Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1893-12-27
1T WILL WORK RUIN.
Ex-Speaker Reed Warmly Attacks the Ad-
minStratiOn Tariff Measure.

tariff bill was submitted to the House to-
day. The first part Of the report, dis
cussing the bill generally, was prepared
by ex-Speaker Reed. The other mem
bers of the minority, Messrs Burrows,
| Payne, Dalzell, Hopkins and Gear, pre-
pared the portion of the report dealing
with special features. The report says:
The most surprising thing about this bill,
which we will treat Of in detail somewhat later,
is the fact that this proposition to raise revenue
will lower the revenue of this country $4,000 900
below the revenue of 1893, which was only 81
| 100000 above our expenses. This fact, and the
other fact That by this bill the larger part of the
ers and brought to our citizens, should al
ways be kept in mind during the discussion.
WILSON BILL A 'MAKE-SHIFT."
Had the committee in making what the
chairman on the floor of the House has called
political bill" followed the plain, .uncom-
represent and abolished protection, giving us u
| tariff for revenue only, our task in commenting
upon the result of the committees efforts would
then have been a straightforward, manly at
tempt to carry out pledges. and would have
placed in issue two great principles, and
have led to clear and comprehens
the committee departed from the de
mands of their national convention that
should have been much tempted to borrow a
| phrase from their own platform and designate
the bill as a ''coWardly make-shift," were it not
| JD0I I1e results nave Dpcn already 100 serious
for mere epithets; Such phrase, even thus
sanctioned, would be out of place in
a discussion which involves so much
| of importance to all classes of Citl-
zens, 1t still, however, remains fact that the
bill presented can in way be justified by the
| people who claim to have obtained possession of
| all the branches of the government upon a dis
| tnct PROMISE which they now as distinctly repu-
date. If it should be said that these pledges
| solemnly made on yea and nay vote, after full
discussion, were not intended for action, then
the breaking of the pledges has the additional
! disadvantages of generalization. If subse-
quent events, and they have been nu-
! merous enough and Weighty enough to startle
! the country, have convinced the committee that
! the Democratic platform is as utterly wrong and
! indefensble as history will know it to be- then
| it is great misfortune to this country that the
! committee did not have the courage 70 openly
! abandon the false doctrine and leave the cOun-
! try undisturbed so that it might convalesce
| from the shock of its great mistake But the
! committee. instead of proceeding i'll its great
| work OF abOllshlng protection and preserving
! the people from the load of taxation" which
! they have always averred was the result of pro-
! lection, has presented q bill which is only an
other tariff tnkering bill the like of which has
| disturbed the conditions of business so many
! times the last thirty years. 1t is great msfor-
| tune that such is the case, for had the
! bill been for revenue only, in the only sense
| possible for that term, the people OF this c0un-
! try might have seen ut one glance whether they
! desired the one policy or the other and the
! question might have been settled once for all,
! and the country might have attained to that re-
| pose. stability and certainty which our business
! prosperity much needs,
FAULTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC MEASURE.
| This other and fresher plan has all the faults
! which the trainers of this bill charged upon the
old, and very few of its virtues. 1t is open to all
| the derisive and harsh cpithets with which the
! present system used to be overwhelmed. 1t
taxes the people with tariff tax; it creates or
rather proposes to maintain, what they used to
! call privileged classes. and is defended by its
! authors by arguments and expressions strangely
| like those which they used so freely to de-
nounce a manufacturer is told that the duty
will protect him, and his claims are listened
to on that basis and argued for him
that basis. just as in the brave days of old The
| Democratic district attorney of the Northern
| District of New York comes down, he had
right to. and declares that from a protection
standpoint barley and malt cannot go together
under the same ad valOrem, and promptly the
committee raise the tariff taxes from % per cent
| lessen the revenue. SO, also, some has
presented persuasively the cause of boards
-p,aned, tOngued and grooyed-tO the
committee, and although the lumber passes
in the same plant from the saws to
the plancrs the work of the men who manage
the saws is unprotected while the work of the
men who run the planes is shielded by protect
i've tariff taxes. These are but instances of cor
rectlons made where the ear Of the committee
could be had and are keys to the notions on
which the bill was formed.
FREE RAW MATERIALS.
The new plan also involves new method of
encouraging manufacturers by giving them
what are called free mat rails" so that
| what goes into the mill pays no taxes and what
goes into consumption pays all the taxes. The
manu- acturerS have no taxes on what they buy
and the people the equivalent of taxes on all
| they purchase. 1t unfortunately happens also
that the free raw material is elastic term
and what is one mans free raw material is an
other mans finished product. These so-called
free materialS-free wool, free coal and
free 1ron-are not put on the free list
| with any reference direct indirect, TO rails
ing revenue. They are placed there to encOur-
age manufacturers who to be cOmpenSat ted
Tor any loss in this market by the markets of the
world, where they will have the chance to strug-
gle with the cheaper labor OF the Old World
with whatever energy they may have left after
the struggle at home with that same cheaper
! labor let into markets by lower tariff
! which does not give the compensation even
ODD DEMOCRATIC VIEWS
! All the objections SO often urged by the domi-
nant party against the existing system, we re-
peat lie against this bill The difference is only
| one Of degree. If the present system be rob
berry" as these men have iterated and reiterated,
the proposed system is precisely the same. 1t is
true that the consumer will no longer pay
tribute to the Western farmer for the wool OF the
sheep, but the New England and other manu-
tacturers are still authorized to lay tribute
upon the citizens of the United States
who must pay, SO these men have always said, 30,
| 40 and 40 per cent to the manufacturer on every
| yard of WoOlens and WOrsteds, while the c0un-
| Try Will only receive, by way of revenue, a
| lessened sum unless increased importatiOns sig
| Maize the death OF American production. 1t is
true that the coal miners of West Virginia and
! the ore producers of Michigan will be stripped
of their sO-called robber gains entirely, and the
railroads must lose their transportation of mill
| ions Of tons of freight, but the manufacturers
! are thereby stimulated and aided that they
can as the committee asserts, still continue their
! profitable business here and reach across the
! ocean for the business of other countries land
! foreign trade without limit"
If, as it is asseverated, the 70, 100000 of Amer
lean people have been for thirty years taxed for
! the benefit ola few hundred thousands oftavored
| individuals, why should the taxation be contin-
ued, even in diminished ratio, for another series
OF years and these few hundred favored creatures
| be given lease of life?
| NEW DOCTRINE OF ROBBERY.
! The doctrine of the Democratic platform that
! protection is robbery and should be abolished
| is comprehensive and sturdy. The new move
| ment on behalf of mitgated and sporadic rob-
! berry is contrary alike to good morals and public
! faith All false pretenSes are unwise, contrary
to sound policy and sound craftsmanship.
| Hence many of us who are sure that the Demo
| cratic platform was utterly untrue
! admitted its straightforWardness and di-
rectness This BILL framed by those who
represented the platform cannot re-
ceiye that kind of praise. 1t pretends to be
revenue tariff and does not raise revenue. 1t
! pretends to give protection but destroys it in
every way. 1t says to the manufacturer, you
will have furnished free COAL free iron ore, free
! wool and the markets of the world. Instead of
the markets of the world it furnishes in the