The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1902-03-08
DeArmand At baltimore.

land, on Tuesday night of this week
the principle speaker Of the evening
was The Hon. d. a. DeArmand, Of
Missouri, whose themes we're tariff re-
form and subsidies. The speaker, in
part, said;
..The democratic party favors tax
alton for the purpose of raising needed
revenue, but through such adjustment
of the tax burden that those best able
to bear il will have most of II to carry,
and those least able Will be burdened
the. most lightly. The old theory OF
protection and free trade need not now
be discussed. With expenditures so
vast as those OF our government, and
with the tariff a great means Of obtain
ing revenue, free trade is a dream,
rather than a reality at present within
reach.
"Tariff reform-not a meaningless
hackneyed phrase, but tariff reform in
substance and good faiths today an
issue OF great Importance, in which the
entire American commercial and BUSH
ness world is interested. Tariff duties
ought to be laid, primarily, for the
purpose of raising revenue really
needed by the government when hon
estly conducted. These duties should
be so laid as to be least burdensome to
the masses of the people. Many ar
ticles upon which today heavy duties
rest, should, in reality. be upon the
free list, because we export those ar-
ticles in large quantities and supply
humanity with them in open competi-
ton with the world.
awhile this is true of the world at
large, it is only partially true of the
American world. When it comes To-
dealing with our own people We deny
them the benefit of the competition
which ia many instances we extend to
all others, and frequently, by law, com
pei the American citizen to pay more
for the articles produced in his own
land than the foreigner has to pay tor
them after they have been transported
across thousands OF miles of ocean
THIS is both unwise and unjust. Tariff
reform applied to this evil would re-
move the duty entirely, SO that there
would no longer be, by law, a discrim-
nation against the American citizen
for the benefit of the American million
aire manufacturer.
"Then again, 1t is an undoubted
tact that behind protection barriers
many trusts ere formed and flourish to
the injury of the American public when
20 protective duty can be needed.
Even according to the extreme protec-
tionlst's W philosophy, no shelter
should, by protection laws, be offered
to the trusts which are built up upon
the basis of those laws and through
them rob the American masses. Tar
if reform, then, as applied to condi-
tons of today, would consist in putting
upon the free list all such articles as
we can produce and DO produce here,
of such excellent quality and at such
low cost that we can and dc sell them
abroad in large quantities il open COM
petition to all the rest of the world.
at would further CONSIST in reducing
and r%eadjustlng tariff duties, not reck
lessly and wautonly, but carefully and
intelligently, SO as TO raise the largest
amount of revenue within the limit of
our needs, at the least cost to the Amer
lean taxpayer. 1t would consist also
10 a broad and just discrimination in
the selection of the articles upon which
TO place a duty, and determining the
rate of duty upon each. Such tariff
reform is greatly needed, and those
who oppose it, either knowingly and
selishly or carelessly and ignorantly,
oppose what is fairest and best for the
country.
"Almost in%sepsrably connected with
tariff reform Is another important re-
form, which has direct relation to the
transportation Of the vast quantities of
commodities in which our American
citizens are interested. 1t was once.
many years ago, the boast Of our young
Republic that our merchant marine,
considering It's youthfulness and our
sparse population aud our comparative
poverty, was superior to any other in
the world. For many years orr mer.
chant marine, so far as foreign trade Is
concerned, has been a thing Of com.