Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-10-30
ENORMOUS rnrin Taxes.

The tarlT Is Il tax. Don't be de-
ceived by the Republican politicians
when they declare 1.-The foreigner pays
the tax" The last issue-19o6-o the
United States Statistical Abstract, page
D5, gives the amount of the tariff tax
lpaid by the American people for the
year ending June 30, 1906, as $293,91O,-
396, which is over $3.50 per capita, or
about SIG for each average family. No
one is exempt from this tariff tax and
those with the largest incomes pay no
more than those with the smallest sal
aries, or wages. In fact, ON some ar
ticles the tariff tax is higher on the
poorer quality of goods than on the best
quality, 80 the poor man pays more
than the rich man does.
For instance, under the wool sched-
ule, the most expensive carpets woven
whole for rooms" the tariff tax collect
ed last year was 60.4S per cent of the
/ value, while on treble ingram, one of
the cheapest grades of carpets, the
tariff tax collected was 1904 per cent.
Also when the poor man buys a pair
of blankets the discrimination ON large
wool blankets valued at not more than
40 cents per pound" was 1903 per
cent, while on the same size blankets
valued more than 20 cents per pound, :"
the tariff tax collected was 9264 per
cent. The poor man, therefore, who
was compelled to buy the cheaper
grade of blankets paid nearly double
the tariff that the rich man paid on
the higher grade.
Many people can hardly believe there
Is n tariff tax on anything amounting
to 100 per cent of its value-that is u
tax equal to it's cost-but here we have
the extraordinary tax of over $50 per
cent. So If the blankets cost in Europe
S. they are increased in cost by the
tariff tax collected over SO, making
such blankets cost here over $14, be-
sides the freight, insurance and profits
of the importer; and this enormous
tax the American consumer has to pay
to protect the W. olen Trust. Is not
such n tariff tax robbery, under the
guise of law? Yet our Republican
friends defend it and declared in their
national platform of 1904 that: PRO
lection which guards and develops our
Industries is a cardinal policy of the
Republican party" Even II the Re
publican party at its next national con
yention promises to revise the tariff
after election" they must still con-
tinue to protect the infant industries
now grown to gigantic trusts, or go
back on their declarations of 1904. 1t
is hardly likely the Republican lead
ers will declare they have been mis-
taken in their policy of protectionism,
and as the standpat statemen outnum-
Der those who feel that the tariff is
robbing the people and protecting the
trusts, it is probable that the same old
farce of pretending to revise the tariff
and for commercial reciprocity when
ever reciprocal arrangements Gun be
effected consistent with the principles
of protection" will be continued. How
| little the Republican party can be de-
pended upon to reduce the tariff by
reciprocity treaties with foreign ma
tons Is shown by its refusal to ratify
| the treaties which President Mckinley
negotiated over six years ago. There
are other tariff schedules that further
show the tariff tax collected is greater
OH the cheaper grade of goods than on
the finer qualities and the reason for
this discrimination against the great
mass of consumers-the farmers, the
working men and those with small in.
comes, is because they are by far the
most numerous and consume the great
majority of the articles produced
Therefore, the trusts are protected by
higher tariff duties on such cheaper
grades Of goods, than on the more ex.
pensive qualities which are consumed
to much more limited extend.
Ii there was space in this article tc
give the facts about the extra profits
that the tariff protects the trusts III
charging for their products, and the
enormous tax the people pay in In
creased prices for domestic products
the showing would make the tariff
robbery SO much greater that even the
most ardent Republican trust protec
tor would hardly dare to openly de
fend it. 1t is enough here to say that
the most able statisticians estimate the
trust profits at nearly $S4 per family
which added to the SIG per family OF
direct fax OH imDorted goods makes th,
enormous total of 500 per family pait
every year by the people in consequence
Of the increased prices of trust goods
and the tariff Ak collected by the
governmer
Will you by your vote continue tt
allow the Republican party to thus
plumber YOU?
Reaching for Imperial Power.