The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-12-27

PNA bS NNNt IllG GApOA SS'
 Your committee has not undertaken a general revision of the tariff on pro- lection lines, as majority hope can be done in 1S97-9S, not only because they know such tariff legislation would stand no chance os becoming a law, but also because general tariff revlsioN would require many months; and the need is more revenue at once. We be- lleve, however. that this need of more revenue is so great that a simple meas ure increasing all duties of the dutiable list, and taking from the free list of the present tariff few articles that were always on the dutiable list until Au- gust 27, 1894, and which have always been important revenue producers, and limiting the operation of such legisla- tion to about two years and a half until the present deficiency of revenue is oVercome-oUght to receive the ap- proval, evsn of those who do not favor protective dutiesv on patriotic grounds; and that the fact that it may incidental ly encourage the production of many | articles that We require at home instead of abroad will not be regarded as a ground of opposition under present cir eums. stances.
 Tn framing the bill submitted for your consideration, it has been noGes- say, ii action wGa to be taken promp,- iy, to resort to 8 considerable extent, to a horizontal raise or duties, for the reason that it would have required months to deal with each article sepa- rately. Horizontal dealings with tariffs cannot be justified in ordinary lines, but in such an exigenoy as exists now, so serious that the president felt it his duty to send us g special message of | extreme urgency, and especially for a limited time, is not only defensible, but is the only alternative.
 l But while we have presented in the brief measure reported a horizontal in- crease of 15 per cent. of existing duties on all the schedules but two, which is an addition of less than s per cent. to the average ad valorem rate, giving l about $15,000,000 revenue from that source, vet more than $25,000000 of the $40,000000 which it is estimated that this bill would add to our annual revenue vii! come mainly from wool, which is taken from the free list and given a moderate duty, and from manufactures of wool which are given a compensa- tory duty equivalent to the duty on wool (which is always necessary when a duty is placed on wool, in order to give the wool growers the benefit, and make it possible to manufacture Wool- ems at home.
 "The bill reported by your committee proposes to make the duty on imported clothing wool 50 per cent. of the duty imposed by the act of 1890, which would give an equivalent of 6-10 of a cent | per pound on unwashed wool, or about 40 per cent. ad valorem. This reduction from the duty of the act of 1890 nas been made because the restoration of the full duty in that act might seem to be too great a change from the pres ent law from those whose cooperation have any legislation, and not as a msas- ure of what might be done when all branches of the government are :n har- mony with the majority of the house n protection lines. The duty on manu- factures of wool is increased by | spe- cific duty equivalent to the duty on wool
 "The duty on carpet wools is left at 32 per cent. ad valorem, where 1t was placed in 1890. This is a purely revenue duty, as We raise very few car pet wools. Such lumber as was placed on the free list by the act of 1S90 with ba i,rl+ stored to the dutiable list, but with a duty of only 60 per cent. of the duties provided by the act of 1S90-giving an equivalent of only about 15 per cent. Such reduction from the low rates of 1890 is justified only on the ground that the object of your committee has been to frame a bill mainly on revenue grounds, in the hope that it would se- cure the approval of those in official place whose cooperation 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 a s is proposed is essential as a first step in the restoration of con- ffdence 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 expenditures of the government, your committee rec ommends the passage of the accom- panying bill ITO temporarily increase revenue to meet the expenses of gov ernment and provide against def- cheney
 "The committee on ways and means, to whom was referred so much of the presidents annual message and of the report of the secretary of the treasury as relates to the maintenance of the redemption fund, and the conditions of the treasury, reports that the secretary of the treasury now has the authority under the resumption act of 1875 to issue and sell ten years per cent bonds and thirty years per cent. bonds to maintain the fund for the redemp- tion of United States notes. and that he has sold $100, 900 of the former description Of bonds and about G2,000,- 900 of the latter description of bonds in the past two years. As the redemp- tion fund has declined to almost sixty millions, the secretary requests author ity to issue @ lower rate and shorter time bond in lieu of the higher rate and longer time bonds, in expectation that