The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-05-19


and Discourage American Labor-Malzes
Some Serious Reflections Upon the Nc
Kinley Eli Us Revenue Producer.
Ex-Postmaster General William Z.
Wilson is credited with the authorship
of the tariff bill low in force. His
hands were ted so that he could not
make the bill nearly as gccd as he de-
sired to make it, and the bill IS finally
passed was not nearly as gccd as when
it first passed the house. It was, how
ever, a great Improvement upon the Nc
Kinley bill and IS model as compared
with the Dingley monstrosity. We
quote the following from Mr. wilson S
criticism Of the Mckinley and Dingley
bills in a recent number Of the New
York Herald: ?
These bills are so nearly identical IN
general structure and particular items,
excepting as to the sugar schedule, that
it may be we'll to consider the effect of
the first bill on the revenue of the coun-
try. Both bills are vast and yoluminous
schemes of class taxation, the production
of public revenue being an incident and
entirely subordinate to the purpose Of
taxing all the American people for the
benefit of a small part Of the people.
The protectiorist has but one remedy,
which he applies whether the revenue
be redundant or deficient. If times are
prosperous and more money than is
needed pours into the treasury, be in
creases taxes By scheme that turns
the larger part of their avails into pri-
vate pockets, and this reduces public
revenue If times are depressed and less
money than is needed Dours into the
treasury, he seizss the pretezt Of IN
creasing public revenues by adding
enormously to the amount of private e1-
action.
The act Of 1850, whatever it's other
effects, did reduce revenue From a
large surplus it swept US headlong to q
deficiency, although it weighted the
people with heavier taxes and although
another law, passed in July, 1890,
turned into the treasury as part of the
general assets to be used for paying ex-
penditures Il trust fund Of more than
$54, 900, 900 which belonged to the ma
tional banks ard had always been held
for the redemption of their notes.
Even before the Harrison administra-
ton ended we should have been con-
fronted with large deficiency but for
the use of this trust fund and the fur
ther fact that Secretary Foster, by a
change of bookkeeping, added to the
treasury balance $50, ,ooo,o 600 Of token
and subsidiary coin not before treated
as treasury asset. With these extraor-
dinary additions, even, we wound up the
fiscal year June 80, 1898, with a sur
plus of only $2,341,674 as against
surplus fer the fiscal year June 80,
1890, of over $50, 100000 before the
above trust fund and subsidiary coin
were touched And during the fiscal
year ended June 80, 1894, through all
of which the Mckinley bill was il force.
expenditures exceeded the revenues TO
the amount of s69, $685. $50, notwith-
standing the fact that the expenditures
of the government were Sl5, 952, 674
less than ir the preceding year.
This statement shows how absurd and
groundless is the claim constantly made
by the protectionists that recent deficits
in revenue are due to the substitution
of the existing tariff for the Mckinley
bill. Nothing is more certain than that
if the bill had been in force during the
last three years the annual deficit would
have been immensely swollen, while the
people in q season Of depression and
hard times would have staggered under
much heavier burdens of taxation. Even
in this disastrous period, customs duties
under the existing law have increased
from less than 1882, 900, 900 in 1894,
the last year of the Mckinley bill, to
even sI52, coo, 900 in 1895 and to over
$3.50, 00o, 900 in 1896.
In the sugar schedule alone the bal
ance in favor of the. existing law is
about $50, 900, 000 The customs reve-
nue. reached nearly $40, 600, coo, scarce
ly any of which would have been re-
ceivable under the Mckinley bill.
That the Dingley bill, present condl-
tions considered, is the most ultra pro-
tective tariff ever proposed to be enact
ed in this country plainly appears from
Chairman Dingley's statement that II
levied On the importations of the last
fiscal year it would have increased the
revenue SIP, 900, 000-that is to say, It
would have gathered from an imrorta-
tion Of s775, 724, 264 of imported mer-
chandise the enormous sum of S272,-
600, 900, which is nearly $4,000, 900
more than any customs revenue ever
collected in enc year in this country in
the past. And to say that its rates will
probably check dutiable imports to the
extent of reducing the estimate to SI0,-
100000 is only another way of saying
that to that extent such rates are pro-
hibitory.
American consumers are shut in the