Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1893-12-02
WILSON 1NrEnrRErs THE BILL.

completed and has been given to the
public
Mr.. Wilson, the chairman of the COM
mittee, has prepared the following
statement, which was given out with
the bill:
The democratic members OF the committee
on ways and means have felt as none others
could feel the momentous responsibility
resting upon them and the surprising
magnitude, difficulty and delicacy of the
duty assigned them OF framing tariff
bill for nation of 7U0OO,OO0 people.
The bill they were called on to reform is a
vast and labyrnthian system of class taxation
the elimination OF eighty years. control of the
taxing power by few great interests, gather
ing on TO their train host of petty
tolgatherers 1t was carefully framed to
prevent as long as possible what its
author called ANY monkeying with the
tariff" by which he meant any successful effort
of the people TO undo or to lessen the boun'
ties which its benehciares were permitted
to write therein in their own words and their
own figures II transferred TO the free list
proper and fruitful revenue articles where
most of the taxes paid by the people were re-
ccived by their government, and greatly in
creased the rates of those articles where all or
most OF the taxes paid by the people went into
private Golfers, And 1t was burthened about
by many defenses chief among which are a
swept and garnishod treasury and swollen
and colossal scale of permanent expenditure.
Such are the conditions tnat confronted us
at the threshold OF the work The committee
has welcomed information and counsel from
every trustworthy source, and while IL does not
expect It's bill to escape Just criticism in all of
its details It's does present IL to the country
the result of months OF patient anxious toll
and of an honest desire to discharge its duty,
purged OF all taiut of local and personal favort-
ism or prejudice
Main Features of the Measure.
Its main features are two First, the adop
tion whenever 1t seemed practicable OF ad
valorem instead OF specific duties; secondly,
the freeing from taxes of those great materials
of industry that lie ut the basis of production
Specific rates Of duty are Objectionable for
these reasons: They frequently conceal Il rate
of taxation too enormous to be submit
ted TO II expressed in ad valorem
terms, as the duty OF cents on 100
pounds salt in bulk, which amounts
10 over 50 Per cent on common neces.
sary OF life They always bear heavily on the
common article used by the masses and lightly
on the expensive article consumed by the rich,
tax OF 80 on all houses would be little or
nothing on the great mansion and very high on
the humble home.
Contrary to common belief specific duties
lead to greater frauds in administration, for
counting and weighing at the custom. house
are done by the cheapest and most easily
corrupted labor, while ad vaorem rates
are assessed by the best paid and most
responsible appraisers The ad valorem
system has worked well in practice, is essen.
tally the fair system because il is II tax upon
the actual value of the article, and was de.
clared by Mr.. Clay himself to be in theory and
according to every sound principle OF justice
entitled 10 the preference, and vindicated by
long trial.
Large Free List.
The boldest innovation of the bill is Its large
free list OF materials Taxes upon
production are double wrongs. They gather
and accumulate on the consumer of the
finished product They hurt labor by
narrowing the market for what It pro-
duces- Coal and iron are the founda.
tions OF modern industry. Material prog.
ress is measured by the amount of their
consumption. No other country can supply
them as abundantly or cheaply as we can No
possible competition can interfere with our
own producers few miles in the interior Of
the country Remoteness from the sources
OF supply is in itself enough disadvan-
taGe to any section of the country,
without further burdens in tariff taxes,
Untaxed ores coal lumber, wool and
other fibers must Immensely stimulate pro-
duction in certain parts OF our country. The
thin edge OF American manufactures has
entered every country With release from
taxes upon their materials there is no
limit 10 the growth OF our foreign trade.
This will more than compensate the
home producers OF raw material, who, tar.
III or no tariff, control all the interior of the
country, for any upprehended loss OF maTkc IS
anywhere along tne SeaDOuTu 1tS lnCAlCuADle
advantage TO labor Is apparent In every great
line of manufactures we can produce in siS
months 10 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 keel
down production to the home market Tht
workingman can see whether his interest il
with u system that represses production anc
.,f Al
gives natural and healthy play to production
and emancipates him from trusts aud like com
binations OF capital
Important Changes.
AS TO the details of the bill, will briefly re
oaptulate the salient changes of the severa
schedules. In the chemical schedule we hav,
transferred to the free list quite u number o
articles used In manufactures, the most impor
tant OF which is sulphuric acid, OF III,
corner-stones of all chemical industry
The duty on castor oil is reduced from 8
cents TO 35 cents per gallon, and the duty oil
linseed oil, which was secretly raised TO s
cents by the conference committee on the Nc
Kinley bill after each house had openly vote(
for u lower duty we put ut Is cents gallon
Pig lead being reduced from = to l cent
pound lead paints are correspondingly reduced
The Mckinley bill increased the duty o.
opium prepared for smoking to sl2 pound IL
the vain hope OF lessening its importation
The custom house officers on the Pacific coas
declare tnht TINS increase OF uuty nus Slunpl
placed in the hands of smuggers the bringin
in OF opium TO the Generalization OF the Gus
toms service and the loss of over half millio
revenue The duty proposed is believed TO b
collectable and will put the tratftc under gov
ernment control and supervision.
In the pottery schedule substantial redu,
tions are made. Plain white ware is droppe
from the tGh schedule in which IL myster
ously crowded itself. Decorated ware is r.
duced from 6O to 4o per cent undecorated froi
90 to- 40
In common window glass, where close con
binatons have kept up the prices to consumer
under the shelter of duties averaging 100 pt
cent. II reduction OF more than one-half HI
been made in all the larger sizes There is 4
doubt that these rates will permit veI
healthy growth OF the industry here In plai
glass reductions made the largest siz,
from 30 cents to 30 cents per square foot {
sllvered from 90 TO 35 cents.
Iron and Steel
In the iron and steel schedule we begin vii