The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-08-04
A DEMOCRATIC TARIFF.

Some of our Republican friends who
still cling to the protection heresy, ex-
hibit much inconsistency in their at
tacks on what they call Democratic
free trade" At first they predicted
all sorts of woes and overwhelming
calamities, eliminating in something
like universal ruin, if the tariff reform
bill which was introduced by the
Democrats in Congress should become
a law. Even after it was modified in
the Senate, in a number of instances
the same disasters were predicted and
the same anathemas were pronounced
against the tariff reforming Democrats
But now they declare that the tariff
reform bill is not a revenue bill after
all. They claim that it is protection
The truth is, that the Democratic
party in entering upon a tariff reform
campaign did not propose, as falsely
stated by Republicans. to smash" the
tariff, to establish free trade to
ruin American industries, to flood the
country with cheap foreign goods"
or to perform any Of the revolutionary
antics so freely charged against them
by their political opponents.
They proposed to reduce the exorbi-
tant duties imposed by the Mckinley
bill, to place some raw materials on
the free list, to repeal the bounty laws,
and to relieve the consumers of the ma
ton from the great burdens which had
been piled upon them for the benefit
of comparatively few individuals and
some gigantic corporations.
All that has been accomplished. The
tariff bill which is now in force is a
moderate measure of reform 1t has
not gone to the extent desired by some
leading Democrats, but it is a measure
greatly affecting various industries and
articles of manufacture and of pro-
duce. The effect has been to place
them within reach of the people at a
much lower cost than formerly.
At the same time the manufacturing
interests of the country have not been
injured. Wages have not been reduced
by tariff reform. SO far as the effects
of that act are perceived, they are all
in the other direction Good has come
from it instead of evil What would
have been the result if tariff smashing
instead of tariff reform had been the
purpose in view, we have nothing 10
say. But that was not intended; that
was not announced, except in the
falsehoods told by our Republican op-
ponents.
We are told that such Democrats as
Jefferson and Jackson were protective
tariff men, and that the Democratic
party of the present has departed from
their ideas and run after 1.-The fad of
free trade" Is that true? We say no.
We affirm that the tariff reform meas
ure which is now a law, and even the
tariff reform bill as it passed the House
Of Representatives, would have made
the hair on Jefferson's or Jackson's
head stand on end. They believed in
moderate duties on certain imports.
for the purpose of raising revenue to
meet the expenses of the government
economically administered, recognizing
the fact that the duties thus imposed
would act incidentally in the protec-
ton of the infant industries of this
country. But such duties as were i'm
posed by the Mckinley bill would have
aroused those WORTHLESS almost to fury.
To say that either Jackson or Jeffer-
son were protectionists in the sense of