New-York tribune., 1901-12-11
THE PASSING THRONG.

doing business. and perhaps queerer than our
own said H. g. Saybrook- OF
RECIPROCITY Lansing. Mich. at the Hotel
AND THE Plaza yesterday I'm England,
FUTURE about all that they look for at
the custom houses are liquors
and cigars; in France. cigars and liquors and IN
Switzerland. automobiles. Woe betide you IN
Switzerland if you try to slip within the connnes
of the tiny republic with auto concealed IN your
handbag the lining OF your coat ana % dhe al me
eye Of the tor dis m countries 3e of the
world those in the United States are the most
a. the Same e' time f6e duties are the highest
where levied. I'm protectionist myself ana a. NOR
plank of the Republican platform: but for one eb |
do not go as far as do @ the e in OF tese esram
summed up the future of proteetionism when when ne ne
Ultimately ead 1a to free trade been
other great statesmen who like sherman; g
suaicient height that those within that wall were
and that therefore the time lower the wall had
arrived. Not the least of these was WlilaiI Nc
closely followed he sounded a note of warning TO
high protectonists and made his dying pea S, lor
ton Of iCwer duties. and that step. I Thoroughly
for America in the future
There are full many protected Industries IN TINS
country to-day that stand on their own iess
and compete in the markets OF the
TOBACCO world with other countries. Where
FROM THE and when this occurs 1t is not meet
PHILIP that such industry should long
PINES er receive the benefits of protec-
ton II you manufacture an
article in America with high priced American Ia
bor at so small expense that you can in the open
market of South Africa OF China, or anywhere
else undersell similar article manufactured oS
the cheap labor of Germany Great Britain, the
time has assuredly come when high protection is
not needed for that particular product Win the
coming of that time the duty should be abated' ana
In some cases entirely removed There are other
cases where the protective duty is only such IN
theory, for in practice it becomes prohibition ana
that, take it, is long step from what tne <Aie
For example take an experience of my own with
Philippine cigars and cigarettes In septgniUTr. nue.
chased a thousand cigars and number OF pa pacs33 a53
ages Of cigarettes The cigars co.'s. me rom two to
five cents American bundle acc9rotns NV 20 ' nf
Japanl and on the voyage either smoked or gave
away six hundred OF my cigars ana hit;aS anog 20
Of San francisco those cigars Ike beasts + Sf
and @ thew wdT d no have the
of making me dsgorge- When l gI, got 10 Cmstom
Heuse did didn't disgorge but they secured the
tobacco. which amounted to the same thlng-
"It Is rather curious tale, the substance Oh
which is this: The machinery of the great treas
ury Department was set in motion
THE FATE against my poor little fout hundred
OF THE, Philippine cigars and twenty or so
CIGARS packsges of cigarettes A speciai
agent came to see me at my Wash-
ington hotel and at his request called on tne AS
sistant Secretary of the Treasury was olsposeu
to treat the affair joke. while ne TOOK II SER
ousIv and the upshot was that my cigars; cIsdI
cites and myself went to the Georgetown
House The assessment on those cigars Was ,e a re-
and 6ainp both specifc and ad valorem IL came 70
between 500 and 700 per cent on the original cost,
On the eigarettes il far higher amounting on
one Yar;efv 10 no less than 30 per cent OF course
I did not pay it, and the authorities kept the 10,
bacco Now, I hold that such tariff as that is IS
a nrohibition and tax, and that II serves no
good end so far the people at large are coi al
carned for il neither adds TO the revenue nor uI
minishes the of the tobacco consumed al no nome ne
w. tbase reasons il should be either abated or re-
roved / also think that in a great depar tnlen.
of the importance of the Treasury the Asslstatl.
Sacretarv could find uses for his time OF greater
VaIue to the public than chasing three hundred ana
SftV Manila cigars from San Francisco TO WasnlnS-
tn and after he had caught them. tying them up
with ofcfai red tape with solemnty equal to that
| he would have exercised case OF Wnolesals
| smuggling