The herald., 1897-03-23


pending bill are between the rates of the
tariff Of 1880 and the present law"
Speaking of the average rate Of the
proposed tariff he said: Deduct sugar
and the average duty would be "a per
cent; deduct sugar, tobacco and spirits
and the average duty would be 1885 per
cent, and deduct sugar. tobacco, spirits
and wool and the average duty would
be only Al per cent"
Mr.. Dingley discussed at some length
the ad valorem and specific duties and
presented figures showing how disad-
vantageously the ad valorem system
worked.
He then presented the estimates as to
the probable revenue that would be
raised by the bill which were given in
his report with the supplemental state
ment that the second year the bill would
yield 100000. 900 increased revenue.
In closing Mr.. Dingley said: 1T must
be obvious from any point of view that
prompt action by the two houses of
cngress is indispensable to secure the
revenue which the pending bill without
regard to party Affiliations are asking
for action. Business awaits our final
decision. With this great question of
adequate revenue to carry on the gov
ernment settled favorably by such an
adjustment of duties as will restore to
our own people what has been surren-
dered to others during the past four
years with restored confidence in the fu-
ture. there is reason to believe that
gradually and surely there will come
back to us the great prosperity which
we enjoyed in the decade prior to 1898
and which the greatest of living Eng.
lish statisticians so strikingly eulogized
when he said. in 1892. that 1T would be
impossible to find in history any par
allel to the progress of the United States
in the last ten years
The first applause came when Mr..
Dingley referred to the purpose of the
bin ''to encourage the stricken indus
tries of the country" and was continued
at intervals. The members crowded UP
the aisles and stood there when he fin
ished, at the end of an hour. The Re-
publicans applauded for fully minute.
the galleries joining in the demonstra-
tion. The old cavalry leader of the Con-
federates opened for the opposition. Mr..
Wheeler began with a statement that
the bill had been secretly prepared by
the eleven Republican members of the
committee on ways and means and
framed almost in the language OF the
petitions presented by protected inter-
ests. Since the star chamber measure
came to liht on last Monday, he said, the
conservative press of the country had
denounced it in unmeasured terms.
The bill increased the duty on many ar
ticles far above the Mckinley rates,
and in some instances exceeded Nc
Kinley rates by from so to 100 per cent.
NNearly every paragraph was changed
from the ad valorem rates under the
Wilson bill to either the specific or COM
pound rates, the effect of which was to
increase enormously the duty upon
cheaper articles that are purchased by
those who work and lessen the tariff
on the expensive articles that are pur-
chased only by the rich.
The proclamation of the president ad-
mitted that our receipts last years were
only $25, ,O00, 900 less than our expendi-
lures, and that the reports of the treas
ury now showed that our receipts now
exceeded our expenditures, and yet in
the face of these facts, the Republican
majority sought to pass a bill which
they said would increase taxes $114,-
900 900.
Mr. Wheeler spoke over an hour He
was followed by Mr.. Hopkins of Illi-
nois, Rep, who announced that the
mission of the Republican party, again
placed in power. was to restore pros
perity and give employment to labor.
The tariff bill prepared for that pur-
pose, he said, would meet all the wants
of the government and the people. He
said that until he had listened to Mr..
Wheeler's remarks he did not believe
any Democrat still clung to the old.
dried and repudiated doctrine Of free
trade.
But he was now convinced genuine
bourbon Democrat seldom forgets any