Washington sentinel., 1900-02-24
HON. VIM. SULZER CHAM
PIONS PEOPLES CAUSE.

Mr., Dolliver, of Iowa, called up
the bill in the House last Monday
to do away with the sixth and
eighth barrel packages of beer.
This bill, which was passed on that
day, he said, was asked for by the
brewing interest OF the country,
and would in no wise affect the
revenue. Mr.. Fletcher (Minn.)
offered an amendment providing
that the bill shall not go into effect
until July Ist, 1900, because the
coopers, he claimed, had a consid-
erable amount Of stock on hand,
and it would be no more than right
to give them a chance to work off
their surplus stock, This amend.
ment was accepted. AT this stage
OF the debate Mr.. Richardson
(Tenn.) yielded hve minutes to
Mr.. Sulzer, of New York, who
spoke as follows:
Mr., Speaker, there is not so far as
know, and there should not in my judg-
ment be objection to the passage of this
bill. am in favor of it and shall vote
Tor it. 1t will be of some convenience
to the brewers ofthe country and hope,
no one will raise a single objection to
the bill passing by unanimous consent.
The point desire 10 make is that this
bill is not what the brewers want, be.
cause it does not reduce, and according
to the statement of the Commissioner OF
Internal Revenue, it will not reduce the
exorbitant tax on beer one cens. Beer
is the poor mans drink, and it should
not be taxed out of proportion to other
commodities. The brewers of the
country pay more tax on what they
manufacture man any other industry
in the land, When the war revenue
bill passed this House. the tax on beer
was doubled. 1t was raised from one
dollar barrel to two dollars barrel,
and under the war revenue law the
brewers OF the country today are pay
into the National Treasury over S76,.
ooo. 600 OF taxes every year, and every
penny OF this comes out OF the pockets
Of the consumers-out of the pockets OF
the people who drink beer. The brew
ers make the consumers pay the tax,
and the burden falls most heavily on the
toilers.
The war with Spain is over and has
been concluded for some time, and yet
the Republican party continues to levy
on the people OF this country the enor-
NOUS exorbitsnt and outrageous war
taxes. When the Republican party
passed the war revenue bill at the begin
ming of the Spanish-A merican war, it
promised, through its representatives
on the floor OF this House, that just as
soon as the war was over the law
incr1 asing the taxes Of the people to
carry on the war would be repealed.
You have not repealed a single provision
oil the war tax law, and so far as know,
and so far as the people O this country
now know, you do not intend to repeal
that enormous tax law in any particular.
How long, 1 ask you now, 10 the name
Of all that is fair and just. do you intend
to continue the burdens of this exorbi-
tant, unnecessary and outrageous war
tax on the consumers, the taxpayers and
the people OF this countTy1 That is the
question for you to answer, and that is
the question the people intend to make
you answer in the next campaign DO
you intend to keep up the war taxes
forever, piling up the peoples money
in the Treasury in order that your
Standard Oil Secretary can loan the
money out to pet national banks, charg
ing the people enormous interest and
robbing them coming and robbing them
goinga II that is the object, woulC
like to know Il, and I think the people