The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-03-15
The Tariff Atrocity.

The Tarf6 Atrocfty.
Today Congress meets to complete the
betrayal of the people which William
Mckinley UNANIMOUSLY announced with the
first breath which he drew as President.
Today is to be the day when the first
step is taken towards placing new bur-
dens of taxation upon all the people, rich
and poor, but especially the poor, in or
der that a limited class nay roll up great
profits and acquire great fortunes.
So great is the haste to consummate
the infamy that work has been kept up
day and night upon the new Dingley
Tariff bill, and it is to be thrust upon
the House of Representatives at the very
opening of the session today. Then it is
to be dragooned through the committee
stage with indecent haste and on Thurs
day it is to be reported and put upon its
way towards final enactment
To say that this act is an outrage upon
one-haIf of the voters who supported
President Mckinley and nine-tenths Of
those who voted against him is rather
to understate thar overstate the fact.
Every Gold Democrat was opposed to
interference with the Wilson tariff, and
not a few Republicans. 1T Is Unnecessary
to say hat every one who voted for Mr..
Bryan, with the exception of a handful
of TaIIari4eS v,oS onnoSed tn a b;ob toriff
This is why we denounce the Dingley en-
terprise as an act of treachery to the
voters almost unparalleled in history. If
the last election had been conducted on
the tariff issue only, or mainly, it is not
open to doubt that Major Mckinley would
have been defeated by at least a million
votes.
The new bill is so framed as to make
the cost of living very much dearer than
at present to all grades of society. One
of the principal burdens will be the
added tax on woollens. During the last
four years, clothing has been cheaper
than was ever known before. The Ding
ley bill will make it as dear as it was
during the era of McKinleyism. This win
be alike the case in respect to mems and
women's goods. Blankets, carpets. cur
tains. everything made of wool will go Ut
In price. A secondary effect of this will
be the loss to us of foreign markets
which we were beginning to reach. For
$500
instance, a morning paper, today, has
the news that in consequence of the cam
collation. of American orders for woollens
in France. the French weavers are reach
ing IA for the market in Japan. This
we had an excellent chance of control
ling, because free raw material gave us
az advantage in foreign markets; but as
Ding-Kinleyism is, to take away free wool
from us, the French manufacturers have
little doubt of their ability TO kick us out
of the markets of the Orient.
Among other articles that are to be
dearer to ourselves under the new dis
p%ensation are glass; pottery. umbrellas,
s~pectacles, iaces, knives, groceries, lum-
Der, iron and steel, clays and earthen-
ware. God only knows what besides. AS
the tariff is to be largely specific and
largely imposed by weight, instead of with
reference to the value Of the goods as
under the Wilson system, the new taxes
will weigh most heavily upon the poor,
who use the coarser, heavier and cheaper
classes of goods.
The probability is that If this bill goes
through as the .protectionist conspiracy
has planned it. we will have a Demo
cratic House of Representatives in 1899,
and perhaps a Free Silver one.