The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-05-12
DEFENDS MS BILL
Mr.. Dingley's Views oa the
SEP ate Amendments.
ADMITS MORE REVENUE
AND ANALYZES THE MAIN
POINTS OF DIFFERENCE.
SOURCES oe SENATE INCREASE
Proposed increase of Internal Revenue
Would Increase Revenue to Extent
indicated as, Also, Would Abro-
gallon of Hawaiian reatv
gallon Of Hawaiian reaty.

Washington. ID. c., May 1.-THE first
statement which Chairman Dingley, of
| the Ways and Means committee, whose
name is borne by the new tariff bill has
| consented to make regarding the bill since
/ it was amended by the Senate Finance
| committee, was made by him to-day to
| the Associated Press. Mr.. Dingley was
requested to give some statement as to
| the probable additional revenue that
| would be yielded the first year by the
| Senate tariff bill, as we'll as by the House
bill. and he spoke as follows:
| 1T must be borne in mind that there
| is no Senate bill as yet. What is inn
properly spoken of as the Senate bill is
| the House bill reported to the Senate by
| the Finance committee with certain
amendments recommended. What the
| Senate bill will be when that body shall
| have made it, no one can as yet say.
| while the amendments of the House
BILL recommended by the Senate Finance
committee (about 700 appear to be multi
tudinous. yet about 200 of them are main
ly verbal. There are. however, many
amendments which are important, not
only on account of revenue. but on other
grounds. / will not at this time speak
of these proposed amendments except as
they affect revenue.
| The effect of these amendments as q
whole-outside Of the amendment inn
posing duty on tea for two years and
a half and the amendment increasing the
| internal revenue tax Al cents per barrel
for the same period, and the increase pro.
| posed on tobacco and cigarettes. is to
i nrn6ucp lpSC tho xxyn,rl1 ba xy;a
ed by the House bill. For example, the
amendments returning to the free list
argols. certain acids and oils, paintings
and statuary for private use. and reduc-
ing the duties on liquors, tobacco, pre-
| ciOus stones. etc., lose more revenue than
could be obtained by the duty on tea
| The amendment increasing the duty on
| opium from Sc to So per pound would
not increase the revenue, in the judgment
| Of the administrators of the law. who
| informed the Ways and Means commit
tee that SO was the point which would
yield the largest revenue. The proposed
| duty on hides and a few other amend
ments would increase the revenue some
| what.
'Of course the estimate of an increas-
| ed revenue from sugar through an abro-
i
| nothing to do with the tariff legislation.
| for this could be done as well by accept
| ing the House sugar schedule as the
sugar schedule proposed. The Ways and
Means committee did not even consider
| the question OF abrogating this treaty. be-
cause they took it for granted that if
| 1t was considered desirable to abrogate
| this or any other treaty it would be done
| IN the straightforward manner provided
by the treaty itself. The fact that the
| Senate Finance committee recommends
an ad yalorem duty on sugar apparently
little higher than the specific duty of
| the House ball, does not insure a larger
revenue, as past experience with ad va
lorem duties has shown. In our iudg-
ment, the revenue from sugar under the
| House sugar schedule (setting aside the
| question of abrogatng the Hawaiian
treaty. would be larger than under the
Senate amendments.
1.-The proposed temporary duty on tea
| would increase the revenue. although
not so much the first year as estimated.
because of the large stocks on hand and
| the short stocks that would be maintain
ed with the knowledge that tea would
| soon go back to the free list; and the pro-
posed increase Of internal revenue taxes
would also increase the revenue to the
extent estimated. But the other pro-
posed amendments would, as a whole.
diminish rather than increase the reye-
nue..
Some criticism has been made on the
estimates Of the Ways and Means COM
mttee as to the revenue that would be
produced by the bill as it passed the
House. These criticisms overlooked the
fact that the Ways and Means COM
mittee's estimate Of the revenue that
might be expected the first year were
based on the assumption that the bill
would become a law on or before Nav