The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1897-06-09
Taxation in The Congress.
Wilmington MESSENGER.

The people need information as
to taxation under a tariff. It is
the duty of the press to furnish it.
1t is a crucialtime. The Congress
is now engaged in fashioning, fab.
ricating a tariff tax of enormous
proportions. The House bill
(Dingley) was a monster Of most
hideous mien-worse than Pope's
well known description Of ''Vice. .
1t has been changed very greatly
by the tinkering Senate, commit
tee. If the new bill should pass
the Senate can it get through the
House? It is stated as a fact IN
the New York Tribune that tbs
Senate committee has changed
more than soyenty-fve of its own
amendments because it found that
they would not do, and in MANY
cases restored the original Ding
ley bill. All this shows ignor-
ance, want of skill, want of well
defined principle as to taxation.
The speech of Senator Aldrich,
of Rhode Island, was the KEY to
his committees work. It is re-
garded as something plausible and
ingenious, but it was both a stud
led backdown- a total abandon
ment OF the old theory of protect
ION, and confession, that the
House republicans had perpetra-
ted a very serious blunder. He
plainly admitted that the old the
DRY of a high protection tariff
would no longer hold in this coun-
try-that the changed conditions
were great, and SO important that
no longer aas it possible to raise
sufiicIeLt revenue underss high
protectio1 eheddiie. This con
cessIon - utement was followed
by 'hanae of policy made nee
essary by a change of theory.
The sugar tax and increase of in
ternal revenue tax were -resorted
to in order to supplement- the de-
hclency OF revenue that would be
inevitable under q high tariff tso
for protection. This is indeed q
marvellous-and @
practical abandonment of the old
robber theory of protection. Its
lnsufficlency as q revenue raiser is
admitted by the taxation uuacks
III the Senate. The admission Of
Senator Aldrieh is fatal to the pro-
tectlve theory. He says that the
Mckinley outrage of 1880 cannot
be repeated in 1897, as it will not
raise the wind" The able tar
If expounder, the New York Eve
ming Post, in comment upon AL
irlch's speech and admission,
says:
"You see, improvements in
methods and economics of pro-
luction' have so changed the stu
alton that McKinleyism would
1oW be q monstrosity. But are
5hese improvements and econo-
mics going to he1p?- If seven
years were enough to make the
bill obsolete how many
Will 1t require to render the AL
lrlch bill WORKOUT and useless2
And what becomes of Senator AL
irlch's protest against frequent |
;arltf revision? Of course: it is |
llways the other fellows revision
hat plays the mischief; we revise
'nly when it is necessary, and do
t with superhuman wisdom.
even so, protests against revision
ound a little queer in the mouth
# the champion reviser. But the
worst of it is that, on Aldrich's
'wn showing, even a supernatur-
lily wise tariff can last only seven
ears at the outside, and then the
business world must be prepared
or another long period of uncer-
a1nty and arrested development
70 sooner do we get scientific.
and perfectly Just
arltt to the top of the hill than
t goes crashing down again. This
5 the stability of protection
Senator Vest, in reply, played
avoc with the bill. He moved
o strike out the features of the
Ill relied upon to help raise the
evenues by going outside of the
arltf schedule. He showed that
he revenues were sufficient now
the expenditures were cut down +
s they ought to be. i
1t IS shown by the leading anti
rejection newspapers in the North
hat the sugar tax is very high.
nd will produce a much greater
UNI than Aldrich modestly, if de-
claims for it. His esti-
late OF the total increase under
he Senate bill is only about s32.-
OO, 200, including all the increase
roposed under the internal rev.
nue.. But this doubtless is mis-
|