AT the rate of twenty,
five and three cents per pound on tea,
coffee and sugar respectively, these
three articles alone would have pro-
duced a revenue of s10O,o00,000. Duties
on tobacco, wine, spirits and luxuries
would be far more than enough to make
up the remainder. So it is little less
than downright falsehood to say that
such tariff is an impossibility, as the
people would find out to their cost were
they to defeat the Republican candi-
dates next fall.