The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-04-18
FREE TRADE IS OBJECT
SAYS ]. I. M'ctEARY

The following article was written
for The New York Tribune by James
T. McCleary, former member of con-
gress from Minnesota, who has de-
voted much study to the tariff ques-
ton and is a firm believer in protec-
ton:
THE tariff bill introduced into
congress on Monday is professedly
framed to keep the campaign prom
ises of the democratic party. Even
casual examination of the bill
shows that in its method it is an
abandonment of democratic principle
1t does not take one step toward
that which for eighty years the derf
jocratic party has advocated as tao
ideal tariff The bill makes no mcNe
toward tariff for revenue only.
"The pending bill is the first pro
posal for a tariff law since the re.
cent adoption of the sixteenth
amendment to the constitution, jwhtre
by congress is given authority to levy
an income tax. One section of the
bill provides for the levying of such
a tax. The committee ON ways and
means estimates that the revenue
from the PROPOSED income tax will
amount in round numbers to $780,
100000 year. This they have util-
lied to place on the free list many
articles heretofore on the dutiable
list, thereby cutting off one-fourth of
the revenue now rsised by duties on
imports. In other words the pend
ing bill gives evidence that the dem
ocratic party is headed gas never be-
fore toward absolute free. trade, and
that it will move in that direction
just as fast as it can figtre out ways
to. produce national revenues other
wise than by the tariff Already pro-
posals are being made for raising
still more revenue through income
and inheritance taxes with the view
of placing still other items on the
free list
No "Tariff for Revenue Only"
"For eighty years. with, varying
degrees of courage. the de mocratic
party has announced itself in favor
of "a tariff for revenue only That
was it's platform promise in the ma
.tional campaign last year. This bill
does not even hint at the keeping
of that promise. A tariff for revenue
only is one laid on articles the like
of which the country imposing it
does not produce. Under a protect
i've tariff law these things are on
the free list In the calendar year
1912 almost $1,000, 100000 worth of
such articles were imported into
this country absolutely free of duty
Such articles constituted 81 per cent
of our total importations, Bv plac-
ing these articles on the dutiable
list and removing the duty from all
imports now dutiabIe. EXCEPT Iuxu-
ries,' the democrats could have qiven
us what they promised tariff for
revenue ONLY
cover $200,000.000 of the articles
now dutiable are Injuries which
are dutiable under any system. BY
placing duties on the articles now
free and laving 1uxuries' on the du-
table list, the democrats could have
raised all the revenue now secured
through the custom house and at p
lower rate of duty. They would
have had ample revenue without
one atom of protection. and they
could have done it with lower rates
of duty than now prevail. Moreover.
they could then have reserved the
income tax for emergencies. But it
is more significant than appears IN
the surface that of this $1.000,000.0 900
worth of imDorts none were placed
on the dutiable list as a deliberate
move toward tariff for revenue
only The few items removed from
the free list to the dutiable list were
so transferred for entirely other
reasons.
'gThe duties retained are laid on
the same items as in the existing
law, in some cases at the same
rates. but in most at lower rates
though there are a few cases
Of increases in rates. The present
duties were laid to produce both
revenue and protection. The pend
ing bill will admittedly raise less
revenue and afford less protection.
It is drafted along the lines of
protective tariff law, because the
duties are laid on competing articles.
Whether or not the rates are ade-
uuatelv protective will be learned
later by experience. The invention
Of the term competitive tariff for the
policy embodied in this bill is an
other confession that the democratic |
platform promise of "a tariff for