The record-union., 1893-03-23
TARIFF DUTIES.
MATTER TAKEN IN HAND BY THE
REFORM CLUB.
Draft of a Bill to Be Urged Upon Con-
gress as Substitute for the
Present. Laws.
Special to the REconD-US1os.

New YORK, March pa special CON-
mittee of the Reform Club of this city
has completed the draft of a bill which.
when perfected, will be urged upon Con-
gress as substitute for the present tariff
laws and the fulfillment of the pledges
under which the Democracy obtained
control of the National Government
The general principles upon which the
proposed tariff is formed are in the main
as follows:
Crude material in general is to be made
free of duty. In taking other articles the
general object his been to fix such rates
as would produce the largest amount of
revenue, in a series of years con-
sistent with the large impotations. The
purpose of obtaining the largest revenue,
however, is limited by consideration of
the welfare and necessity of the people
at large, and especially the poorer classes
All duties are made strictly ad valorem,
except some of those which are levied as
compensatory for internal revenue taxes
upon similar articles produced at home.
In order to insure the present adminis-
tration of ad valorem tariff it is essential
shab WIG laws vi dhSJ upOli Lu0 great
mass of articles should be kept at very
moderate figures. Upon other ar
ticles experience has shown that
duties cannot be raised above 25
per cent. without offering dangerous
incentives to fraud. A few articles of
luxury may be excepted from the opera
tions of these general rules. All foreign
articles, which, if made here, would be
subject to internal revenue taxes, must,
of course, be subject to at least an equal
tax.
AS to liquors and tobacco, the duties
upon them should be made with view
of obtaining the greatest possible amount
of revenue without any concern as to
whether we give or withhold protection
to the domestic producer.
Yielding in part to popular opinion of
the silk luxury, we placed the silk
manufacturers generally at 20 per cent.
Silk yarns, thread and sewing silk, are
placed at 20 per cent, and spun and
thrown silk at 15 per cent, leaving raw
silk free.
All forms of crude metal, not merely in
ores. but in pig-iron, ingots and bars.
with the exception of iron and steel, are
made free of duty. The duty upon
woolens and worsted manufactures of
every description is placed at 25 per cent.
Leather gloves and all other gloves, ex-
cept silk, are placed at the 25 per cent.
schedule.
Tin plate should certainly not be taxed
more than 20 per cent, and perhaps not
han nnrnt NJ e q
wood in most finished forms are placed
in the 20 per cent. schedule, as also but
tons. except metal or glass.
Most provisions are made free of duty,
but some which partake in a mild degree
of the nature of luxuries are put in the
20 per cent. schedule, while breadstuffs
are mostly made free. Potatoes are left
subject to duty of 10 per cent.
Domestic books could not be admitted
without consent ofthe domestic publisher.
and foreign books, copyrighted here.
could not be admitted at all. On the
other hand, SO long as paper binding ma
terials and machinery are taxed, it is not
just to make competing books free. The
demand for revenue may turn the scale,
and 10 per cent. would probably be the
revenue. 1t would be exceedingly de-
sirable to have no specific free list, but
make everything free which is not made
expressly subject to duty.
All articles upon which the revenue
collected is too small to pay for the col
lection, and upon which it is not prob
able any mere reduction of rates would
produce a substa ntial revenue, are placed
on the free list.
The committee was satisfied that the
proposed tariff would produce immedi-
ate revenue of Sl20, ,OOO, 900, if no more. II
the existing duty of half cent a pound
on refined sugar should be retained, it is
suggested that specific duty CT seven
sixteenths of q cent per pound might be
imposed on raw sugar. which would pro-
duce an additional revenue probably
of Sl5,OOO,O 900, besides reducing the
bounty by $1,000, 900. To this. however,
one of them was entirely opposed, and
three expressed no opinion, of the
amount of revenue which would be pro-
| duced bya duty so large as to make a
full discussion of the propriety of the tax
necessary.