The Springfield herald., 1904-10-07

with Four Years of Accompanying
business Disaster.
The Democratic policy has often been
announced tn be "A TARIFF FOR
REVENUE ONLY" And what this high
sounding policy always in practice has
produced is DIMINISHING REVENUE
AND INCREASING DEFICIT
The great business depression which
overlook the country during the last
Democratic administration was due not
merely to the anti-prOtection features of
Democratic tariff tinkering, but TO the
very serious falling of in government
revenues which it occasioned.
When there is a condition of uncer
tainty and instability" in business, which
Mr.. Parker himself has admitted follow
ed past attempts in the tariff tinkering
line the imports of certain classes OF
dutiable goods are always sure to fall of
even with the decreased tariff, for the
reason that the people consume less for
eign luNuries in hard times than in good.
With the foreigners flooding the Ameri
can markets with articles that can just
as well be produced by American labor,
our own people naturally have less imam
cial means with which to buy foreign
hccs. silks, teas, wines, perfumes, dia-
monds. works of art etc
AS a revcnue-producing measure the
Wilson tariff law was n stupend0us fail
ure. Its authors showed colossal bust
ness incompetence in their failure to
make it supply anywhere near the
amount OF revenues required to meet the
expenses of the government. The reve-
nue. from the Wilson bill fell short of the
estimates of its Democratic trainers by
no less a sum than SSI.OOO,O0O, and
this, including its sugar import tax, to
which many of the Democratic leaders,
including President Cleveland himself.
had been bitterly opposed. This bill not
only did direct damage to manufacturing
industry everywhere throughout the
country, but it had disastrous effects on
the nations credit, because in causing
the revenues to drop heavily below the
expenditures it forced the government to
draw for its routine expenses on the
treasury gold reserve, which WAS needed
to preserve the gold standard of value.
and this shrinkage in the gold reserve in
turn necesstated the enormous bond is
sues in which syndicates secured their
notorious .'rake-oifs.'
All through 1894 trade decentralization
increased, and the government revenues
for the first siN months OF the year turn
ed out to be about S4O,00o.OO0 less than
the Democratic Secretary of the Treas
ury. Mr.. Carlisle, had estimated they
would he in his report of December.
1898. Nevertheless the Democratic lead
ers failed to heed the warning, but went
ahead with their free trade tariff bill
without paying the slightest attention to
whether or not the bill could produce
enough revenue for running the govern
ment.
Davis Looks Out for His Own Revenue.
The House of Representatives not only
struck off the import taxes on coal. iron
ore and wool which were exclusively
protective duties and therefore logical
subjects for revision, from the Demo
cratic standpoint but il refused to coz
tinue the sugar duties, which were II
revenue tax of the most productive char
acter. The Senate, through the intlu-
euce of II. G. Davis, now the Demo
cratic vice presidential candidate, whose
vast fortune was represented chiefly in
coal lands. replaced the duty of 40 cents
per ton on coal, which was an utterly
insignificant source of national revenue
but it restored only such part of the
sugar duties as could play directly into
the hands of the sugar trust Consid-
cred merely as a law contrived to pro-
duce sufficient revenue, the Senate bill
was undoubtedly superior to the House
Dill. The Senate sugar tariff, it is true.
produced eventually hardly one-half as
much revenue rs had been yielded by the
sugar tariff of 1888, but there was never
theless collected from this source. in the
first full year under the amended Wilson
act, the sum of 500, 100000, none of
which revenue would have been obtained
by the government under the House bills
free,sugar provisions. But the public
refused for very obvious reasons to give
the trainers Of the Senate amendments
any credit for this achievement. On the
eve of the passage of the Wilson bill
in the upper house it was discovered that
several Democratic Senator's, whose
votes controlled action on the sugar du-
ties, were speculnting in Wall street in
sugar trust stock. The angry public
clamor over these disclosures was follow
ed by an open letter from President
Cleveland to his supporters in the House,
declaring the sena torial changes to be
Outrageous Determinations and viola
tons of principle"-an assertion which,
in view of the platform of the majority.
was certainly not unwarranted. From
the floor of the Senate, the Democratic
leaders retorted publicly with much
show of indignation. When. finally.
after a long and stubborn struggle, the
Senate tariff bill prevailed and passed
both houses, President Cleveland refused
to put his name to ii. and left the bill
60 become law without his signature.
From Rad to worse.
The result OF this haphazard reckoning
on the revenue was law which never
produced surplus. Even with its sugar
import tax the yield of the Senate bill.
In the succeeding year fell short Of the
estimate of its authors by no less n sum
than sS7,O0O.0OO. For this exceedingly
ill-timed miscalculation, the Democratic
Fifty-third Congress is properly held re-
sponsble for the necessity of subsequent
bond issues. 1t is true that both houses
had added to the bill tax of two per
cent on incomes over $4,000, and in a
vague. indefinite way had reckoned that
the product of this tax would make good
whatever deficiencies might arise from
other schedules. The income tax did moi
stand the test of examination by tn,
United States Supreme Court, and M
public revenue was ever derived from it
even after the income tax was knock
out by the Supreme Court, and ever