The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-07
Debate on the Tariff.


adapted.
Debate on the Tariff.
Comparing the increase in the prod
ucts of the farm and the factory and
the value Of productive and Industrial
property under high and low tariffs,
Mr. Rucker Of Missouri drew the con-
cIuslon that the lower the tariff the
greater had been the increase of
wealth, that since 1850 the tariff had
been made higher and the increase of
production had been less.
Turning his attention to the tariff on
Mergenthaler typeSetting machines
Mr.. Rucker said it had been deter
mined that these machines could be
produced for $500, and yet they were
sold for $4,000 because of the tariff
There were 10000 publications in this
country affected by this price. Thou
sands of petitions from editors had
been sent to the present congress
urging the removal Of this prohib-
itory and mOnOpolistic duty"
VIII not the gentlemen heed these
petitiOns?' he asked. Then every Re
publican editor in the country who has
the backbone of an angIeworm ought to
unite and make the condition of Re-
publican members such that they will
cry out wherever fly is he'll, wherever
l light is hell"
Bryan and Tariff Revision.
Mr.. Rucker concluded with the pre-
I-sdiction that with a tariff revision plat
form and William J. Bryan as its can
didate the Democratic party would as
a cyclone, sweep the country
Addressing himself to those who
would not stand pat even in a clover
field Representative Lacey of Iowa
took occasion during the debate on the
indian appropriation bill TO express
himself on the subject Of the German
tariff He took the position emphat-
iealIy that the United States could not
afford to sacrifice her commerce with
Great Britain III order to win German
markets by means Of tariff concessions.
he illustrated this by figures showing
how little we sell to Germany in COM
parisOn to Great Britain, and how lit
tie we sell to Great Britain IN COM
parisOn TO our own home markets.
Eighty-seven per cent of the product
OF our farms, he said, find a market at
home He reviewed conditions in many
industries and localities and compared
the present prosperity with the hard
times of tariff agitation.
Debate Became General.
Mr.. Lacey's conclusion on the tariff
provoked lively running debate invoIv-
ing Messrs. Clark of Missouri. Weisse of
Wisconsin, Powers of Maine, Gardner of
Massachusetts, Williams of Mississippi,
The net result was that Mr.. Weisse.
who is a tanner, and therefore" accord
ing to Mr.. Lacey's quotation of Shakes
peare, viii last nine years when he is
dead declared that the American
farmer was losing 81, 000, 600 a year because
Of the tariff on hides and also that
many tanners were moving to Canada be-
cause of that duty He also in answer
TO Mr. Gardner, declared that the alleged
tanners trust, controlled only 20 per
cent of that trade, and that Mr. Armour
and his sOn-in-law, Mr.. Valentine, did not
own controlling interest in it.
Mr.. Clark questioned Mr.. Lacey closely
as to the politics of Governor Cummins
of Iowa, and his utterances as to the
robbery under the Dingley bill"
Mr.. Lacey said he had voted twice for
Cummins for governor. and would do
so again IF he is nominated on our
ticket"
Mr.. Williams of Mississippi then took
the floor for general reply to Mr..
Lacey.
Sarcasm of MIR. Williams.
There are few things" began Mr..
Williams, at one and the same time
more amusing and more pitiable than
the acrobatic exploits of human intelIi-
gence when attempting to prove that
laws which circumscribe and limit trade
tends to increase trade
Mr.. Williams described some of his
tariff revision bills and asserted in an
SWer TO Mr.. Gardner of Massachusetts.
who revived the free leather controversy
tariff legislation All that was neces-
Eary was first to convert the speaker.
then the committee on rules, then Serene
i. Payne, and finally the Republican
members of the ways and means COM
mittee- This ought not to be hard for a
Republican TO do. said Mr.. Williams to
Mr. Gardner.
One OF his bills. said Mr. Williams.
provided for a reduction to 100 per cent
of all duties over that amount He had
seen the speaker quoted as saying this
must be one Of John Sharp Williams
jokes. as there are no such duties"
In answer to this he read this list of
articles on which the duty is greater
than 100 per cent: Chalk (taiIors). los
per cent, Of which $4,000 worth was i'm
ported last year on which the tariff was
$50, 600. boracic acid, 122 per cent; sulphur
Tic ether, go per cent; cotton Duck, over
eight square yards to the pound, 112 per
cent: cOrdage, from Jos to 300; firacrack-
ers. 126 per cent; cheap spectacles. 11s per
cent; common window glass, from 107 to
90 per cent. looking glasses 100 per cent.
etc He expressed the opinion that 25
per cent on any article would cover the
actual difference Of the labor in an
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