The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-19
WORKING ON THE TARIFF.
The Bill May be Ready to Report by
the Middle Of Next Month.

Are to Be Made All That is Left to Be
Done by the Committee-The Propo-
sition to Increase the Tax on Beer
Meeting with Considerable opposi-
ton.
Washington, Oct. 1S.-Of course no one
can tell exactly when the tariff bill will
he ready. This is not a thing that can be
calculated with mathematical accuracy.
The members of the ways and means
committee who are best informed, say
that it will probably be ready about Nov.
Il 1t is being worked on with all the
diligence and speed that such work is
capable of, and the members Of the com
mittee are fully impressed with the i'm
nortance of having the bill ready for the
House to act on as soon as possible. 1t is
the duty of the House to get to work on
it early enough to finish it be-
fore the Christmas holidays.
"By all MEANS" said one of the
leaders of the House to-day, 1--WE should
have the tariff bill passed and ready to go
over to the Senate before we adjourn for
the Christmas holidays We must bend
every energy and use every effort to &C
complish that end" And that will, in all
probability, be done. The men most in
fuential in both houses recognize the fact
that the sooner the tariff bill is passed
the better it will be for the business in
terests of the country. While all branches
of business know that there will be some
changes, they cannot, of course, know
what the changes will be until the bill
becomes a law.
THE SCHEDULES READY.
The schedules of the tariff bill are all
ready, and what now remains is to decide
what reductions are to be made. This is,
of course, a delicate and difficult task, and
one which requires the greatest care, as
well as a thorough knowledge of the sub
iect The chairman of the committee,
Hon. William L. Wilson of West
Virginia, has made study of the
he entered congress. He is now bringing
to bear on the subject not only his eXper-
fence, but also a mental ability of no or
binary character-a mind long accus-
toned to study and to investigation. He
is moreover thoroughly in sympathy with
the purposes of the Democratic party in
regard to tariff reform, He is a genuine
tariff reformer. and has been for long
time He is a speaker of great force and
very ample resources, and his speeches
always command the attention and the
respect of the House. His personal repu-
tation for honesty and integrity OF char
acter is such that he has the confidence
and esteem of all in the House. The bill
which will be prepared under his super
vision will be equal to the best that has
ever been made. 1t will be, as near as it
is possible to make it so, in full accord
with the wishes of the people and the re-
quirements of the Democratic platform,
and at the same time not unjust to those
whose business is to be affected by it.
THE TAX ON BEER.
Some curious things are now being de-
veloped in respect to the proposed reduc-
ton of the tariff. In order to make mate
rial reductions in some directions, it will
be necessary to increase the revenue in
some other directions. The report has
got out that there is prospect of the in
ternal revenue tax on lager beer being in
creased from 81 a barrel to 50 a barrel
This report has set the beer manufactur-
ers by the ears. They are flooding the
ways and means committee with protests.
Most of these protests are written, but
the phraseOlogy is substantially the
same, and the same as some prin ted ones;
and many of them come from persons
who are not engaged in the brewing bust
ness; hence, it is tOlerably plain, even to
a casual observer, that the brewers have
worked up this sentiment against increase
of revenue tax on beer, and that they have
furnished the form of protest to others,
and have asked the others to write their
protests instead of sending printed ones,
as written letters are more noticed by the
recipients than printed circulars. Some
of the parties to whom the printed circu-
lars are sent simply sign their names and
send the circulars; others use the same
words, but write them instead of sending
the printed circulars.
GROUND OF THE PROTESTS.
These protests urge as a reason against
the increase of tax, that no mention of
such thing was made in the democratic
platform. But there are a great many
things that were not mentioned in the
platform; in fact, the platform was not
big enough to mention everything An
other reason urged is that this tax would
fall hardest on the poor working people,
to whom, they say, "beer is more of a ne
Cesslty than tea, coffee or milk" 1t is
wonderful how many people assume to be
friends of the poor WOrkingmen," when
they want to disguise some scheme for
their own benefit. The fellow who wants
to influence legislation, either national or
state for his own ACKNOWLEDGMENT gener-
ally does so on the pretense that his
scheme will benefit the workingmen, and
he pretends that it is solely for their ben
eft that he is working-when it is patent
TO all that he is aiming at filling his own
pocket
THE TAX ON EACH GLASS.
To increase the tax on beer from 81
TO 81 barrel, would be
an increase of % cents keg, or
0ne-fourth to one-eighth of a cent a glass
depending on the size of the glass
ms increase would not warrant the in
crease Of the price of the beer that
would be sold by the glass, and hence the
increase would not come out of the CON
sumer, but out of the manufacturer,
unless he should adulterate his beer.
ana this is threatened in the protests
ABOVE alluded to. They say that the
result of the increase of tax will be TO
make the quality of beer inferior, which
IS candid, to say the least of it, 1t means
Indt II the law compels the brewers to pay
an extra tax on whatthey furnish to the
poor Workingmen," they will adulter-
t aIe the stuff they make, and thus take
Ihelr revenge out of the 'poor working
men all of which shows the sincerity
an ana The profundity of their regard for
'nose same workingmen.
THE TAX NOT BURDENsoME.
Now, 1t is true that some workingmen
orlhk beer and some do not but this pro-
POSED tax need not be burdensome to