The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1894-04-05
THE TARIFF BILL.
Upcnipg of tho Debate on the
Measure in the Senate.
Senator voorhees,, OF Indiana, Begins the
Speech Making by n Lengthy Re-
Wow OF tho BllI-Synop-
sis OF His Speech.

WAsuINGToN, April 2.-iii fnportlnr
to the senate house resolution 4S64-
"a bill to reduce taxation, to provide
revenue for the government, and for
other purposes" with senate amend
ments thereto, Mr.. Voorhees, dem,
1nd.), chairman Of the senate commit.
tee on finance, addressed the senate In
a prepared speech of several hours du-
ration of which the following is a
synopsis
lie challenged tho attention OF the senate
and the country TO the fact that by the pro.
visions OF this Till the seeming paradox Of
reduction OF taxes and at he same time an In
crease of putlic rev"nIs.. rA he r. one cd
when 1t becomes law. The reductions, he
claimed were ms follows;
On chemicals siOOOODD: on pottery, 81 9o0,.
900; on glass A 5OJ .O1Dl on metals Si2,5O0 OO0
on wood. s3GiGDO on tobacco S3J0oo0; on ag'
rlcultural produ Is. $500 tDo on spirits,
vines, ETC.. a. 50)UJ; on manufactures 49,,
5000; on flax, hemp nnd in'c ntrufactures.
10 0G0OOO; on WOODEN manufactures s?3,bi 6D;
on silk manufactures s',jOOCO0; on paper and
pulp, S30JUO: on sundrcs, s2.4i0.O0; trans.
fcrrcd to the free list Sl.l70,6O; total, 40.
670O0D
TO these reductions must bo added, he said,
the iuipoTlnr 'rc' that The bin provides for
full and ample revenue, iutge'y VI ofccss OF
present supplies. with which to meet MI 'he
requirements Of the public credit
"Faults and imporfections can, Of course. he
alleged ani pointed out; concessions are up
parent which have been unwillngly de-and
only when found absolutely necessary In
order to secure Its passage; articles on the
free list ms they came from the house have
been male dutiablc under the durcss of h
small majority hero. ydt, deeply as regret the
necessity for these changes and earnestly as
Lon .pIt thpYr, I do h.t.it tuf tn cru
| the bill takrr as n rh6le, as IL now stands
| with its combination Of lover taxes on the
nccessarles OF life, and at the same time In
creased revenues for tho government, will be
hailed as a substantial measure Of reform and
relief by the great producing masses OF the
American people"
Taking the estimated expenditures OF the
fiscal year Ises at Si5i 5000 he placed agninst
| those estimates the estimated rcyenncT cE.
| pccted to accrue under the provisions OF the
| bill as follows:
Internal revenue. undCt plcsant Law si6O,.
| 00DL Additions made bS the pending bill;
| Income tax, S:'O0D.H)); spirits. :2J,000,OJD
cards, i3OOlOJD; customs, sl63 36l, 600; misccl-
| lancoGs, S@0,0U)UO; postal service. sSi i27 .1CG
| Total, SisN,iDIra Thus leaving q surplus OF
over i9g ODJ OJl
There Ia no terror to me" he said. I'm n
| surplus like this On the cUu.:arJ H. is source
| Of safety. and can at any time he wisely and
honorably devoted TO the best purposes OF good
government, the payments Of debts and tho
stOppagc Of interest II can also he reduced
! by a revision of tariff rates whenever found
| necessary My greatest apprehension In pub
| lie affairs Is n deficiency in the finances. and
| consequently in the power OF the government
to maintain ITS honor and to holl Its heal
above the nations OF the earth On this point
we feel that we have made tha future secure,
while mt tho same time we have made lighter
| the burdens OF the people
Passing to a general discussion Of the tarin
question, Mr.. Voorhees, sad:
| The most nendc features of tariff taxation
is pcrmancncy, at reasonable rates for rcyc
nue., and with n duo regard to the business AM
commerce OF the country. The Mckinley Law
was necessarily an unstable, unsafe measure
It was u reckless, foolhardy experiment on thu
forhcarance OF the American people Our pur
puse Is t. -cplaco the law Of 1890 with a meas
ure OF reform, safe. ,one -rvative and harmoni
Gus In ITSELF and TO which all the wholesome
| and legitimate Industries OF the country will
| speedily adapt themselves, and tcnRciousl,
cling for secure Development ana undisturhcC
growth in the future. II this can be done with
out needless delay, an era or Prosperity vii
| dawn upon all the diversified interests OF thu
couHtry, such rs has never been surpassed II
| our history
He said he stood there to deny that It can h,
| shown anywhere since the republican party
came into power thirty.thrcc years ago tina
lH' NuStS VI u "OThIIRlliil OF NuHllll' III lNT
mace. factory or dclvng mine, has ever keep
pace with increased tarfl rates, or, indeed, hat
any increase at all on account of high pro
| tcctiyr-tarir legislation.
