The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-02-19
TARIFF THE ISSUE OF
COUNTRY AND HOUR
WILL EXTEND ITS INFLU-
ENcE TO EVERY STATE
IN THE UNION


making in this country The con-
vention resolved by unanimous vote
that their laborers shall not end with
merely demand for a tariff commits
sion, A permanent organization was
formed 10 continue the work and
will extend It's influence to every
state and particularly to Washing
ton. The chairman OF the perma'
nent organization selected by Chair
man Van Cleave are; ], L. Miles,
Racine, Wis; one OF the executive
committee, and John Herbert OF
Dayton, Ohio, Van Cleave was
chosen by the convention as perma-
nent chairman Of the organization,
The principal speaker today was D.
IA. Tomkius Of North Carolina, who
addressed the convention as follows;
Asserting that the present method OF
making the tariff is sort of seram-
Bile about once every ten years and
advocating the commission plan un-
der which the tariff might be in pro-
cess of revision all the time, D, A..
Tompkins, of Charlotte, n. C., de-
livered a notable address here today
before the tariff conference,
Mr.. Tompkins discussed the gem
eral subject Of revenue, analyzing in
round figures the cost OF running the
various departments OF the Federal
government and defining the three
principal ways provided by the con
stitution for raising revsape.
at may be said that the federal
of the United tSates of
America" said Mr.. Tompkins, ere
quires about one thousand million
dollars per year Of revenue to pay
the expense Of conducting the Gov
ernment, divided principally as fol-
lows: the army, SlO00O0,0O0; the ma
Wy, $l25,0O00O0; pensions, $ls0,000,-
600; public works $l25,000.000.
Separate from this expense of the
general Government" he continued,
'the state governments also cost
none.
We may assume that the state
cost in the aggregate an
other thousand million dollars a year
1t is provided in the Federal Consti-
tuition that the Federal Government
may raise revenue principally in three
ways:
"() By internal revenues on whis-
keys and tobacco and a few other
items and by revenue stamps on doc
uments when necessary.
"(2) By tariffs on imports.
"(3) By direct tax upon the States
in proportion to their population.
"The States all raise revenue by
direct tax upon the people and the
Of the state by license fees,
etc. The revenues of the Federal
Government have always been raised
by means of internal revenues anS|
tariffs on imports. With the burden
Of State and County taxes already
upon them, it would be difficult to
persuade the people to submit to an
other direct tax at the hands of the
Federal Government.
Therefore, it may be assumed that
a tariff on imports is now and will
continue to be one OF the most i'm
portant methods of raising the Fed
eral revenues. Therefore, if this be
true, we can have no free trade and
{ we must have an import duty, it is
simply question of how it should
De laid We might put a uniform per-
;entage tax upon all imports. Let us
;ay that 10 per cent might be enough |
o raise the revenues required. Under
his plan everything coming into the
United States would be taxed Tea, |
;offee, sugar, silks, steel rails, plate |
ylass,-everything would pay the 10 |
)er cent duty.
eve all know that it would be :? |
)etter plan to have tea and coffee on
he free list and make some other
hings pay higher tariff. We all |
lnow that in some lines of industry
higher tariff would not only benefit
he industries in the United States
,ut would make indirect benefits
almost incalculable.
Therefore we perceive that a tariff
nay be laid so as to benefit the
american people and it may be laid
n ways that submit the American
'eople to an unfair price,
LET Us take the cases Of the tariff
n coarse cotton goods" continued
he speaker. "Fifteen years ago there
,as over production of cotton; the
rice was S cents per pound. Wages
throughout the cotton growing dis
.;ct r.,nrn ..n...an... -. 4 IL ~.