The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1897-01-28
GORGED, BUT GREEDY
ALLEGED NEED FOR HIGH TAR.
IFF Is ALL HUMBUG.
Under Normal Conditions the Present
Law Is ufficient-Instructive Fig
ures from Statement of Foreign
Trade-RepublicansD Degenerated.
The Main Object.

The Main Object.
The organs of Republicanism are con.
tinually asserting that the main object
of the bill which Mr.. Dingley's COM
mittee is Matching is to supply more
revenue.
If they are sincere why Is it that they
either ignore or dismiss with sneering
line a bill recently introduced in the
House by Representative Goodwin OF
Alabama? The bill is a short one. II
provides simply for doubling the pres
ent tax on beer and other fermented
liquors.
There is nothing elaborate about it.
There is no reason why there should be.
1t Is so plain that anybody can under,
stand 1t and it requires no new ma
chinery and no additional officer or en-
ploye for the collection of the increased
tax. Even at the increased rate the tax
would be far lighter than that on dis
titled spirits
This bill would produce an additional
revenue of at least 100000 year.
1t would bring all this revenue into the
public treasury and not put dollar
into the private revenue of any million
aire philanthropist who pretends to live
only to promote the happiness Of his
hired men. And this revenue would
begin to come into the treasury imme-
diately, which is precisely what the or
gans profess to want. They claim to
be distressed about 4 deficit not pros
pective, but present. Here is chance
to furnish relief inside Of two days If
only the Republicans in Congress
ficient and more than sufficient. The
pretense that we need sec, ,00O, 900 year
more revenue is all humbug. Under
normal conditions the present law
would produce all the revenue needed
and more than all for any purpose save
that of getting ready for a fo-fum blood
banquet. The proposed increase in the
beer tax would easily tide over until
the return of normal conditions II the
war dogs would stop their baying long
enough to permit normal conditions to
be restored.
Then why is it taken for granted
with evident satisfaction in all Repub-
lican quarters that the Goodwin bill
has been pigeon-holed by the Republi-
cans of Mr.. Dingley's committee and
will never reappear? Obviously be-
cause the pretense that their main OBJ
ject is to raise more public revenue is
false. Their main object is something
else. They are well pleased because
the present administratio has accumu-
lated sufficient surplus to keep things
going until they can accomplish their
main object.
To raise sufficient revenue is one of
the easiest things in the world. Con-
gress could do it in forty-eight hours
and not shed drop of sweat. But it
takes much longer to frame bill 10 the
satisfaction of all the numerous inter-
ests that are hanEering after more
private revenue out of the public pocket.
That is why nothing has been done
when everything necessary to provide
government revenue could have been
done easily before the holiday recess.
That Is why all the hearings" have
been granted. If the object had been
to raise revenue there would have been
no need of single hearing. Did the
drug men, the pottery men, the iron
men, the cotton goods men, the wool
men and all the others go to Washing
ton to be heard about raising revenue
for public use? Not 4 bit Of 1t. Every
hungry jackal of the lot would laugh at
such suggestion.
The main object of the tariff revision
which is going on is to meet the de-
mands of the selfish and the greedy who
fattened the campaign fund upon the
understanding that they should have a
chance to recoup themselves from the
pockets of the people just as soon after
election as Congress, convened for
that purpose in extra session, could be
induced to act. The problem which re-
quires so much time for the solution is
to satisfy the interests without waking
up the victims.