The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1905-01-21
NEED OF SOME REVISION.
Republican Organ Admits the Neces-
sity of Tampering with the
Sacred Tariff.

lection organ, but at last a CLEAN OF light
seems to have penetrated lis hitherto
darkened mind. The Mail has discovered
that the sacred tariff can be revised, to
some extent at least. We would call the
attention. says the Indianapolis Sentl-
mel, of those republicans in Indiana tnat
believe now, as the Mail formerly did,
that the tariff schedules are sacred, TO
this ominous quotation from its col
umns: Secretary Shaw utters an i'm
portant, If obviouG, truth when he says
that the policy of public improvements
cannot be enlarged upon without provld-
Ing some measure for a corresponding
increase in revenues Thus the deslra-
bility of some revision of the tariff Is
suggested by the needs of the govern
ment as we'll as by the change in indus
trial conditions since it was enacted"
There we have, first Secretary Shaw,
who at last owns up, that public m
provements must stop unless the rev.
enues are increased. Then the Mail, with
it's ardent belief in the old flag and an
appropriation, jumps at the conclusion
that a reduction Of the tar1ff is neces-
sary. 10th on account of the needs Of the
government andSthe change in Industrial
conditions. Now to revise the tariff for
the purpose of producing more revenue
is an unnecessary proceeding, for IL
economy was used in making ~approprla-
tions. there is no doubt that the present
revenues are sufficient. If more rev.
enues arc raised from the tariff, or from
any other source of taxation, the people
will have to pay those taxes, either d.
.rectly or indirectly through the increased
cost of what they purchase. The repub-
lican claim that the foreigner pays the
tariff tax is acknowledged to be an eX-
ploded idea.
Just what rate of tariff duties will pro-
duce the most revenue is a disputed
point. Is the Mail and are the repub"
lican leaders also willing to revise tho
tariff as low as necessary to produce the
most revenue? That is the democratic
position. A tariff for revenue. One can
fancy the dismayed faces of the trust
barons and the tariff monOpOlists II Such
a revision was proposed by the commit
tee on Ways and means under a repub-
lican administration. We know that a
tariff lower than the present one, as the
Mckinley tariff was, will not produce
more than the present tariff does, so the
cut would have to go deeper than that,
though that depends upon business con-
ditions which govern the importation OF
rnrairn nnndC RI coma nyfpnf rpC4rGIGSS
of rates.
There is, however, a more important
matter t o the masses Of the people than
the amount of revenue a certain tariff
will produce, and that is how much the
rate must be reduced to prevent the
trusts and %monopolists from adding
more than a fair price to their products.
The fairest tariff to the manufacturers
and to the consumers would be the ad-
justment CT the schedules so that too
MANY foreign goods will not be imported
and yet low enough to prevent the price
of home manufactured products from
being sold for more than a fair profit.
AS long as the people of the United
States are satisfied with raising revenue
on imports, the above happy medium is
as neal perfection as can be arrived at.
1t would prevent our products being
| sold for less to foreigners than they are
here, would produce the maximum of
revenue and should be collected with
much less expense than at present, for
smuggling and that other curse of 4
high protective tariff, differentiation,
would be eliminated.
How can any fair man, that it, not an
arrant partisan, object to such a reason
able revision as is here outlined. Yet
we have no idea that the republicans
will revise the tariff after this fashion,
and looking at it from the democratic
partisan side, we can hardly wish it. 1t
would eliminate their most potent pOlit-
ical issue, but for the good of the whole
people we believe the democrats would
vote for and help to enact such a law
and allow the republicans to have the
credit for it.