The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-03
MAKE THINGS DEARER.

The Republican party and the Gent
US of the Age are playing at cross
purposes. If the former is not Victori-
Gus in this conflict, it is not from lack
of disposition or effort, bat because it
cannot make water run up hill. The
ameliorate the conditions under which
humanity struggles for livelihood by
reducing the cost of the things human
fty must have for sustenance aid
comfort. 1t calls It's chief assistant In
vention, to contrive devices, infinite in
number and variety, to effect this laud-
able purpose. It stimulates science to
Investigate and sets the chemists to
work to analyZe, in order that no con-
stituent of any article shall go to
waste. 1t extracts food products from
the once wasted cotton seed, and from
the refuse Of petroleum takes num-
berless Z valuable elements. It even
gathers the rags Of WOODEN fabrics and
picks the fibers apart and weaves .nam
S~5esiAA elilN de5dill lIlO GULL, u
the discomfort of the grower of the
original wool and the delectation Of
politicians. 1t sends men out into the
mountains and the deserts to find the
stores of useful materials deposited
there in anticipation of its coming. And
all in order that the things the chill
dren of men need for support Jr COM
fort may be had with ever less ex-
penditure Of their Efforts.
And against this beneficent spirit the
Republican party sets it's face and
braces its muscles. It's wise men declare
Providence is mistaken and what man
kind needs is dearer, not cheaper things,
So it adds taxes to the cost OF things
imported, that similar things made
here may be augmented in price by
their makers. Investigators find great
deposits of "copper" and the rejoicing Of
the mass is cut short by heavy tax
on imports of copper. Deposits of BIZ
luminous coal are found, promising
cheaper fuel, and this beneficence Of
the Creator is defeated by a smart tax
on imported coal to make dearer the
native coal Out on the deserts men
in dried lake beds, needing only to be
shoveled up and cheaply refined of it's
impurities, and instanter a tax of 6
cents a pound is laid on the foreign
hnr9X fO mako he
costly.
Now we are having g. fresh illustra-
ton of this policy, another phase Of
this warfare against Providence AS
it paves it's streets, first with wood
and rock, and later, when it is found
that asphalt is better than either US
ing that strange product of volcanic
action. None has been found in this
country until recently, and the supply
comes mainly from the island of Trini-
dad, off the coast of Venezuela, where
the Orinoco river empties Its waters
into the Caribbean sea. Dug out and
loaded into vessels and carried to our
seaports and thence railroaded to the
interior cities, it gives the smooth sur
faces to streets, lessening noise and
diminishing draft. But distance adds
large cost Of carriage and makes such
paving expensive. No congress had
laid tax on imports Of asphalt, crude
or refined, until now.
Years ago it was found that there
were great fields of asphalt on an In
dian reservation in Utah. Lately this
reservation was coded to the United
States. Syndicates are formed ready
to exploit the asphalt beds. It can be
produced much cheaper than the Trini-
dad and other foreign asphalts can be
laid down at our ports. Congress is
quarrelfng over the question whether
these beds shall be given to the syndi-
Gates free Of charge or whether the
treasury shall derive some revenue
from them. Anticipating that private
interests will prevail, the Dingley BILL
true to the policy of robbing the peo-
pie of all the benefit Of such discov-
cries, lays a tax of $3.50 on imports Of
crude and of So on refined asphalt Not
for revenue. but to circumvent Provi-
fence, even III the matter of street paw.