New-York tribune., 1909-03-18
Concessions Philippine Sugar and Iobacco-Cofee. Hides and
Iron Ore Exempt-Steel and Lumber Duties
Largely Reduced-Tea Taxed.
ANALYSIS By BOUTELL.
Bill UM Benefit Ultimate Consumer
and Produce Necessary ReUenue.
IFron The Tribune Bureau-J !

washington, March 1i.-Representat1ve Henry
S. Boutell. Of Chicago. a member Of the Ways
and Means Committee, who Is an acknowledged
expert on all matters Of finance and who says
that as ne represents a purely residential dis
trict he is really the representative OF the 'ul-
innate consumer described the work OF tho
committee for The Tribune
I'VE have put iron ore IN the free list" hs
said. We have cut pig iron in two. and so on
down the let through the manufactures Of iron
and steel In all cases you will find that We
have left di1erentiaI to protect the manufact-
urer. For instance. in all the products from
iron we have left SUFFICIENT import duty TO
protect the manufacturer against inportatfons OF
manufactures Of iron and steel We have done
the same with hides Hides are on the free list.
and there is a corresponding reduction or shoes
and all manufactures from leather. Again. it
is the ultimate consumer who gets the benefit.
We have put coal on the free list when coming
from countries where there is reciprocity Lurn-
Der has been cut in two This is one Of the in
stances where d duty has been levied TO meet
the revenue demands OF the government. Wood
pulp and print paper have been heavily cut
The new bill is what would call good reve-
nue. legislation" Mr. BouteH continued To
make up the needed revenues we have trans
ferred Iuxurias, such as perfumes and highly
perfumed soaps. to the dutiable list We have
them from the free list and putting them in the
dutiabIe schedules
Again we have adopted Mr.. Tafts sugges-
tion for an inheritance tax went on the Illinois
Representative. This provision Is based large
~ on the New York law. In the direct line Of
descent there is no tax or inheritances Of less
than $4,000. and 1 per cent on amounts in ex-
cess of that In collateral descents the tax is-5
per cent on amounts over $500. This feature we
expect to bring in s20.eoooOo year
TEA IMPORTER SHOULD PAY TAX
We have put tea on the dutabIe list. with
tax Of eight cents a pound continued Mr.. BOu-
tell This should bring in IS 0oO. 900 a year I do
not think that this will fall upon the consumer.
The average price Of tea imported is IS cents a
pound at the port Of entry. and every house
keeper knows that the difference between that
and the price she pays leaves an enormous
profit for some one The duty should come out
OF that profit. Another feature OF the tea tax
IS that IT will place the American importer OF
tea and the Canadian importer OF the product
on the same basis Under the Canadian law
tea nav be imported free Of duty direct from
the country OF its origin but when IL COMES
through another country must pay duty. As
a result American tea importers must pay a
duty on the tea they send into Canada ON
the other hand. the Canadian tea importers have
been able TO sell their tea in the United States
without restriction as long we left tea on the
free list The only change in the internal revs-
nue. taxes Is an increase OF the tax on cigarettes
which expect Will net Sl,0OO,oOO more Jnan
the present tax
.erhis IA the way we have fitted the new bill
IN the revenue demands OF the country and the
national Treasury's present condition. Mr. BOu-
tell said The appropriations for the fiscal year
1900 are 81, ,O44. 100000. From this must be de-
ducted. first S34OOOOOO. TO be spent on the Pan
ANA Canal; S6OOOOOOO set aside for sinking
fund payments which will not be used. and $50
OOOOOO for the national bank redemption fund.
which the banks will repay to the Treasury.
This leaves an actual appropriation OF $92O.OoO.-
600 from which a further reduction OF per
cent should be made as representing the average
nercentage Of appropriations never drawn from
the Treasury. This leaves net demand upon
the nations revenues Of $ST4OOOOOO
The new revenue BILL went on the Repre-
sentative. under normal circumstances should
bring in $3.50 100000 year in customs dues
Then there will be S2OOOOOOO from the inheri-
tance tax 81 100000 from the cigarette duties.
So75 100000 from the present internal revenus
laws and S6OOOOOOO from miscellaneous sources.
This makes total Of S69t. .5OOO00- The balances
Of the SS74. 100000 win be made up by the pos
tai revenues.
ALLOWS YEAR FOR NORMAL WORKING.
we do not expect the new law To reach a
normal basis for about a year Mr.. BOuteu
went on In the mean time. provision Is made
for the immediate sale of Panama Canal bonds
10 he used to repay the Treasury for the actual
cost of the Panama Canal rights. should the
deficiency for the present fiscal year. ending
IuIv I 1909 reach S1O0O10OGO. which is now
the conservative estimate. the subtraction Of
This S40OO0OOO would leave an actual deficit OF
s6O OOOOOO This would leave in the Treasury
a sufficient sum to make up the deficiency Of the
ensuing fiscal year. The result is that when
this law gets into normal operation the Treas
ur,, finances will show no such abnormal surplus
as we have had in past years. The new law -
designed to take care of the actual expenditures
of the government. and with the prosperity that
We think it will bring about the increasing reVe-
mes will be ample to take care Of the increas-
ing expenses of the government To take care
Of emergencies. however. the bill authorizes an
issue of S25OOOO.OOO Of one year Treasury GER
tihcates Under the present law these were Inn
tied to S1OOOOOOOO."
4