New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-28
THE NEW TARIFF BILL.
cHAIRMAN WILSON TALKS.
TIE TELLS WHAT HIS COMMITTEE HAS
DONE, AND WHY.

TIE TELLS WHAT HIS COMMIllhC AAA'
DONE, AND WHY.
AID vALoREM DUTIES OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES '0'
TIE EXTENSION OF TIE FREE LsT-AN
1ScALcuLABLE ADVANTAGE TO
LABOR, HE SAYS
-,..,,,,u.or Nov. o7.-Mr Wilson. the cnair-
=, tho committee. has prepared the 1oiio"-
ing statement which was given out '"'' '
ing with the biii' ..o Committee
-. yyovs and Means have felt as none o'hei9
LII Zoo, the momentous responsibility res'ii's
',,or them and the surprising magnitude u'i-
eou,tv and decacy Of the duty assigheu .ne oon
=, tr.m,ne a Tariff bill for Nation OF 'VoV0OOV
,eon,e The bill they were caied y" ~
form 10 a vast and labyrinthian system u 0."
toxation. the elimination of eighty years .o"'o
~ the taxing power by few great INV -,
Gathering on to their train host Oh pe''' WI
gathers. 1t was carefully framed 10 p'e'.".' :"
long as possible, what its author cai'eo ga.
monkeying with the tariff by which "e '',e"".
any successful effort Of the people " u''uo VI
.. ,..son tho bounties which its Denehclarles
,,,oro nermitted to write therein in their own
u.,rds and their own figures. II transierre0 "
tho free list proper and fruitful revenue
or,,o,es ubere most of the taxes paid by the
neon,e were received by the Government ana
greatly increased the rates on those aru''eS
where all or most of the taxes PAID oy 'he peope
went into private Golfers. AND II was pur'heheu
about by many defences. chie1 among wiiio"
are n swept and garnished treasury anu
swollen and colossal scale OF permanent
pendtures Such are the conditions 'ha' coh'
fronted us at the threshold OF our WORK
OBJECTIONS TO SPECIFIC DUTIES.
."rhe committee have welcomed information
and counsel from every trustworthy source anu
while they do not expect their Dill 10 escape
,rst criticism in all of its details, they do pre-
sent 1t to the country as the result OF mohthS
~ nat,ent anxious toll, and Of an honest de-
sire to discharge their duty. purged of all faint
~ local and personal favoritsm or prejudice.
It's main features are two. First, the adopuon'
whenever 1t seemed practicable. Of ad valorem
instead of specific duties; secondly, the freeing
from taxes of those great materials Of Industry
that lie at the basis Of production. Specific
rates of duty are Objectionable for these rea-
sons: They frequently conceal rate of taxa
ton too enormous to be submitted to II ex-
messed in ad vaorem terms, as the duty OF
cents on a hundred pounds on salt In bulk.
which amounts to over so per cent on n common
necessary of life. They always bear heavily
on the common article used by the masses and
lightly on the expensive article consumed by
the rich as a tax Of $50 on all houses would be
little or nothing on the great mansion and very
high on the humble home And contrary 10
common belief specific duties lead 40 greater
frauds In administration. for counting ana
weighing at the Custom House are done by the
cheapest and most easily corrupted labor, while
nd yalorem rates are assessed by the best paid
and most responsible appraisers. The ad va
loren system has worked well in practice, Is
essentially the fair system because II Is tax
upon the actual value Of an article, and was
declared by Mr.. Clay himself to be in theory
and according to every sound principle OF JUS
tice entitled to the preference. and indicated
by long trial.
REASONS FOR FREE RAW MATERIALS.
1.-THE boldest innovation Of the bill is its large
free list Of raw materials. Taxes upon produc-
ton are double wrongs. They gather and cumu-
late on the consumer Of the finished product.
They hurt labor by narrowing the market for
what 1t produces Coal andiron are the founda-
lions of modern industry. Material progress Is
measured by the amount Of their consumption.
No other country can supply them as
abundantly or cheaply IS We can. No
possible competition can Interfere with our
own producers, a few miles in the interior Of the
country. Remoteness from the sources Of supply
Is in itself enough disadvantage to any section
of the country without further burdens In tariff
taxes Untaxed ores. coal. lumber. wool and
other flbres must immensely stimulate produc-
ton in certain parts Of our country. The thin
edge Of American manufactures has entered
every country. With release from taxes upon
ther Ia init IN no Of
our foreign trade. This will more than compen-
safe to the home producers of raw material. who.
tariff or no tariff control all the interior Of the
country for any apprehended loss OF markets
anywhere along the seaboard. It's incalculable
advantage to labor Is apparent. In every great
line of manufactures we can produce In six
months to nine months enough for our home
market We can get rid Of our surplus only by
foreign trade. AS long as we have taxes on the
materials of industry we cannot build up that
trade. Hence the other alternative OF trusts to
keep down production to the home market. The
'workjngnan can see whether his interest Is with
q system that represses production and robs him
Of employment or with system that gives
natural and healthy play to production and
emancipates him from trusts and like combna-
lions Of capital.
"As to the details Of the bill, 1 will briefly re-
capitulate the salient changes Of the several
schedules In the chemical schedule we have
transferred to the free list quite number OF
articles used in manufactures the most i'm
portant Of which is sulphuric acid, one OF the
correrstones of all chemical industry. The duty
on castor oil is reduced from IS to IS cents per
gallon. and the duty on inseed oil. which was
secretly raised to 30 cents by the conference
committee on the Mckinley bill, after each
house had openly voted for a lower duty. we
put at Is cents gallon. Pig lead being reduced
from to cent pound. lead paints are corre-
innr