Omaha daily bee., 1898-11-18
! ton of Governor Roosevelt will every
where be watched with extraordinary
interest. M
NO REDUCTION OF WAR TAXES.

The statement by Mr.. Dingley, chair
man of the ways and means committee,
that there will be no revision ut the
coming session of congress OF the war
venue act, may be accepted as con-
elusive. A republican senator has been
reported as saying that in the event of
an early treaty of peace the present
congress should reduce or abolish some
Of the war taxes, but 1t will undoubtedly
be found that a large majority of the
republicans In both houses are in &C.
cord with the view of Mr.. Dingley that
the government will need for some time
all the revenue produced by the val
taxes. AS stated by the chairman Of
the ways and means committee, during
October the war expenditures exceeded
the war venue by some $%14,OOO,OO
and this month they will be $1O,00O.OOO
In excess Such being the case he
thought the wal taxes would be needed
at least a year longer. aJ
They may be necessary for n much
more extended period IL the policy of
acquiring the Philippines Is carried out.
Let 1t be assumed that a treaty of peace
will have been concluded with Spain in
the neal future surrendering those
islands to the United States, there is no
assurance that our government will be
permitted to take %peaceable possession
Of them. On the contrary 1t Is quite
possible and even probable that
our assertion Of control there
and our attempt to exercise au-
thority would encounter a determined
and vigorous opposition from the natives,
There are very definite indications hat
they are preparing for such a con-
tingency. In that case the American
forces now at Manila will be entirely
inadequate. at least to do more than
hold that city and its harbor. How
many American soldiers would be re-
Quired to suppress a Filipino revolt
against the authority of our government,
or how long a time would be occupied
In putting down such resistance, 1t is I'm
possible to say. Possibly it would be
necessary to send there al army of $4,000
and it might take a year or two to fully
establish our control. At all events,
having in view the acquisition of all the
Philippines, it is clear that the govern
ment cannot safely reduce war taxes.
But there would be no difficulty about
doing so were our government to
simply retain possession of a naval sta
ton, which would require only a small
garrison.
In regard TO the tariff there will of
course be no revision, because there is
no good reason for it. The law Is serv.
Ing its purpose very well so far as our
industries are concerned and Is yielding
more revenue than was derived from
the preceding tariff. Moreover, the re-
ceipts from customs have been steadily
growing. They were larger for the
ten months ending with October than
for the corresponding period of last year
and very much heavier than for the
first ten months of 1896 under the demo
cratic tariff. These who complain that
the present tariff does not yield sutii-
cient revenue and advocate revision in
the direction of lower rates should re.
fleet that this condition is due to the
larger share of the home market which
American industries are now having.
while at the same time the tariff Is no
obstacle to the enlargement Of our ex-
ports of manufactures. Lowering
duties would not necessarily increase
revenue, but could not fail to be more
or less injurious to domestic industries.