The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-06-07
The Only Legitimate Purpose.

Republican papers, while pretending to
deprecate the attacks of the New York
San upon President CLEVELAND and the
tariff policy of his party. are really en-
joying what they imagine to be the put
ting of Democracy Sin hole That is
what they call the SUMS repeated quota
ton of the tariff plank Of the Chicago
platform, and its inquiry as to 'What
CLEVELAND is going to do about it?''
Some of them endsayor to convey the
idea that the Chicago convention pro-
nounced against The tariff as robbery,
want to know when the Democrats are
going to 'tabolish the tariff talk
great deal about ''free trade plecges''
and defy the party to carry out the doc
trine contained in its platform.
The tariff plank of the Chicago plat
form did not declare against tariff, but
pronounced in favor of it, providing it is
levied for revenue only. 1t could not
therefore designate duties on imports as
robbery, nor contemplate the abolition of
the tariff. The slogan of the presiden
tial campaign was tariff reform, not tariff
abolition. And the robbery complained
of was the imposition of taxes in the form
of duties, for the avowed protection of a
favored class OF citizens at the expense of
the whole population.
That is understood, no doubt, by the
papers which use those misleading and
absurd phrases, but they want to deceive
the less informed and also to appear smart
in copying the sneers and iibes OF per-
sonal enemy of the president and an adj
vocate of the protection heresy.
The platform does declare that ssthe
federal government has no constitutional
power to enforce and collect tariff duties
except for the purpose OF revenue only"
That is one thing that the Sun ridicules
and the lesser lights in the Republican
party try to poke fun at, but they have
not yet succeeded in pointing out any
clause in the constitution which gives
that power to the federal government
which the Democratic party declares has
no existence. If it is there it ought to be
an easy task to produce it. That would
settle the question at once, and the fall
lacy OF the Democratic position would be
exposed.
There is nothing in the constitution of
the United States which authorizes the i'm
position OF a tax, whether it be by way of
duties on imports or otherwise, for the
protection of a class or for anything but
public purposes. Public revenues must
be for public objects, they must be
raised for public expenses and for
these alone. If there is anything in
ing of taxes for different purpose it is
certainly not there in terms and any
authority which the protectionists claim
to find in it must be drawn from mere in
ference.
When the language of that instrument
is carefully scanned the purpose of all
taxes, duties, imports and excuses is evil
dent. 1t is to pay the debts and provide
for the common defense and general we'll
fare of the United States, and such levies
must be uniform. They are not for the
promotion of private enterprises, but for
the public welfare, for the United States,
not for any favored part OF the people.
So that even by inference nothing can be
fairly construed which justifes the impo-
sition of tax in any form to foster a pri-
vate enterprise. That is not a function
OF government, that is not legitimate
purpose for the levying of duty.