The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-11-29
A SOURCE OF DANGER.
Governor Mckinley the Ad valorem
System of Tariff Duties

Governor Mckinley on the Ad valorem
System of Tariff Duties.
Cleveland, November %. = Governor
Mckinley was in the city last night and
was interrogated concerning the tariff
bill. He declined to 'go deeply into the
merits of the bill because he had not
had time to study it, but said:
II have read the accounts in the even
ing papers in substance, and I notice one
terrible thing about it, thing which
should defeat it in its entirety and alone.
1t is the feature that the duties are i'm
posed on an ad valorem basis. This
leaves wide open the door for fraud and
the differentiation of invoices.
Tariff bills of late years have been
based altogether on specific duties, so
much a ton OF SO much yard, you un-
derstand, and no less statesman than
Henry Clay once said, 1 remember hear
ing, that if he could be allowed to fix the
value of the article, he would not care
who fixed the duty or at what rate.
President Clevclands first secretary
OF the treasury, Nh. Manning, made a
most exhaustive study of the question,
and reported that the ad valorem system
was wrong and pernicious. Yes, indeed.
that is the weak point in the new tariff. -
There Is Joy in England.
London, November 2S.-The Standard
says of the American tariff bill: sWe
may cordially welcome the reversion of
the United States to more honest and
reasonable policy, without inquiring too
narrowly into all the motives which
helped to bring about the change Wheth-
er the reformed tariff will achieve for
American manufacturers all the advan-
tages its projectors anticipate, remains
to be seen. The system which it re-
places was not the only obstacle to the
full development of Americas resour-
ces."
A Democratic Doubter,
Hartford, Conn.,, November 2S.-In an
interview today on the tariff measure,
congressman Sperry, Democrat, says:
The new bill, as framed, will be hard to
get through the House. 1t doesn't suit
the wool growers of Texas. the sugar
men OF West Virginia and Alabama and
the manufacturers of New England. |
doubt very much if it will pass before
March lst, if it ever does, owing to me-
cessary debate on each section, and to
the amendments which will be offered. y
Worse Than the Act of '46.
Pittsburg, Pa, November s2S.-B. F.
Jones, the iron manufacturers, and ex-
chairman Of the Republican National
Committee, said last night that the ef-
fectlof the proposed tariff bill, if enact
ed, would be worse than the act of 1916.
Wages would fall greatly, and the gener-
al prosperity must necessarily share
their decline. The proposed duties on
iron and steel products would not be suf-
ficient to place our labor on par with
the foreigners. and our manufacturers
would be driven out of business. ONLY
about one-third of the iron and steel
workmen are employed, and many of
these would stop work if the bill is
passed. Other manufacturers express
similar views.
Nine Hundred Out of Work.
Boston, November 2S.-The Roxbury
Cal pet Company's mills will shut down
Wednesday for an indefinite period.
Nearly 900 employees will be thrown out
OF employment. Some members of the
corporation think the tariff bill as now
reported, will not be passed by the Sem
ate, but it is deemed advisable to close
the works until the matter is settled.