Year: 1870

ABLE DISCUSSION OF TUE TAX AND FUNDING


BILLS AND THE 18th AMENDMENT.


Senator Morton, the able, patri-
otic and brilliant statesman of Indi-
ana, delivered a speech, at Terre
Haute, Ind, on Monday evening,
July 18th, ult, from which we are
pleased to publish copious extracts.
For several years, we have, at the
beginning of every campaign, laid
fnefore our readers the important
political utterances OF this distin
g,.shed countryman, and in repro
ducing part of the Senator's late
speech, we are sure that our intelli-
gent readers will agree with us that
we could not fill tie space with
more instructive and valuable infor-
nation. The Senator said:


THE TARIFF QUESTION.


Now, my friends, passing from
that, l come to another question. ]
come to the question of tariff. There
is a great deal said by the Demo
cratic politicians about the tariff.
What is tariff? A duty levied
upon foreign goods that are impor
ted into the United States. We
have always had a tariff in this
country ever since the Government
was formed. 1t began with the adj
ministration of George Washing
ton, and before the Union was for
med the several States had their re
spective tariffs. We have always
raised revenue by tariff, and we
always shall. 1t has been done un-
der every administration. Now,
when the war came on we could not
raise sufficient revenue by the tariff.
We had to raise it by
direct taxation in part. We
have recently abolished nearly all
of those internal taxes, but we still
have to raise at least $155, 100000
or $3.50, 100000 by the tariff. You
have got to have the revenue to
carry on the Government. Now il
you abolish the tariff, how are you
going to get it? Why, you must
raise it by direct taxation. Is the
Democratic party of Indiana in ia
vor of direct taxation to raise this
money? Nobody is in favor of it
Then we have got to have Il tariff
for the purpose of having revenue,
it is all idle to talk about re
pealing the tariff You can not re-
peal it without you find out some
way by which you can carry on the
Government without money. Mr..
VOORHEES, has discovered how he
can pay the national debt without
costing anybody anything. If lie
could now devise some plan By
which the Government could be
carried on in other respects without
money, then the work of financial
reform would be complete.


We have got to have the money,
and we have got to raise at least
155 or 160 millions by a tariff
Then, my friends, free trade is out
of the question. When man
talks to you about free trade, he
talks about thing that is imposSi
BILE. do not care how you lay
that tariff, how you adjust it, it will
afford some protection to our manu-
factures. Therefore, tree trade is
out of the question as long as we
have to levy a tariff for revenue.


Well, there are seaeral kinds OF
tariff. There is what is called a
prohibitory tariff. That may be
regarded as an obsolete idea.
know of nobody that is il favor of
that in this country Then there is
tariff merely for protection. Well
that is very little different from a
prohibitory tariff in principle That
is not the kind of a tariff we want.
But as we have to have tariff for
revenue, we propose that the pro-
lection that results from the adjust
ment of that tariff, shall result in
favor of our home producers in
stead of in favor of the foreign pro
ducers. Now, there are two or
three ways of levying tariff First,
there is the way advocated by Mr.
Kerr, Democratic Congressman
from Indiana. He says he wants
it put highest upon articles that we
do not produce at all, for example,
tea and coffee. We don't produce
them, therefore put TIE tariff high
est upon such articles. Of course
then il must core lowest upoI ar
ticles that we do produce in compe-
tition with foreign countries. Put
the highest upon articles that we
don't produce, or where we have
nothing to encourage or build up,
and put the lowest upon things that
we do produce in competition with
foreign countries, so as to afford
them the least possible protection
and encouragement.


Well, there is another plan that is
called the "horizontap' tariff, to
levy an equal per cent. upon al ar
ticles without regard to whether
they are necessities or luxuries. 1t
has been sometimes said that that
tariff was one of strict neutrality be-
tween the home producer and the
foreign producer. Now, if you
think that our Government ought
to maintain q position Of strict neu-
trality between the home producers
and the foreign producers, just as
we shall maintain a position of