New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-01
THE TARIFF FOR DEFICIT.
r,urRE OF THE WILSON LAW CONCLU-
sIvELY DEMONSTRATED.
-. DEFICIENCY OF ABOUT s72ooo.ooc PRODUCED IN
FIFTEEN MoNTHs-ENORMOUs IMPoRTA-
TONS BUT LIGHT CUSTOMS RECEIPTS
A GREAT FALLING OFF IN IN
-EpNAI. RFVENIrF All
fry TFLycRlPH 20 rHE TRrsUSEl

A GREAT FALLING OFF IN IN
TERNAL REVENUE ALSO.
rpy rFrzcR,pu 20 rHE rRIsuxEl
Washington Nov 3o-Now that Congress must
,a.e the stern realities OF the Treasury situation
ga determine what method shall be pursued to
.,,ln more money with Which 10 meet the run
ing expenses Of the Government. II may be OF in
800. 10 us members and others to see Just what
~. .ev revenue law enacted by the last Congress
10. accomp, ished, also to compare It's workings
,,,A those Of is predecessor That there is an alb
,,u,s necessity for obtaining money in some
,,ay 10 NEE. the current expenses Of the Govern
~, nobody can longer doubt. There was a period
faw months when the friends OF the law
,,ksa hopefully TO the future in the belief that
,s receipts would increase sufficiently to justify
,.s, faith in It's final success. But tina; hope has
,s,,ea them. The receipts, which In July reached
ne high-water mark az $50 069697 fell off in August
"a sse2 696 in September s27. ji9 67S. and in the
month irs. ended TO So sSe. SOB. it becomes APP
nareni that the expected gain In receipts is not TO
maierlalize. and as the best month IN the history
O, the Law fell far short OF the average monthly
expenditures, 10 rely further on it would be worse
Than folly. There have been only months in
the entire history OF the law in which 1t did not
prolucc a regular monthly deficit. and they were
onths OF abnormally light expenditures. the none
tary favorable margin being due to light payments.
10; heavy receipts.
The RESULTS Up TO DATE
The law has now been in operation just fifteen
mouths l: came into operation under exception
ally advantageous conditions as the importers dur
ing the preceding year had brought in as little as
possible Of du;able goods since they expected large
reductions N duties from the new law. The result
was ,ha' the law found the shelves of the country
empty dutlabe foreign goods. and there was rea-
son % eNfec: enormous importatons and enormous
collections OF customs. The enormous importations
.ffa1 .fnv,c 10 he
du.dble imports increased from s257,6457o2 in the
last year Of the Mckinney law 10 s39l 45o426, under
the N..s-n law the customs receipts remained
llght The law permitted the dstillers 10 re-
tain their spirits in bond eight years instead Of
three, and result The Withdrawals Of distilled
spirits during the first year OF the new law
were only 4S 255277 gallons. against 1884 32
gallons in the last year Of the Mckinley law.
The result was an enormous fal.ing-of in Internal
revenue as well as customs receipts. The conse-
quence IS THAI the receipts during the first htieen
months II me new Law have fallen, in round mum
bers S72c00Oe0, below the expenditures, and the
Treasury has not ald aside penny for the slhking
fund. The workings OF the new law during ITS hrst
fifteen months may be summarized as follows:
! -: , iroi reyco,s l32 47G 264
Total receipts 5 sS s sds
Defect, Recommendations. s7o4e4 Oh
The assertion having been made that the new law
was producing more income than the Mckinley law
e i ibaesurSev Of that Statement 1t Was OBJ
tained by taking the few exceptional months in the
pSriers had stopped importing and business was
awaiting the REIMBURSEMENT or the tarln law anu
Comparing the bes, months OF the new Jaw with
;Aeu. That this was entirely unfair and msleaa.
sISe BY side X is only necessary to compare the
fifteen months earnings Of The new lay Win any
table from the official figures shows the receipts
during the hrs; fifteen months Of the new aw com.
NTH n. r~S q las
periods Of the u ;Kinley law. It gives an accurate
les: OF the comparative earning capacity of the
Irs, fifteen months Mckinley law. so 20 20
second n1teen months Of Mckinley law.. a* M 'e"
lirst hftsen m-aths Of Wilson SI8 956is
THE BURDEN PLACED on MAGISTRATES.
Taking up the classes Of goods from which this
meagre revenue collected il Is found that the
customs burden has been transferred from uxuries.
imported farm productions and products Of the fac
tories 70 articles of food and other classes which
the people compelled TO buy Tor dally susie
nance The articles Of food imported free OF duty
with the last fiscal year Of the Mckinley law, over
So9Vec09o, and the articles OF 1000 on when Guy
importation OF uxuries increased over 200 per cent
Although this Jaw prOfessed 10 add largely TO the
free isl the free mportations in the first year were
only "a per OF the total while In the last
year q the Mckinley law the free nportat .1;
IL the interests OF the farmers ana working people,
the !mportatons O: farm products uhder IL IN IL.
year o. NJ NlDleE law. ana tne "
manufactures which came into competition WIN
domestic manufactures increased SIO.WnuO over the
last year Of the Mckinley law: In order 70 snow
clearly just what the new la has done compared
with the Mckinley law, in the way OF proddc!ng
revenue 90 running expenses the fOllo"ihS
statement Is gwen Of the receipts and eXpendtnIes
o. every month since the enactment OF the Mckln-
ley .aw There have been three dstnct periods since
tie u kinney Law, Went into effect on OCTOBER =
1Ss They are IS follows; . - ,-,, -,
ai Period Of normal action OF the Mckinley law
from date OF its enactment until ne meeting OF me
Lid Congress- which was advertised TO destroy Il
-thrty-fOGr months.
duc,i0a OF the Wilson law was in progress-thr-
O., Period ot normal action of the new law-hf-
months
II VIII be observed that the Mckinley law pro-
durcd during it's thirty-four months OF normal ac-
t.on not only sufficient revenue 70 meet all the eH-
uenses Of The Government. but also handsome sur
plus OF s2S S745se and that its only deficiency period
was that in which the new law was being framed
and N which, as already shown, imports were be-
trc held back on the other hand the Wilson law,
which came In with the stock o. foreign goods ex-
hausted and the importers waiting to bring IN enor-
nous new stocks under II, mas produced denclt OF
s7e igi Ol4 in the fifteen months in which II has been
in operation The following figures showing the re-
ceDts and expenditures in each month IN the three
reriods-the normal period Of the Mckinley law,
ne period of its destruction, and the normal period
OF the Wilson law-are from official sources:
MKINLEY LAW
From its beginning to meeting Of the LIlId Congress