Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-06-15

the advantages granted in the way of
protection under the customs tariff.
There probably is NOT an industry
that requires q protection Of more than
10 pr cent. ad valorem and il is to OBJ
tain what il provided over such per
centaEe III thu tariff that leads IL the
formation Of what are commonly
spoken of as trusts
with protection to an industry not
exceeding 10 Per cent. all menace to
the community of trusts would cease.
This 10 per cent would represent the
difference in cost Of production and
likewise act as q protection against
surface products of foreign countries
being dumped in our local markets.
4 thereby interfering with the regular
ana economic working Of our indus
tries. IN advantages that might then
accrue To such combinations they
would be entitled to ana the public
would not y" damaged thereby, as any
expansion Of price would ~ met by
foreign competition and relief
II have said that sugar was an ex-
ccrtion. The rate of protection on su-
gar is an eighth Of a cent per pound,
which IS about ~ per cent. al ValOrcm,
and is not the difference in the cost Of
refining between this ana foreign coun-
tries. The Least it should have is S per
cent, or, in specific figures. 4 per
cent. per pound. The sugar refining in
dustry or this country. no matter what
form its organization. is entitled to
adequate protection, if any industry is.
There are at least 100000 people de-
pendent upon it. What it pays Or has
paid to its stockholders in the past rep
reserts nothing more than fair return
on the capital invested. considering the
extent of the busiess.
THE United States tariff bill. in as
sessing about $40 pr ton duty on i'm
ported sugar, pays into the pockets Of
2 few LOuisillians On their annual
crop Ol u, 0J0 tons. $4,000 coo: to the
Hawaiian islanders, probably repre-
scented BY 100 foreigners, on their an
nual crop Of 100000 tons, $4,000 001; say
100000 tons produced elsewhere in the
United States. $4,000 600
Here you have $24C00o0G extracted
from the people of the United States
for the sake Of getting the revenue
which $40 per ton on foreign sugar pro-
y
the whole tariff, every line Of it-and
its effect upon the people, in fact; the
tariff bill clutches the people by the
throat, and then the governors and the
attorney generals Of the several states
take action, not against the cause, but
against the machinery which the peo-
pie employ to rifle the public's pocket.
II maintain that it Is immatcrial to
the public in what form business is
done-whether by an individual, firn.
or even trust. There are
merely forms Of conducting business, or
III other words. machinery for the OPP
Grafton Of business. 1t is the duty of
the government to see that under the |
tariff laws they enact this machinery
cannot in its actions result to the detri- 1
ment or impoverishment Of the pub /
Iic
1t would have been very easy and /
proper for the government to have put /
q corresponding internal revenue tax /
on sugar simultaneously with the i'm
position Of the customs duty and have 4
.hesc $2i. 000, 600 which now 20 into the n
pockets of few individuals go into the (
treasury for the benefit Of the whole /
people. If no expenses of the govern
nent needed to be provided for and
protection to American industries was
lesired, the imposition of 10 per cent
Id valorem on all manufactured pro-
lucts would have settled the matte..
There is every reason why. of revenue
$ desired. that with duty on raw ma
(Continued ON page 80