The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-04-26

| parent In the few weeks since the Prssi
dent and Che Congress which they elected
last November, were given opportunity Il
begin the work assigned to them I"
| The Senator's remark was the result o
a statement published In the newspape
before him Indicating that thecs was dis
position In certain quarters to complain
that the promised business revival bad no
already made Its appearance,
| 81 cannot think it true he continued
'that the paople as a class have any such
thought, 1t Is to bs expected of oours'
that tnose who are opposed to the Repub
lican party politically, especially thos'
who are willing to make any sort o
trouble for political effect would put afoa
| and encourage suggestions OF this sort
| But cannot believe that the thinking
| people, who know that 1t Is impossible tc
| enact a tariff law in a single month or ev
the complaint which the newspapers and
| politicians are charging thsm with
you do not think IL reasonable then, to
expect prosperity and business activity
until some legislation Is ha1f"
MOT to any considerable degree. Ol
| course the result Of the election Lost fall
showed to the country that tho stability
of our currency system is not to be de
| stroyed. But the same vote which gave
CARDS further destruction of our business
interests showed them that q restoration
of the prosperity which existed under a
protective tariff could not be accomplished
without legislation"
By tho term, legislation, yo1 refer OF
course to the tariff bill2"
"Yes. That is at least the first step In
legislation promised and the first step
necessary to restore business activity"
"The mere promise that such leglsla'
tion is to be had you do not consider
sufficient to start the factories, them"
No. On the contrary, in many cases,
the knowledge that such legislation is TO
be had reduces the amount of work they
are able to perform, until the proposed
law is actually upon the statute books.
In not few cases the effect will be felt
still longer, for wherever an importer sees
that rates Of duty are liable to be increas
ed on given class of articles, he is rush.
ing those articles into ths country in
enormous quantities The result is that
the manufactures are not only unable
to determine what they can do In prices
until they know what the new tariff law
is to actually be when 1t Is placed upon
the statute books, but they also know that
the country is being flooded with an un-
usual quantity Of goods at tho lower
rates"
~ he result thea upon the manufacturer
must be to reduce his business, rather
than to increase 1t for the present.
Certainly, this has always beon the
effect to q greater or less extent Of tariff
legislation Everybody familiar with
this hi.tety of our former tariff bills will
romemEar that the mere fact that changes
were about W be made in the tariff law
was Of Itself sufficient to compel tempo
rary suspension Of manufacturing, or at
least to SO disarrange prices and the possi-
bility OF making contracts that business
was to great extent suspended among
that class OF our Citizcns This is especial
ly true when a tariff If to be changed from
q lower to higher rate, fo. not only is
there uncertainty on the part Of the
man ufacturer as to what his prices must
be in the future. but there Is a certainty
in his mind that tho country is being filled
with cheap foreign goods at the old tariff
rates, which will be peddled out in compe.
tition with him for many months"
cit is fact, then, is It, that very large
quantities OF foreign goods are now being
brought in and are likely TO continue to
compete with our own manufacturers
for many months yet?'
"Cersainly.a Anyone who will take the
trouble to examine the customs or cleo
tions now being made at New York and
other ports will sec that at glance. From
the day Congress met and began Consid-
GRAFTON Of the tariff bill tho receipts from
custom increased enormously doubled and
sometimes trebled. This means that tho
quantity of dutiable goods being brought
in now and for many weeks past is more
than double the ordinary importations
for tho same length of time.
''In addition to this enormous quantities
of goods now on the FREQ list, but likely
to be transferred to the dutiable list are
being Brought in but not Indicated in the
increase in customs receipts so, whom you
take these facts into consideration, any
b one Of u3 eau, with moments thought,
see that the manufacturers cannot make
contracts or go on with their man nufactur-
ing enterprises until they know what the
new law is to be and that even when they
do know this, they will be hampered for
many months by the enormous Quantities
of foreign goods which the importers of
this country and the manufacturers and
dealers abroad have forced into the United
States, filling the bonded warehouses and
causing the opening of new ones in every
direction"
"It would seem then. Senator, that the
condition OF the manufacturers is Just
now worse than it would have been had
there been no promise of legislation on
the tariff question:
Temporarily, yes They are in tho
condition of the man who is compelled 10
undergo n surgical operation. While he
is assured that it will restore him TO per-
feet health, he suffers under the opera
ton both physically and from the tempcr-
ary effect upon his system. The manu-
faCturers have been afflicted seriously,
almost unto death by tho Wilson law,
but the operation which Congress is per.
forming will restore them to health, in
time The operation, however is now in
progress, and not only are they suffering
from it at the present moment but they
must expect to continue to suffer not
only until the work of tho surgeon is
completed but until normal conditions
are restored.
BY this mean that not only are manu-
facturers now unable to mako contracts
because they do not know what tho now
tariff rates will be- but they find compare
lively little demand for their products
because tho country Is being filed rs it
never was before filled with foreign made
goods, and at the lowest possible price
that they can DO offered. Tho result Is
that it will be months before they can re.
sumo the activity which existed under the
Mckinley law Not only must they be
able to fix definite rates after they know
what the new law is to be, but they must
wait for some proportion Of the enormous
flood of the foreign made goods now com.
ing in, to disappear. While 1t was expect.
ed that the retrospective clause Of the bill
would, in time, check these importations it
has not yet done so, for the reason that
importers order their goods months ahead
and the act is only to applyto goods order.
ed after April lst.
"rhese are things" continued Senator
Cullom, as he resumed his paper, (which
the intelligent people of the country ought
to understand-and the people are intoll-
gcnt; and If they will stop to think q
moment Of these facts l am sure they
will understand it.
"a little patience and the promised
will come. l feel confident,
absolutely confident, that season Of pros.
pcrity Is in store for tie people Of this
country. But they must not expect 1t
until the now tariff bill has become law
and business has adjusted itself TO IT,"
1t.