The record-union., 1895-12-27

the Presidents special message, setting
forth SO pointedly the seriousness of the
situation and the necessity for the
promptest action, only emphasizes the
duty of the House.
In response to the urgent call of the
President, your committee have felt i'm
PEELED to act with all possible dispatch.
Two facts have led your committee to
look to an increase of customs duties as
the most appropriate source of addi-
tional revenue. They are, first, the fact
that we are already raising a dispro-
portionate amount from internal rev.
enue, which has always been regarded
as war resort-indeed, Jefferson took
the ground that excise taxes should not
be reSorted to by the Federal Govern
ment as sources of revenue in time of
peace and the Democratic National
Convention maintained the same doc
trine in 1884. And, secondly, the fact
that by increasing customs duties on
imported articles which we can and
ought to produce, or make at home, for
revenue purposes, we can at the same
time Incidentally encourage stricken
industries and materially aid in turn
ing in our favor the balance of trade
all through this calendar year and
which has caused a demand for gold for
export, which our treasury has been
called upon to supply. For so long as
the balance of trade is against US on
account of excessive imports, we must
export gold, or what is the same thing,
promise to pay gold for the excess of
imports over the exports.
Your committee have not undertaken
a general revision of the tariff on pro-
lection lines as a majority hope can be
done in 1S97-99 not only because they
know that such tariff legislation would
stand no chance of becoming a law, but
also because general tariff revision
would require many months and the
need is more revenue at once We be-
lieve, however, that this need of more
revenue is SO great that a simple meas
Ure increasing all duties of the dutia-
bic list, and taking from the free list
of the present tariff a few articles that
were always on the dutiable list until
August u, 1894, and which have al
ways been important revenue produc-
ers, and limiting the operation OF such
legislation to about two years and a
half-until the present deficiency CT
revenue is overcome-ought to receive
the approval even of those who do not
favor protective duties on patriotic
grounds, and that the fact that 1t may
| incidentally encourage the production
of many articles that we require at
hCme instead of abroad will not be re-
garded as q ground Of opposition under
present circumstances.
| In framing the bill submitted for
/ your consideration it has been neces-
SaTy, if action was to be taken prompt
| ly, to resort to a considerable extent
| to a horizontal raise Of duties icr the
reason that it would nave required
! months to deal with each article sep
arately. Horizontal dealing with tariffs
| cannot be justified in ordinary times,
| but II such an eXigency as exists now
! is so serious that the President felt it
his duty to send US a special message
of extreme urgency and especially for
limited time, it is not only defensible
but is the only alternative
! But while we have presented in the
| brief measure reported a horizontal in
| crease of 10 per cent. of existing du-
ties on all the schedules but two, which
| is an addition Of less than per cent
10 the average ad valorem rate-giving
about S15,000,000 revenue from that
source; yet more than S25, 100000 of the
| $40, 600 900 which is estimated this
bill will add 10 our annual revenue will
come mainly from wool, which is taken
from the free list and given a moderate
duty, and from manufactures of wool,
which are given compensatory duty
/ equivalent to the duty on wool (Which
I ic q lfxro1 l.
placed on wooD, in order to give the
| wool grower the benefit, and make it
possible to manufacture woolens at
home.
The bill reported by your committee
! proposes to make the duty on imported
clothing wool 60 per cent OF the duty
! imposed by the Act of 1890, which
would give an equivalent of &C cents
per pound on unwashed wool, or about
40 per cent. ad valorem. This reduc-
ton from the duty of the Act of 1890
has been made because the restoration
of the full duty in that Act might seem
to be too great change from the pres
ent law to those whose cooperation it
is necessary to secure in order to have
any legislation. 1t is not a measure of
what might be done when all branches
of the Government are in harmony with
the majority of the House on protec-
tiOn lines. The duty on manufactures of
wool is increased by specific duty equiv
/ alent to the duty on wool.
The duty on carpet woods is left at the
81 per centum ad valorem, where it was
placed in 1890. This is purely revenue
duty, as we raise very few carpet woods.
Such lumber as was placed on the free
list by the Act of 1890, without the
slightest justification, is restored to the
dutiable list, but with a duty of only
80 per cent. of the duties provided by
the Act Of 1S90-giving an equivalent
of only about i per cent. Such a reduc-
tion from the low rates of 1890 is justi-
fed only the ground that the object of
our committee has been to frame a
Lii mainly on revenue grounds, in the
hope that it would secure the approval
Of those in official place whose coop
Grafton is essential to legislation, and
who may be supposed to feel that in
such an exigency as now exists the
public necessity must control.
Believing that such an increase of
revenue as is proposed is essential as
a first step in the restoration OF conf
dence and the restoration of the treas
ury to a sound condition, and that
other legislation TO be proposed to this
end cannot be effective without ade-
quate revenue to meet the expendi-
lures of the Government, your commit
tee recommend the passage of accom-
panying bill, II. R., to temporarily
increase the revenue to meet the eX-
penses of the Government and provide
against a deficiency.
The Committee on Ways and Means,
to whom was referred so much of the
Presidents annual message, and of the