The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-10-31
ON rnE DEFENSIVE.
lcOuAnued PROM rlrst rage.l

according to the tavaR reform IDEAS OF
tlSe administration. must De free OF duty,
the imposition OF a duty. on that article
be the destruction Of the only
schedule M4iach had not been blasted by
the PARTY .peEftdy and party dishonorH
nor 'waflch Senators Brice and German
were responsible. and in which Senator
Murphy weakly took part.
gaA4 oee
10 the administration mind, ale, beer,
Eager beer, porter, and other similar fer
m9nted liquors. offer the. best opportunity
for securing revenue. With a tax of a
doglRr a barrel on such malt liquors. the
government secured $31, 962, 1875 in eve
nue. IN the fiscal year ending q 30,
1893, and S30,S 3l. eT4.M In the fiscal year
1894. BY increasing the tax on these
termented Giquors, of which beer is by
far the, most important, the government
could secure, large revenue without any
additional expense for their collection.
Influenced by this. increase OF revenue,
without Increased cost, Secretary Carlisle
will recommend to congress that the tar
on beer be increased from n to two
dollars a barred. 1t can be seen that that
exactly doubles the present tax, and that
as a, result. from uhirty-one to thdrty-two
moIHons OF revenue could yearly be oD-
talned rye
80
It is. THE administrators policy to tax
the people, more than thirty million dol
Cars q year more, annually, by doubling
the TAX On beer, wd1en foreigners could be
compelled to provide the required revenue,
by placing o duty on wool and upon
1nrUrbes. which the new tariff bin now
touches lightly. Al duty on wool would
aiford protection to the wool-grower, and
rbfrus be OF additional benefit. It Is claim
ed that this Increased tax on beer would
not be paid by the consumer of malt a-
quors. but THAT It would be borne solely
by The Drawers That Is, the present
administration proposes to deprive the
brewing interests OF the United States
of more than thirty million doccars mi
ally, when this money could be better
obtained by taxing foreign commodities
imported into this country, and at the
same time AFFORD protection ITO Aarfertcar
Industries, THAT so soreiy need 1t. In
other words, not satisfied with attacking
THE manufacturing industries Of the "
try tlarougfI The new tariff bin. the Demo
cratic party proposes to make an assault
upon another industry, and that the brew
ing one.
It b not TRUE, however, that the brew
ers would be compelled to pay the add
tIonac tax entirely. To be sure, they
would be compecled Ito bear part OF the In
creased TAXATION, but they would undoubt
eddy increase prices to their customers
and thus add Ito the expense OF the deal
ers in fermented liquors. "To partian!
recomlpense themselves for the increased
cost of fermented liquors, saloonkeepers
and others, who sell them, would mn
those who purchase of them by the gas:
or Sne. bottle. to pay for part OF tne adoi
tional colt. This would be done by sell
ing lesas bear In a galss for a nickel, anC
by charging a little more for bottled beer
Thus the added taxation upon matt III
a,pors would ultimately be largely born'
by the consumer. The objections NO thi'
are manifest; and 1t must not be forgot
ten that There would be less beer solo
OF domestic manufacture. because for
elgn beer would be cheaper.
SOs
Aside from a formal discussion of rou
tine matters that had accumulated In th'
absence of the president and mis- cablnet
turing the summer, the cabinets TIM
was taken up with the Venezue!an-BNt
fsnn boundary dispute. his has reaches
q, critical, condition by reason OF the DE
termination OF une DrpVEhi 6ONeiiLi"OH' ~
arm the British Guiana frontier. A
there Is 40 much bitterness between tn
! VenezuelAne and the British GuineanS,
Is pcstbcA THAT this' aggressive action ma!
head to q .ci6kn between the two. Tina
would be- Immediately embarrassing Ito tn
present ADMINISTRATION. The Democrat
have been announcing that Mr.. Cleve,an'
would maintann an aggressive attitude II
the matter, and see thlt England did nc
unju5try deprive the Venezuelans OF the
territory. This simulated intention to en-
force the Monroe dotcrine has done YER
wei for campaign purposes. but II timer
Nhouod be ufostIsties between the Guinean
and the venezue,ans, the administrator
wiz have ITO shcyw its hands and efthei
do. nothing at ala, as 1t lid when th
BRITISH occupied Corlnto, or take a stront
position and become directly involved II
Snpe controversy. There win probably b
no clash aoetweeen Dngland and Venezue
la until after the November election
rnere. In the meantime, the administra
thon and Democrabs throughout the coun
try wiz. in order to favorably affect tn
elections on their side. proclaim 1t to b
} thelr purpose to stand by the Monro
doctrsne, no matter what M complica
tions 1t involves. They know this VII
be a popular position to assume, and wi
work It for aid that Ut is worth.