The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-04-14
A VICIOUS MEASURE.
Senator Voorhees, Amendments to
the Tariff Bill Dissected.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON, April 13.-The more the
Senate tariff bill is examined the more vi
cous the measure appears. a Republican
well versed in tariff matters says: Senator
Voorhees,, in his speech on the tariff bill,
bitterly denounced specific duties as a fraud
upon the consumer. Daniel should avoid
the discussion of such matters and confine
himself exclusively to the use OF adJectives.
The country has long since been aware of
the fact that he possesses but little infor-
nation upon any subject, and none Of any
consequence upon economic questions. and
his effort to appear well informed as to the
effect Of tariff rates only subjects him to
greater ridicule Evidently he had not made
the least investigation of the matter, but
had accepted the ante-bellum ideas of Mills.
who is q devout adherent of the exploded
theories of John c. Calhoun. Mills. how
ever with all his pratings about the in
justice of specific duties, is very careful
not to touch them when they affect South
ern products. The assertion that SPECIFIC
duties are undemocratic has no foundation
haustive investigation of the subject in 1856,
and, in report to Congress, recommended
that commission of experts be appointed
Fairchilds likewise advocated the adoption
of specific rates as the only protection
against the enormous frauds that were con
IAN examination of the schedules Will
readily disclose the sectional character of
brieadiers in their condemnafion of SPECIFIC
rates. In reforming the Wilson bill the sub
committee OF the finance coInmittee. com
posed OF Jones, Vest and Mills, erased ev-
cry specific duty In the chemical schedule
all Northern Industries. but as soon as they
reached clays and earths, Southern prod
ucts a specific duty was retained. When
TO a Georgia
nessee product, the specific duty was not
touched, but a few lines further along
aaa Tere He9 91SF the nd
Valorem rate Of Is per cent was stricken
out and a specific one Of Y OLA of cent , per
hay, hops, potatoes and onions were
changed 10 an ad valorem of 20 per cent.
per pound, was left untouched, while sugar
was restored with a specific duty of nearly
11b cents per pound. Apples. currants, grapes
and prunes were changed TO an al valorem
duty. while oranges and lemons were re-
tanned with a specific rate.
'Voorheess utterances against trusts,
which he and his colleagues had labored
two months to satisfy, was an exhibition
of effrontery that would abash an ordinary
demagogue. 1t is a well-known fact that
Voorhees, and Vest were night after night
representative of the Whisky Trust. and
with the HavemyerS, or the Sugar Trust,
and that these two schedules were made to
the satisfaction of these interests The
sugar schedule, upon Its face, SHOWS this
to be a fact First, a duty of / cent a
pound is placed sugars polarizing 50 de-
grees and from that to so degrees one-one-
hundredth of cent for each additional de-
gree and from 90 to IS degrees two-one-
hundredths of a cent for each degree, and
above IS degrees one-eighth of a cent per
pound additional Now, why should a de-
gree above 90 degrees be taxed at two-one-
hundredthS of a cent, while the same pro-
| portion of saccharine strength below that
was taxed only one-one- hundredth of a
cent? simply TO give the TRUST that much
more protection on refined sugar. The last
addition, however. in the interest of the
trust, that of placing one-eighth of a
| cent per pound in addition 10 duty fixed
by the polariscope test on all sugars above
| Is Dutch standard. There are low-grade
sugars, testing but 50 degrees by the polari-
scope. which above No. 16 Dutch stand
ard in color. and. by reason of their color
| standard compete with refined sugars, and
TO prevent this competition the committee
gave the trust one-eighth of a cent per
| pound additional protection.
"A more complicated schedule was never
| Incorporated in tariff bill for the plumber
ing of consumers by the operators OF trusts
| than that adopted by Senator Voorhees, and
his colleagues on sugar, and yet this shame
| less demagogue has the audacity 10 rise IN
| the Sena te and extol his own virtues and
| affect TO abhor the vices of others IL Is
not surprising that the Democratic press
| has at last discovered and are endeaVorlng
to unmask this prince OF hypocrites ana
| demagogues who, for thirty years, mas
! played shuttlecock on every Important pub
| 10 question -