The National tribune., 1909-01-14
4rAR1rF EoR REyENrE onLY.s

Editor National Tribune; When
person speaks OF Q tariff for revenue
only what does he mean? say. let the
tariff alone as It is.-S. s. Brewn, LIST
Mo. Engineers, Bath. Ill.
Very few people who are clamoring
for tariff for revenue only understand
what 1t means. A tariff for revenue
only means such an imposition as viii
oring the greatest revenue This kind
Oh tariff has been the ruling one IN
Europe, and the British tariff is sub
stanuany one for revenue only. AS its
sole purpose Is revenue. 1t must be inn
posed upon those things which are In
the most general use and which the
people usually have to buy abroad, so
that II can be collected from the Gus
toms houses. As rule. taxes under
this designation have been levied upon
tea, coffee, salt, sugar and other articles
of similar widespread need and use.
These taxes have always been especially
onerous and Objectionable, and have
never been favored in this country. The
opposite policy is that followed by the
United States. and which had its origin
in Henry Clay's celebrated American
policy" that is, duties were imposed
upon articles which we could produce
at home. but were then buying from
abroad. The tax was thus made to
work helpfully in two ways. First, It
gave protection to American manufac-
turers and workingmen, encouraging
them to produce cloth, tools, tin plates
and other desirable needed articles. and
1t also gave the Government revenue
from those which were imported from
abroad. Under the present system,
which is that of a protective tariff poll
icy, tea and coffee come In free and
sugar almost free. Therefore, these
and necessaries of life are much
cheaper to Americans than to any other
people in the world, and getting them
free is held to more than compensate
for any additional price that they may
have to pay on cloths, cotton goods,
manufactures of steel and iron, ETC.,
which they import from England,
France and Germany. The advocates
of the protective policy can point with
pride to the good results following this
policy, since to-day the American peo-
pie are getting better and cheaper the
manufactured goods that were formerly
obtained abroad, and at the same time
there has been a large field opened for
the investment of American capital, the
utilization of our natural resources and
at good wages Of millions =
of industrious workinemen and opera
tives
As an illustration of the working of
tariff for revenue only, Great Britain
last year collected $35,000.o 900 from the
tax on tea, more than s1,500.oo0 from
those on currants, raisins and cocoa,
nearly s1.O0Q.o00 from coffee anc about
100000 from the tax on sugar
Here in these few items, which enter
into the daily expenditures Of every
family in the realm. was collected about
100000 which American household
ers do not have to pay. This sum will
go far to compensate for any tempo
rary enhancement of other goods that
they buy abroad. ,u $
Under strict tariff for revenue only
the bulk of the duties would be levied
upon sugar. coffee, india rubber and
tea, for these are our greatest imports,
and take about third of the money
that we send out of the country every
year for foreign goods. We buy ap.
s1O0,0o0.0 600 worth of
sugar per year. s75,OO0,ooO worth Of
coffee, s50,000,000 worth of india rub
ber and S20,000.000 worth of tea. The
other principal imports are s60,00Q,000
worth of raw silk, s65.Oo0,o00 worth Of
coffee, sS5. 900 worth
Of hides and skins. s52,000,000 worth
If vegetable fiber and about s65,
100 worth of wool and its manufactures
1t is easy for any reasonable man to
see that if We had a tariff for revenue
'nly the common people of the coun-
ry would pay very much more than
hey do now. without any compensatory
benefit in the way of developing our
'wn resources and furnishing employ
nent to American citizens. We would
De mainly taxed on that which we can
lot produce at home, which articles
would be made still higher, while there
would be no encouragement for the
of American industries
o keep our money with us and employ
ur own people.