The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-01-11
MIR. WArTEnsON'> TARIFF DEMOC
KA(y.

II a true Democrat could ever know
disbursement the position on the tariff
OF many public men who pose as leading
is Mr.. Wilson bringing in a bill identical
in principle with the Mckinley bill. and II
is approved OF by Mr.. Cleveland. and
now comes Henry Watterson. who has
been known over the length and breadth
Of the country as free-trade Democrat,
making the following speech at Louis
vile, last Monday:
"By the aid of the best experts md
authorities / would get together all the
needful statistical data. l would then
find clean sheet a. paper ] would lay
| this on the table-not the little round
one. but the big obong table-in the Ways
| and Means committee room. Then l
would open the cupboard. containing.
| among other perishable contents. the
/ Mckinley bill / would take this out
none too gently-and pitch It into the
fire Then / would draw upon my clan
piece of paper three lines indicating ar
ticle, duty, and revenue. / would begin
at the top of the first column with sugar
Then the duty-say one cent a pound
Then the estimated revenue-say s35 COO
bounty, making a difference of si5,0OO.Oc0
in the revenue. ! would follow with tea
and coffee. j would continue, civ. & pre-
cedence as far as possible to revenue
yielding commodities not produced In this
country down through the largest reve-
nue-yielding domestic proGucts-without
the least regard to protection. incidental
or otherwise-and when | got TO 100000
OoD / would stop. Then | would take an
nf apI 4
frame an internal revenue act raising
SIS, 100000 on spirits and tobacco making
1915. 1905 III all. and the rest $4,000 900
or $4,000. geo. as the estimates might
require. i would raise on an income-tax-
first on Inheritance and dividends, and
,hc1. IL need required. on big incomes.
Now IL Mr.. Watterson is Democrat
w:.o believes that the laws should bear
equally upon ALL comforting special privi-
leges upon none. and imposing disabilities
upon none. why should he make what
he calls 'revenue-yielding commodities"
pay more taxes according to their value
than other sptvles Of property? His |
proposition is to impose a greater rate |
Of taxes. according TO value. on those |
imports which he chooses arbitrarily 20 |
call ''revenue-producing commodities"
than upon other imports. Where will he
find, in the true principles Of Democracy.
any authority for a high-handed and ar
bitrary act such as this? Democracy
means equality Of all men before the
laws, and it demands that the laws shall
be made to bear equally upon all. Where.
In this dogma, will he find any authority
for making one import pay one rate Of
duty and another import pay another
rate OF duty?
But how absolutely undemocratic IS Mr..
Watterson when he says he would i'm
pose an income-tax upon "big incomes"
Is there any room in a Democrats creed
for the proposition that n rich man
shall pay a tax merely because
he is rich man, from which a
poor man shall be exempt because he is
a poor man? II this Is so then the CON
verse must be so, that when -ich men
control government they may impose
burdens and disabilities upon poor men
that they exempt themselves from. If
Democracy tolerates any such PROPOSE
ton, then the Times must admit that It
is in the wrong crowd. and that it must
unlearn all that it has learned Of Dem
ocracy.