The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-28
RATESOF THE new TARIFF.
Ad ValOrem Duties Adopted Whel-
ever Practicable.

the Boldest Innovation of the Bill.
A Statement Showing Why Specific
Duties Are Objectionable-A Synop-
sis of the Salient Changes Made in
the Existing Tariff.
Washington, Nov, 27.-The tariff pre-
pared by the democratic members of the
ways and means committee, was given to
the public to-day. IL deals entirely with
the customs and administrative branches
of the subject. The internal revenue por-
tion is left in abeyance Chairman Will
son has prepared the following statement
which was given out tLis morning with
the bill: The democratic members OF
the committee on ways and means have
felt as none others could feel, the momen.
tous responsibility resting upon them, and
the surprising magnitude, difficulty and
delicacy of the duty assigned them, of
framing tariff bill for a nation of TO-
100000 OF people. The bill they
were on TO reform is vast
and labyrinthian system of class taxa
tion, the elimination of so years
control of the taxing power by a few
great interests, gathering into their wake
host of petty toll gatherers. It was
carefully framed to prevent, as long as
possible, what its author called amy
monkeying with the tariff by which
he meant any successful effort of the
people to undo or 10 lessen the bounties
which its benefciaries were permitted TO
write therein in their own words and
their own figures. IL transferred TO the free
list proper and fruitful revenue articles,
on which most Of the taxes paid by the
people We're received by their govern
ment, and greatly increased the rates on
those articles where all or most of the
taxes paid by the people went into private
Golfers And it was bolstered about by
many defenses, chief among which are a
swept and garnished treasury and a
swollen and colossal scale of permanent
expenditure. Such are the conditions
that confronted us at the threshold of our
work.
THE BILL CAREFULLY PREPARED.
"The committee has welcomed infor-
nation and counsel from very trust
worthy sources and while they do not ex-
pect their bill to escape Just criticism in
all of its details they do present it TO the
country as the result Of months ofpatient,
anxious toll and of an honest desire to
discharge their duty, purged of all taint
OF local and personal favoritism or pre-
iudice. Its main features are two. First
the adoption, whenever it seemed prac-
ticable, or 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 reasons. They frequently
conceal rate of taxation too enormous
10 be submitted to if expressed in ad va
loren terms, as the duty of cents on 100
pounds on salt in bulk, which amounts to
over ~ per cent on a common necessity 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 he little or nothing in the great
mansion and very high on the humble
home. And contrary to common belief,
specific duties lead to greater frauds in ad-
ministration, for counting and weighingat
the custom house are done by the
cheapest and most easily corrupted labor,
while ad valOrem rates are assessed by
the best paid and most responsible APP
praisers. The ad valorem system has
worked well in practice. II is essentially
the fair system, because IL is tax on the
actual value of an article, and was de-
clared by Mr.. Clay himself TO be in theory
and according to every sound principle OF
justice entitled to the preference and vim
dicated by long trial.
THE FREE LIST.
"The boldest innovation of the bill is its
large free list of raw materials. Taxes
upon production are double wrongs They
gather and cumulate on the consumer of
the finished product. They hurt labor by
narrowing the market for what it pro-
duces. Coal and iron are the foundations
of modern industry. Material progress
is measured by the amount of their con-
sumption No other country can supply
them as abundantly or cheaply as we can.
No possible competition can inter-
miles in the interior of tho
country Remoteness from the sources of
supply is in itself enough disadvantage to
any section of the country without fur
ther burdens in tariff taxes. Untaxed
ores coal, lumber wool and other hbers
must immensely stimulate production In
certain parts of our country. The thin
edge of American manufactures has en-
tered every country. With release from
taxes upon their materials, there is no
limit to the growth of our foreign trade.
This will more than compensate 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 ad-
vantage to labor is apparent. In every
great line of manufacture, we can pro-
duce in six months to nine months enough
for our home markets. 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 is trusts to
keep down production TO the home
market. The workingman can see
whether his interests lie with system
that represses production and robs him of
employment, or with a system that gives
natural and healthy play to production
and emancipates him from trusts ana like
combinations of capital.
TIE SALIENT CHANGES.
GAS TO the details of the bill, I will
briefly recapitulate the salient changes of
the several schedules.
"In the chemical schedule we have
transferred to the free list quite num-
ber of articles, used in manufactures
the most important of which is sulphuric
acid, one Of the corner stones of all
chemical industry. The duty on castor
oil is reduced from S5 to 35 cents per gal
Ion, and the duty on linseed oil, which
was secretly raised to 80 cents by the
conference committee on the Mckinley
bill, after each house had openly voted
for a lower duty, we put at Is cents gal