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The Pending Tariff Bill

The Pending Tariff Bill image
Parent Issue
Day
17
Month
June
Year
1870
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The bilí which now ocoupioa CongrdM is a bilí to reduce the internal revena tases. For this purposo it ia not 10 good a bilí as inight and ought to hav been preparad, but is as good as oan reasonably be xpectod now, and is oertainly a great improvement upon existing laws. Bat the proposition to add to this bill, aa an amendment, a new s:'hedule of tariñ duties, ia of itself a mistako. It confouncls different elassei of legislation, depeuding on Bomwht different principies, and introduoing new and diffiuult issues into the controveray. It compela many frionds of the reform: in internal dutics either to vote againit the bilí as a whole, or to vote in favor of changes in the tariff wbich tbey diap(-)rove. All this is true, even if the proposed' tarffwere the best possible; and would jus'.ify its rejection ag an amendment to the pending bill. But it is oot the best possible. It is satisfactory to do partj in the Houso, neitber to those who wisb the duues now luvied for the benefit of private interests to be repealed, nor to those who wish thera maiotained. No ono can suppoee that eitlier elaas of' members would support it, as ao independent mcasure. If either of them ahould supprt it now, it will be merely bcause, as a whole, tbcy consider it better than no chungo whatever, that ir not so bid a the wnrst tariff any civilized country evir suffored under. JJut even this is aot the wort of th " amendment." It yirflds something to the general demand of the people for reduced taxntion, but the coucession: eannot bs accepted a9 an bcnest one, for it is coupled witli further grauts to cerera! monopolies of the right to lay nevr bardens on the nalion. It retaina th tax of ftve eents per square yard on the clteapest cotton goods, whioh is ■ scandalous imposition on the clothing oL the poor. It lays a new and enormou duty of twenty dollars n ton on flax, the iaw material of an importaut rnanufaoture, a tax which aiaét fali at last on every coosumer of linnn. It doublos tha praent duty on the tow of tl x. It increaae the duty on nicku!, already the stock in trade of a powcrful and opprensive monopoly, froiti fit'; een er eent. ad talorem, or about fifteen cents a pound, to forty cents per pound. The duty on books iind prin'ed matter is increased to fif'iecD cents per poui.d ; and singlecopies imported tor use are 111:1de free-, o that rich buyers, wbo can havo their agents ahroad, will pay no duty; and only tliu poor, aml purchasors n country distrints, will have iho prioa of literature nearly doubled to them. But, worst of all, the duty on s-teeí rails, already letieil at the rate of fortyfive per cent, reta' ding the developmcDt of the country, and O]pressing its trade, for the benefit of huif a dozen monopolista, is increased to a specifio duty of 833 GO pi.r ton, ia gold, or $38 64 io. currency; a duty which ought to be embodied in a separate bill, undcr the titla, " A bill to pay Mr, Morrell, of Penosylvania, and bis associates, six railiions of dollars per annum for depriving their oountrymen of chuap travel anl traffic, and fr obstructing the growlh of tba United States. ' We trust tint Mr. Sc'ionck and the Republican members of CungresB will consider that the tttompt to insert those inappropriate aad intolerable tariflf sectious in the present tax bill will imperit two things for which all of them perhaps, have soino concern - the succacs of the tax reform in Congress, and the sucoess of the Republicau party in the next electicns. They will hive to deferd whut they now do beforo the peoplv jeot; nud it is at least a year too late t persuade the peopla thiU a reductioa oí their burdens is to be offected by such % fraud as this -

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus