Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1909-05-13
FOR MORE REVENUE
GOVERNMENTS INCOME MUST BE
INCREASED.
Tariff Law Has to Be Framed with
This object in View-WiIl
Senate Measure Sup
ply 1t?

The present revision of our tariff
and revenue laws was undertaken for
two reasons. The first was that the
Dingley schedules were out of date.
Conditions in international trade and
domestic industry have changed ma
terially since 1897. There was an evi-
dent need of a two-schedule tariff to
be used in dealing with countries
which had adopted that system, the
difficulties attending the negotiation
of special reciprocity treaties having
been amply demonstrated in our eX
periences in reaching agreements with
Cuba, Russia, France and Germany.
The American public had become con-
vinced that the Dingley rates were, as
a whole, too high, and that the protec
tion which they afforded to domestic
industry was not equitably distrib-
uted. The trainers of the tariff legis-
lation of 1909 have had to meet the
problem of reducing excessive protec-
tion and of furnishing workable
maXimum-minimum plan to be used in
obtaining most favored nation treat
ment in foreign commerce. The
Payne BILL as it passed the house, was
a long step in the right direction, and
1t remains to be seen whether the
senate will approve and broaden the
houses work or try to combat and
neutralize it.
But congress has another problem
on its hands in revising the tariff
Sinnn fba nf hn oil 1ox
the governments expenditures have
increased enormously. When the war
with Spain broke out extra internal
taxation was resorted to, and this tax
alton was not repealed for three or
four years. While it was in force the
governments ordinary income rose
from S405,000,000 in 1S97'9S to $751;,
6S5,000 in 1900-'01. The normal in
crease in customs receipts and in re-
ceipts from internal taxation has Just
about sufficed in the last six years to
offset the loss of the emergency taxes
The treasury's income in the excep-
tionally prosperous year of 1906-'07
rose to $663, 100000. But it fell to
$599,000,000 in 1907-'0S, little more
than equalizing the income of 1900I01
Yet owing to the expansion of the
army and navy and the constant ex-
tension of the federal functions our an
nal expenditures have now gone above
the high level reached during the Span
lsh war The ordinary expenditures for
1907'0S were $650,000, 900, and the ex-
penditures for 190S-09 will be nearly
s700,000,000
Congress will have, therefore, to
provide larger revenue than has
been afforded by the Dingley law. We
called attention the other day to
Chairman Payne's estimates of the
probable yield of the house tariff bill
as 1t came from the ways and means
committee. He figured out that it
would produce S862, ,0G5 900, allowing
S223 100000 for postal receipts, or
SG39,000,0O0 without postal receipts. But
should postal receipts just balance
postal expenditures, there would re-
main appropriations to be met in
1909-10 of $685. 100000. Mr.. PAYNE
predicted that his bill would produce
enough revenue to come within S1O,-
100000 of meeting expenditures in
19O9-'1O. But he scaled down the
amount needed to meet the appropria-
tions of the last session by calculat-
ing that five per cent. of the money
voted by congress for the next fiscal
year would remain in the treasury as
an uneXpended balance. Eve per cent.
of the appropriations is $4,000, 900.
The chance of this sums being left
unused is not very great The appar-
ent deficit under the committee bill
was, therefore, $56000,OOO instead of
SlO,OOO,000. Moreover, the house
voted out of it duties expected to
bring in $10,000,000, and the senate's
changes so far if they should be held
to include dispensing with the inherit
ance tax, involve the loss of $2O,OO0,-
600 more. The senate measure as it
stands will apparently create heavy
deficit.-New York Tribune.