Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-12-14
The Presidents Message.

nual message to congress, last
week, states that Tariff reform is
directly before US" The people
of the country have been aware of
this fact for more than twelve
months past, hence the terrible
destruction of business, failures of
banks, losses to labor and shrink
age of over six billion dollars of
money in the volume Of trade,
transacted in the leading cities of
the country, since the beginning of
the month after President Cleve-
land assumed control of the ad-
ministrative affairs of the country.
1t did not need the words of the
President last week to make the
people aware that Tariff reform is
directly before us"
The President says further, "that
a measure has been prepared on
the lines suggested in his message"
His message was not before the
delegates at Chicago in 1892, and
therefore is not to be consid cred
in framing new Tariff bill. If
any such measure is to be brought
before the country and become a
law, it must be framed upon the
Tariff plank of the Democratic
platform, upon which President
Cleveland and a majority of the
Ways and Means Committee were
elected, and that was a Tariff for
revenue only, otherwise it will be a
new measure upon which the
country has not voted, but should
have the right to vote.
But President Cleveland and a
majority of the members of the
Basement Committee have not pre-
pared and have not submitted to
the country a Tariff for revenue
only; they have prepared and sub
mitted a tariff that will not provide
revenue enough to meet the ex-
penses of the Government; but they
have been compelled to embrace
in their plan few additional in
ternal revenue taxes, including a
small tax upon incomes derived
from certain corporate investment"
There was nothing of this sort
mentioned or advocated at Chicago
when Mr.. Cleveland was nomi-
mated to the office of President.
He has now clearly gone beyond
the principles upon which he was
elected in embodying Tariff re-
form on the lines that he suggests
in his message to Congress, a nd
upon which the country has had
no opportunity Of expressing an
opinion.
The President states in his
message: II am satisfied that the
reduced Tariff duties provided for
in the proposed Legislation will in
the near future, though perhaps
not Immediately, produce sufficient
revenue to meet the needs of the
Government" Thus the Presi-
dent places himself on record as
being satisfied that the reduced
Tariff will enable much larger i'm
portations of foreign goods that
will pay a sufficient sum in Gus
toms duties to produce a revenue
to meet the needs of the Govern
ment. The president thus ex-
presses his satisfaction that the
consumption of goods in the
United States will be largely met
by importations of goods from
foreign countries, and, as a matter
of course, such importations will
take the place of goods that have
hitherto been made in the United
States in American factories by
American labor. This expression
of satisfaction on the part of the
President is, Of course, but natural
when we know, and the people
know, and he himself so clearly
expresses it, that the new Tariff
has been framed for such a pur-
pose. Looking at it from a foreign
standpoint, it certainly may be
regarded as "the result of much
patriotic and unselhsh work." but
this is hardly the view of it that
will be taken by those who are
f,,,o