| What the wage-worl;cr wants, and of righ
should have, is not the false promise and falls
| pretcnsc Of manufacturers pleading In his nam
for their own enrichment, but the solid proteC
tiou OF law against the instability of his con
tracts, the uncertain duration OF his employ
mcnt and the huctua,ing rates OF his wages
Mr.. Voorhees, defended the al valorem dutic
ms agains. the specific tax. and he discussed %
length tho Walker tariff and its effects, an
then came down to n closer view Of the detail
OF the pending bill. He declared that on tn
subject OF sugar the Mckinley Law was q iuggl
and fraud, and was Intended a
such. Absolute free trade in sugar Is an AT
tractive thcmc, hut no such thing has ever cx
listed for u single hour since the organization
OF this government, a moderate duty has al
ways been imposed on sugar. and it has Away
been staunch revenue support to the govern
ment. The fact that the duty tax on sugar ha
Injured more to the benefit OF the revenues O
the government and less to the prohts OF pr
vatc parties than any other tax known to tart
legislation, may be stated as the main reaso
why the democratic party has never made o
issue against it, IL Is conceded by all partie
that the duty paid on imported sugar goes NOR
fairly and squarely into the treasury than an
other duty provided by law, and II follows a
light follows darkness, that tariff taxation Gu
therefore be reduced in proportion on othC
things which the people have to buy and use.
During the present fiscal yenr there will b
paid by the treasury sl2,3oO O0J as bounty to tn
producers OF sugar, and every dollar OF thi
vast sum Is first collected from those VIII
plant corn, raise wheat. and engage In all th
various pursuits OF labor. II the law is to r,
main unrcpealeh the time IL near at hand whe
it will confer rs mere gratuty more tina
sa0,O0OOU per year on a small fraction OF ot
population, engaged in no public service, but
their own private enterprises.
The duty on sugar US placed in the bill no
pending before the senate muy be stated at OF
| cent per pound on raw sugar and one-eighth
| one cent per pound additional on refined suga
, | II this specific duty should be changed to O
adyalorem, as | think would have been bette
J 1t will be found 10 be about IS per cent on Il
, value OF the goods assessed Under the WallI
= tariff all sugars were made dutiable at 30 ~
| cent al yalorem, but IL must be borne
: mind that forty-eight years ago the conAum,
l paid twelve cents n pound for sugar, While
the present time he pays only four or hye cen
per pound at the most II may 10 estimate
that eight pounds OF sugar when the Walk
1 tariff was enacted, cost the purchaser 81, viii
= that amount OF money will now buy twenty.fo'
h. pounds In other words owing TO the differen'
|, in the value OF sugar then and now, the du
proposed hy the committee on finance Is b
! slightly moro than one-third the amount II
n posed by the Walker tarin, of blessed and glo
S ious memory.
Speaking OF the unparalleled and clearly u
. constitutional piece OF legislation known as Il
u reciprocity clause OF the Mckinley bin, N
Q Voorhees, said:
k "Hcre is tarin schedule containing fye 9
s ticles OF prime necessity to the American pt
h pie which are to he heavily taxed, and the
cost to the consumer largely increased. at 4
! mere will and pleasure OF the president Of 4
o United States. With the same stroke OF
Q pen he can, by virtue of this law, put a tor
tax OF three cents per pound on coffee /
cents per pound on tea and one and half Ger
per pound on raw and uncured hides The
o burdens when imposed as they are authorize
@ will have to be borne by the American &C
=, sumer and taxpayer and by no one else 4
inhabitants Of the offending country agar
whom proclamation is made are indifferent,
n perhaps amused spectators OF our retaliato
& proceedings against our own citizens.
= As to the whisky tax, Mr.. Voorhees, said
" would he glad to have made II el20, instead
q N 10 per gallon, and he defended the propos
extension OF the bonded period.
N In regard to the income tax Mr. Voorht