The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-08-04
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MIR. WHITNEY AND THE TARIFF.

A few days ago Mr.. VIM. G. Whit
ney, ex-secretary of the navy, in an
interview upon the present situa tion,
expressed it as his opinion that the
silver purchase law was not the
cause Of the trouble we have been ex-
periencing, and that its repeal will
not cure all the ills as some seem to
expect. He believed that the root of
the trouble was much deeper, and
that it's cure demanded revision and
radical reduction of the tariff. 1.-The
only permanent remedy" he said, lis
the readjustment of this great bur-
den of taxation, and eQualizing it's
pressure upon all alike" There is a
good deal of the demagogue in his
statements. Much more in fact than
than most people would expect, be-
cause they have heretofore entertain
ed a somewhat different opinion Of
the man.
He says that this burden Of taxa
tion, meaning the tariff, should be
equalized so as to press upon alike. Ii
Mr.. Whitney had weighed his words
carefully, taking in their full mean
ing he would have noted the impossi-
bility of this. No tariff was ever made
or ever will be, be it high or low, or
approaching a medium point, that
would bear equally upon all, for the
reason that everybody does not buy
foreign goods, and one will bear none
of this great burden of taxation"
unless he buys foreign article upon
which duty is levied. The rich buy
more of the foreign manufactures
thando the poorer classes. In fact
there are thousands of people who find
plenty that is good enough for them
among our home manufactures, and
at price considerably less than they
would be obliged TO pay by going
abroad. Thousands buy abroad simply
because the article is of foreign make,
and deserve no sympathy from patrl-
otto Americans, if they do have to
pay more for the article than they
would have to at home. To argue as
Mr.. Whitney does in regard to the
equal pTessures oS the tariff tax
alton is sheer demagogism. 1t is a
position which will never be realized
by any party in the way of tariff leg
islation.
There is another point of interest
in Mr.. Whitney's interview. He said
that a revision of the tariff upon a
free trade basis could not be made
without injury to some of the indus
tries which have been built up under
protection. Upon this particular
point he is more honest than his party
associates, many of whom maintain
that it is not the intention to harm
them in the least. And in this point
also he differs from his chief, whom
Geo. W. Childs, an intimate personal
friend, says will not agree to any tariff
revision which will IN the least inter-
fere with or harm any of our indus
tries. But recent events show that it
is no longer of any use for free traders
to deny that the carrying out of their
policy would seriously interfere with
our prosperity. Mr.. Cleveland and Mr..
Whitney have both virtually acknow-
lodged such to be fact. There is
also feeling being manifested among
many Democrats that the free trade
pledge at Chicago should remain a
mass of idle words. Whether this
feeling will grow strong enough to
control the party in it's mad career re-
mains to be seen.
1T is said that silver dollar to