The San Francisco call., 1895-12-13
Better Ways of Increasing the
Revenues Than Retiring the
GreenbackS.
LESSONS FROM THE ELECTIONS.
Cleveland Failed to Give Congress In.
formation on the System of
Revenues.

WASHINGTON, D. c., Dec 12.-The first
| gun in the tariff fight in the Fifty-fourth
| Congress was fired to-day in the House by
| the venerable ex-Speake- Grow, Repres
| sentative-at-large from the State of Penn
| sylvania.
| At his request the House went into COM
mittee of the whole on the state of the
| Union, and for nearly an hour he COM
pared the working of the protective tariff
| as it existed from 1861 to 1894 with the re-
suits achieved by the present law, assert
| ing that the latter had not proved much
| of success. He proposed instead of the
| retirement of the greenbacks in exchange
| for bonds, as recommended by the Presi-
| dent, that National banks be permitted 10
| deposit them and the silver certificates as
| well in exchange for circulating notes, re-
| ceiving $110 for every $100 so deposited,
| the greenbacks and certificates when de-
| posted to be Cancelled.
| The gold reserve he contended, would
| always prove a source OF weakness when
ever and as long as the Government was
| compelled to borrow money to meet its
| expenditures. He read the following para
graph from the Presidents message as a
text for his speech:
By command of the people customs revenue
system, designed for the protection and benefit
of favored classes at the expense of the great
mass OF our countrymen, and which, while in
| efficient for the purpose of revenue, curtailed
our trade relations and impeded our entrance
to the markets of the world, has been SUPER
seded by tariff policy which in principle is
based upon denial of the right of the Govern
| ment to obstruct the avenues to our peoples
| cheap living, or lessen their comfort and con-
,nr1f cn1-n Of linz nfo1
| advantages to favo1ites, and which, while en-
couraging our intercourse and trade with other
nations recognizes the fact that American self
| reliance, thrift end ingenuity can build up our
country's industries and develop its resources
more surely than enervating paternalism.
| The President, Grow said. had failed to
| give Congress any information as to the
| working and results of the new customs
revenue system, which he extolled. He
| had disregarded the custom of presenting
the receipts and expenditures of the treas
| ury, leaving Congress to learn of the finan-
| ciai condition of the Government as best it
| might. Figures furnished by the Treasury
| Department, Grow said, shoged that from
| July l, 1S94-the date at which the new
| bill went into effect-to December 10, 1895.
the deficit in the revenues of the Govern
ment amounted to $131. 1854. .204. besides the
amounts which may be included in def
| cheney bills covering the part of the fiscal
year prior to December 10. In the same
time the bonded Indebtedness had been in
creased $162, ,315, 1000. The new system of
customs revenue did not seem to have
| been a success.
| The speaker reviewed the operations of
the old system denounced by the Presi-
dent and compared it with those of the
present. The tariff had been changed in
| 1867, in 1883 and in $780, but throughout, he
said it had been a continuance of the
! system inaugurated by the Morrell act Of
February, 1861. Mr.. Buchanan had closed
his administration having experienced a
! deficit in every year of it, the total amount
being $75,00O,0OO. This was met by the
issue of bonds. That was the last Demo-
cratic administration until the present,
and this one seemed to have begun where
| that one left off, by the sale of bonds.
| Laughter and applause.]
He asserted that no markets were of any
consequence to any people unless they
could put articles in them at less labor
cost than they could be there produced.
The United States sold agricultural prod
ucts abroad because its vast area pro-
duced surplus over home consumption.
! Other articles, he said, could not 60
abroad unless the laborers of America
were willing to reduce their wages to a
point at which they would compete with
those of the countries into which their
productions were to be sent. There would
be, he said, no advantage in going into
market that does not pay the producer
living wages.
"And the President thinks the old sys-
tenn blocks the way to cheap living con-
tinued Grow. According to his theory
the poorhouse would be the ideal place of
existence. People live cheaper there than
anywhere else." Laughter.]
| Grow then reverted to the financial por-
ton of the message, saving that the only
Recommendation the President made was
to change five or six hundred millions of
non-Interest bearing debt into interest
bearing obligations in the shape of long
| time loans.
| In lieu of the Presidents proposition,
Grow presented plan to authorize the
issue of National bank notes, in the ratio of
$110 for every $100 deposited. in exchange
| for treasury notes and silver certificates,
the latter to be cancelled as fast as they
| were so deposited. This, he said, would
| give elasticity to the volume of currency
without restricting it in any degree, and
without increasing by dollar the inter-
| est-bearing obligations of the Governments
| This would wind up the ''endless chain"
| of which so much has been said, and pro-
tect the gold reserve.
"After two years of experience with this