The Cordova daily times., 1917-02-09
MAT TER RAISING REVENUE |S 4
 TOUGH ONE
Special to Daily Times ]


 WASHINGTON. Feb. 8. - Pity the poor free trader, especially if he is 9nbe~ os the ways and means com nit "G1 g5otronted with a trs.sury defieI - .s' to be met somehow!
 He IS now Paving the time of his life. A most unhappy time it Is, too. With his past utterances arising on all sides against him and. like Banquo's ghost. refusing to down.
 There must be more revenue. He sees that clearly What shall he doo
 We'll, there are various expedien- cies and pretenses being suggested It is not really so much. after all what shall be done, as it is what the remedial measures shall be called.
 Tariff on Tea.
 Representative Hull, Democrat of Tennessee, member of the ways and means committee, would place a tax or ten cents pound on tea. He would also impose duties on coffee. silk and rubber. Now this revives me mories of running debate in the house in the eventful days of the wicked tariff that has since been superseded by the beneficent Underwood free trade bill, which. "on account of the war, hasn't proved a revenue produc- CT. The first draft of the tariff bill of 1909 contained among its schedules duty on tea of from eight to nine cents, and while it did not persist among the items. it called forth the scorn of the oppistion.
 Special Taxes"
 Passing over the fact that the tea tax referred to was not imposed. and that among the marvellous results to follow the operations of the Under wood free trade tariff the free break fast table" has failed to arrive. it is interesting to see how Congressman Hull defends his tea tax. It is very simple, indeed. He prefaces his sug- gestion by distinguishing between the extraordinary" and the ordinary" expenditures of the government. He would designate his proposed new taxes as special taxes" to meet the new expenditures for national defense. and believes this will tend to amelior ate the unpopularity of such taxes as those on tea and coffee if the reve- nue bill should specify that the money thereby derived is to be devoted to preparedness,
 A Horizontal increase.
 From Congressman Garner. of Texas, comes the proposition for a duty of 10 per cent on all articles now on the free list and horizontal in crease of 5 per cent on all articles now on the dutiable list Mir. Gamers half way measures, in which he ignores scientific" tariff revision, have caused him to be regarded by some of his Democratic colleagues as having protecttonist leanings. It is antici- pated 'hot Congressman Kitchin will reject .He Hull proposal, while his at- titude toward any general upward re- vision, however slight. is well known.
 Last December President Wilson in- dicated his opposition to any attempt to revive the tariff until the tariff commission had made a report.
 McAdoo's Ideas.
 Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo is less dogmatic. Mir. McAdoo recent ly submitted list of articles and items for consideration in the revenue emergency. The list included a tea tax of 10 cents pound, with an esti- mated annual revenue there from of S9,000,O00. If adopted in full, the es- timate points to total of $500, 100000 additional revenue.
 The tea. coffee and rubber taxes proposed ignore the concessions by Brazil of 20 per cent allowance on l6 articles of American manufacture. which make up a large part of our eXQQrl- -lraue 10 mat country. It Is also known that no expression has been sought from the state depart ment as to the tea tax on our trade with the Far East
 No Protection Allowed to Creep In.
 It becomes evident, then, that no feature of protection has been allowed to creep in while selecting these ar ticles for taxation, and also that the effect on the export trade has been entirely ignored. The first of these considerations. pressed by the free traders at time when it suited their purpose. led the framers of the Payne protective bill to yield, in spite of a deficit then existing.
 In the list submitted by Secretary McAdoo there were included a large number of direct taxation items, such as stamp taxes, miscellaneous taxes and extension of the income tax. The tendency to resort to bond issue is also gaining headway.