The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1897-04-23
AN INFAMOUS CLAUSE.
P~rot~ction sanastctsm In Tarim Les
tslattOn.

tlottou. /
There is nothing in the records Oh
Amexiean legislation which as " piece
of stupid and ruthless tyranny equa,s
the retroactive clause of the tariff bili
lust missed in the lower branch OF con-
eress. The face of legal opinion as well
as OF popular Judgment has always been
sterrly set against ex post facto laws
as opposed not only to public interest
but 10 the essential spirit OF our insu-
tutions. Yet the tariff mongers have
not orborne TO include uch a clause IN
the bill, in itself the most extreme IN
its high protection abuses ever pro
nossd i'm congress-. 10 make It's burueh
still more onerous. Fanaticism could go
no further in party madness.
Whether this retroactive feature OF
the tariff would. in case OF its becoming
a law. stand the ordeal OF the courts Is
doubtful. No precisely similar case has
ever been brought before the supreme
bench. or, indeed any h OF our aw
tribunals. so far as we can learn. lhat
IFS shirt does not accord with that sup
nosed to be dominant in our poiticai
system is clear at half a glance ms
far more thar any technical or super
fetal agreement with the established
course of things, il such an apparent
concord existed, as is not the case
would control the final decision. But
in the meantime. during the tendency
of the question, retroactive jurisdiction
will do more TO unsettle and ag1tafet the
business of the country than would even
the final results of the tariff itself. IN
certainty is the prime factoro Of business
conyulsion, especially in those branches
Of business which deal with articles or
~perishable nature, or such as are suo-
iect 10 rapid Auctuation OF price. In
these days, too. of immense production
and of steamship and cable as CONNER
cial factors. prices f%uctuate far more
rapidly than in the more easy-going
days of old.
An illustration of the working OF the
retroactive clause may he In
the case of the fruit commission mer-
chants of New York city. Nearly all
fruit arriving at this port is consigned
and the American merchant has 70
make large advances to make sure OIL
his cargoes. Under the provision that
only goods purchased and shipped prior
To April 1 of this year will be free OF
The new excessive tariff. in case 1t be-
comes a law, foreign fruit when it be
rims To arrive will be met by exactions
positively ruinous in its competition
with the native fruit Thetrade OF u
dreds of merchants will be destroyed
While the case Of fruit importation, ow
ing to perishable quality and liability
TO quick price fluctuations. perhaps u
an extreme example, many other PROD
ucts will share in part a similar draw
back. All consigned goods-and thes'
constitute a very important portion o
the volume OF commercial business
will be specially liable. Importation
purchased absolutely belong TO tn
more stable priced articles as a rule
and the excessive hardship in any an
diyidual case would be less. But her
also be readily perceived the buI
den. which will tax business and cram
the operations of the merchant; Tor
ID held that the difference Tn
new duties and those of the Wilson tai
III would constitute a lien against a
goods. The republican party came int
mower with clamorous braggadocio q
"the advance agency of prosperity
!. more monstrous ~travesty on its clair
E can scarcely be fancied than this tarif
!, which arouses detesfatior in the mind
r of the more intelligent members OF II
OWL political family. and further il
: vokes an agency which would scarcel
r be tolerable even in n despotic govern
n me MT of the Europeofto-day. Thevictil
I Is made subject to all the terrors
c prompt execution even before his tri
has been decided. Mr.. Mckinley, viii
in the house. in one OF his speeches {
tariff agitation. deplored the evil whie
n change in schedules infallib
brought about. He laid stress on q
Importance, where these changes we
9 necessary. of fixing such n date 4
their effect as would allow gradual pr
+ vision for the new condition create
The mad army which tramps in /
footsteps have proceeded in this retr
active clause of their new bill to mega
'' most contemptuously the old dictum
their standard bearer.-N. Y. Journ
re