The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1897-05-19
DiNGlEY'S STATEMENT.
Chairman of Ways and Means Conn
mtttce an senate Amendments.

| ntttee on senute amendments.
The first statement which Chairman
Dingley, of the ways and means COM
mittee, whose name is borne 10y the new
tariff bill, has consented to make re-
gardng the bill since il was amended
| by the senate finance committee, was
made by him on Tuesday, May IL. MIR.
Dingley was requested TO give some
statement as TO the probable additional
revenue that would he yielded the first
year by the senate tariff bill, as well as
by the house bill, and he spoke as fol-
! lows:
''It must be borne in mind that there is
| no senate bill as yet. What is improper
! ly spoken OF as the senate hill is the house
| bill reported TO the senate by the finance
committee, with certain amendments rec
commended. What the senate bill will
| be when that body shall have made IL no one
can as yet say. While the amendments OF
| the house pill, recommended by the SEN
ate finance committee (about TOD, appear 20
| be multitudinous, yet about 200 of them are
| mainly verbal, such as amending the SPELL
| ing OF ''asbestus" by substituting for u,
| leaving about 500 which change rates. This
/ is about the number of amendments to the
Mckinley bill adopted by the senate in 1880,
| and to these remaining 500 large pro-
portion involves nothing of consequence
! There are. however. many amendments
| which are important not only on revenue.
| but other grounds. / do not propose now
| TO speak of these proposed amendments
! except as they affect revenue.
THE effect Of these amendments as n
| whole, outside of the amendment imposing
ri duty on tea for two years and a half.
and the amendment increasing the inter
| nal revenue tax on beer Al cents per BAR
rel 10: the same period, and the increase
| proposed on tobacco and cigarettes, is 20
! produce less revenue than would be yielded
! by the house bin. For example, the amend
ments returning 10 the free list argols,
! certain acids and oils, painting and stat
nary for private use. and reducing the
! duties on liquors, tobacco, precious stones,
| etc, lose more revenue than could be OBJ
! tanned by the duty on tea. Amendments
reducing the duty on clothing wool and
| increasing the duty on carpet wool would
also diminish the revenue. The amend
ment increasing the duty on opium from
| six dollars to eight dollars per pound
| would not increase the revenue, in the
! judgment of the administrators OF the
| law, who informed the ways and means
| committee that six dollars was the point
which would yield the largest revenue.
! The proposed duty on hides and a few other
amendments would increase the duty
| somewhat
"Of course the estimate Of an increased
| revenue from sugar, through an abroSation
| of the treaty with Hawaii, has nothing TO
! do with tariff legislation, for this could be
! done by action Of the house sugar sched-
| ule as the sugar schedule proposed. The
| ways and means committee did not even
| consider the question Of abrogating this
! treaty, because they took II for granted
| that If it was considered desirable to ah-
! rogate this or any other treaty IL would be
done in the straightforward manner pro-
Vided by the treaty itself. The fact that
the senate finance committee recommends
an ad valorcm duty on sugar apparently
little higher than the specific duty Of the
house bill does not insure larger revenue,
as past experience with ad valorem du-
ties has shown. In our Judgment the rev.
enue from sugar under the house sugar
schedule (setting aside the question Of abb
rogating the Hawaiian treaty. would he
larger than under the senate amendments.
THE proposed temporary duty on tea
would increase the revenue. although not
so much the first year as estimated, be-
cause of the large stocks on hand and the
short stocks that would be maintained
with the knowledge that tea would soon
go back TO the free list; and the proposed
increase OF internal revenue taxes would
also increase the revenue to the extent es-
timated. But the other proposed amend
ments would as a whole diminish rather
than increase the revenue.
Some criticism has been made on the
estimates of the ways and means commit
tee as to the revenue that would he pro-
duced by the tariff bill as IL passed the
house. These criticisms overlook the fact
that the ways and means committee es-
Inmates of the revenue that might be ex-
pected the first year were based on the
assumption that the bill should become n
law on or before May ]. The commit
tee in their report expressly said that while
there would be no question that the house
Dill would in any event yield sufficient rev.
enue TO carry on the government and
leave a surplus the second year of it's OBJ
eTatlOn-WhiCh nnhO1V frn-
dicts-and probably sufficient for the first
year, II II could be promptly put into force,
yet If there should be a delay in it's enact
ment beyond May /, anticipatory importa-
tons would inevitably cause a serious in
road in the prospective revenues for the
first year. Here is what the committee
said on this point:
What the actual revenue would prove
to be in the year following the enactment
of the proposed measure into law is, OF
course, dependent upon contingencies
which cannot be forecasted with any APP
proach to certainty, and will therefore be-
subject TO varying estimates Undoubted-
ly the contingency which would ex-
ert the largest influence in dmin-
ishing the estimated revenues wouG
be delay in the passage OF the
proposed bill. in consequence of which
there would be large importations of such
articles as wool, wooden goods, sugar, etc,
on which it is proposed to increase the duty
IF the ways and means committee had
supposed when they made this statement,
March Is. that the bill would be delayed as
long as now seems probable they would
have said that such delay would inevitably
result in largely multiplying the revenue
qualities Of the bill the first year, through
importationS of wool, sugar and other arti-
cles before the new duty should go into
force, unless such retroactive provision
as was placed in the bill by the house could
be maintained. The anticipatory importa-
If "A "a nd
on their way exceed the fears Of the ways
and means committee when they urged
prompt action by the house to prevent
loss OF revenue for the first year"
GWhat the entire country is inter
csted in just now is the republican par
IL Cnn It's lendnrs snlNe 1 he nrcnt nrnh.