The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-05-29

<zuo f<>= <&e Senate 8lll
IL viii tal1e some little time to arrive
et an estimate of the probable revenue
from the senate tariff bill, II adopted
without change, and In Offering no such
estimate at this time. while publish
ing the data which enable men Of both
parties to figure It out according TO
their own Judgment. the committee
shows prudence. Obviously everything
turns upon two elements which are and
must remain uncertain. Every man will
guess for himself how much the inn
ports OF certain goods will be reduced
by a proposed advance in duties. and
the only thing certain Is that any esti-
mate based upon the enormous importa-
tions caused by the Wilson tariff would
be deceptive. Perhaps it would even
be more reasonable TO 60 back to the
record of the calendar year following
the enactment of the Mckinley tariff.
since the one proposed is in most fea~
lures an approximation 20 the range
of duties then adopted. though on inn
portant classes of goods much lower.
But again, every man must guess for
himself how large a part of the demand
for the first year will have been an
ticipated by the importations before
the measure becomes a law. With inn
ports exceeding S1s.000.000 in a week in
New York alone, it is evidently not
possible to form any estimate of value.
Much will depend on the time taken to
reach final action in the senate, which
no one can predict with much conf
d&nce.
1t was stated quite recently by men
of experience in the wooden goods bust
ness that at this time of year foreign
manufacturers and dealers would not
venture to anticipate the future course
of the market to n large extent, so that
imports of unusual magnitude were not
probable. But the arrival of wooden
goods of $2,032, 200 declared value in a
single week at New York alone seems
TO render that opinion not wholly trust
worthy. Knowing how such goods are
undervalued, one might Judge that the
importations of this single week at one
port were equivalent TO about a tenth
of the entire consumption OF foreign
woolens in the fiscal year 1892, and with
goods already here il would not take
many such weeks to anticipate years
consumption. or wool the quantity
now in the country Is evidently greater
than has ever been consumed of inn
ported wool in any full year. Now that
there are proposed duties ON hides and
tea, imports of those articles may also
increase, though, owing TO distance, not
so quickly as of goods drawn from Eu-
ropean markets.
1t is evident that the duty ON hides
will be strongly resisted on the ground
that it will do no real good to the cattle
producers of the west, but will material
ly embarruss the large and rapidly-in-
creasing export trade in leather. The
proposed allowance of a drawback on
leather manufactured from imported
hides, even IL il be considered practica-
BILE, would obviously involve embarrass-
ments and inconvenience of no small
Importance. The duty would yield a
certain revenue, or might be made, with
others of like character, the basis for
really effective reciprocity, and 1t is
conceivable that for this reason mainly
IL has received the support of some
thus far.-N. Y. Tribune.