New-York tribune., 1894-03-29
MY nr nOrHTS IND RLNKN

WASHINGTON dispatches state that experts en-
cagcd for the Senate committee ah1 cNp'fN
If the Treasury Department differ widely III
onnion Of the results to be- expected from the
rroposcd Tariff bill II is reported that 'hair'
man Voorhees, has Convinced himself that III"
hill will WELD surplus Of >i"V"W". some
Democrats insist that the incom" tax shall u"
cut on rs there will he a surplus without II.
Others insist that the sugar and whskcy taxes,
which are in effect enormous bouniics I" Nv"
greedy monopocS. shall be- reduced or removed.
The best jud cmcnt of those who know ia" tenn
per of the Democratic majority i ihAi Inc III
come tax will in any case hr retained Tor lis
supposed popularity at The West and South
II is not easy 10 meet reasoning which j.
confcssrdly based on assumptions obviously
contrary to facts I'll" basis of All reasoning
by the committee and 10y IN" department. II Is
frankly admitted. j. thc assumption that i'm
ports and consumption Of taxed articles VIII be-
rs large as in The last fiscal year. ending June
30. 1893 But everybody knows that there has
since been Il great decrease and 10 on" can
tell how much Of il will continue. or how long.
Further. everybody knows that consumption
will ho to some extent affected 10y the rise and
fall in uric,s resulting from the addition or
removal Of taxes. but no one can tell how much.
Putting aside the sugar duties for the mo
mcnt the official estimate was that the tarif
reported by the Senate committee would yield
about S12I. I.12J,OOO, against Sl2i,G1G,OD as th"
bill came from the House. Duties were so in
creased that. il imports were the same "a In
1893 the glass schedule would yield SGoo.UD
more than the House bll. the agricultural Schcl-
ulc $1,000 600 more. and other schedules $40
600 more but the liquor schedule would yield
So3S OOO less, the silk schedule S3GG.oOO less,
sundrics about 81 2s2 600 less, and the woolon
schedule 81 73j OO0 less. 70 the mcanrSt I'M
dprstandng il is obvious that the lower duties
on woollcns. silks and sundrics would tend 10
encourage larger importatons- whether enough
TO make up for the reduction i'll duties, no one
can say Thus no can determine whether
the Senate tariff exclusive Of sugar duty would
Weld less or more than the House BILL and it is
equally impossible to determine in advance how
much the far greater differences between the
present law and the House bill would reduce
the revenue That depends upon the ability OF
the people to consume goods of either kind. for
eIgn or domestic, and upon the ability Of home
manufacturers to reduce cost by cutting down
wages and by other economies. The manufact
urers who know most about it cannot tell, in
many branches of business what they can do.
upon the extent Of reduction in wages, yet
unknown, and the ability Of employers 10 keep
labor at work, yet unknown. Anticipating rs
far rs they can the effect Of the new tariff from
what Is known Of it, many thousand manufact-
urcrs now have their works idle. Others are
working only on orders which they can fill be-
fore new duties take effect, expecting then 10
sion Rut the actual reduction In the volume
"A rrant m ra.1 wit
last wear and In foreign imports since January
1 over 30 per cent. These figures give an Idea
Of the dimlnution already effected in the pur
chasing power OF the people. If labor will be
better employed after the new tariff takes cf
feet. or at higher wages, the purchasing power
OF the people may increase Otherwise 1t may
decrease But II il should remain IA now. i'm
norris OF articles dutiablc under the Senate bill
would be about $l6J. .000, 900 less than In 1893.
and the revenue about $50 600 900 less than the
experts calculate.
The consumption Of sugar, in particular, is
likely to be much changed by Il rise OF about
40 per cent In price In consequence OF the pro
Dosed duty No man who values his reputation
as an expert will venture to estimate that such
an advance In price will not largely reduce con
sumption. though one can guess how much |
IL must therefore be admitted that the revenue
from the Senate tariff, sugar duties Included
may be even less than S11jOOOOOO but prob
ably would not reach $l8j 900, 600, the amount
estimated. Yet with an uncertainty OF $5OOOO.
600 or more In this part Of the revenue, 1t is