The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1897-03-20
The New Tariff.

| (FrOm the Chicago Inter OCEAN,
The admirable quality of the new
tariff is its catholicity 1t is not, rs Ella
said it would be, "a business mans
tariff" it is not a lumbcrman's tariff, no,
a farmers tariff, not a manufacturer
tariff, in the sense of an act constructed
for the special benefit Of any one OF
these subdivisions of the industrial com.
munity. II is an industrial tariff; tariff
in which each trade, each art, each con.
dition of commerce, labor, agriculture
and manufactures find adequate protec-
ton. 1t is also a tariff designed for
the production of revenue sufficient for
all the expenditures of government
economically administered. 1t is des-
cribed in its title as "An act to proyid e
revenue for the government, and to
protect the industries of the United
States" An act of this kind was passed
by the first Congress Of the United
States, and was signed with JOY by
George Washington. Under tariff acts
devised for revenue only this country
has sailed with difficulty and disaster
through troubled seas.
In the main, the new tariff is the Nc
kinley tariff. The sugar duties are
changed to met the changed condition
in which the country has no surplus of
revenue to expend on bounties, but
rather cas- Democratic deficit TO be
extinguished by Republican economy.
The lumber duties are like to, and
nearly identical with, those of the Nc
kinley bill, except that the duty on
timber hewed and squared and used for
spars and for building W harvesis changd
from specific to advalorcm, and that
hemlock and white pine are classed
On no class of lumber do the new spe-
cific duties exceed the proportion Of 20
per cent. ad volorem. The wool duties
are, in effect, those of the Mckinley act,
and the infamous shoddy-free under
the Wilson bill-goes back into the du-
table rate of 80 cents per pound. This
is good moral, and therefore good policy.
The duties on tobacco are much the
that the duty on leaf for filters is in
creased.
In some details the bill may undergo
modification in Congress, but as whole
1t Is likely that when signed by the
President it will be very much as it was
when it left the committee on WAYS and
means.
a tariff change is imperative. We
cannot forever go on borrowing to meet
our current expenses. The new law
will add at least $50, 600, 900 to the annu-
al revenue of the country. We cannot
forever stand idly by and witness the
Gripping or extinction of our home
manufactures by foreign imports. The
new law protects the industries that are
weak, and leaves those that are strong
to battle for themselves. We cannot
forever placidly behold the decrease of
the purchasing power of the nation
keep pace with the eternally decreas-
ing rate of wages that eternal COMPETE
ton with the cheap labor of the old
world cnforces. The new law makes
the difference in the European and
American wage rate the basis of tariff
duties. We need greater facilities for
enlargement for our foreign trade. The
new law extends the operation of that
principle of reciprocity by which our
foreign trade was enlarged during the
administration of President Harrison.
1t Is not given to human skill to pro-
duce perfect work, but the new tariff
Jaw approaches perfection as nearly as
any work of man may.