Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1886 — MR. RANDALL’S BILL. [ARTICLE]

MR. RANDALL’S BILL.

Chicago Herald: Mr. Randall’s tariff bill is constructed on the lines which protectionists have always followed. It reduces the tax a trifle on lumber and iron, increases it on wool and woolens and abolishes it altogether on fruit brandies and tobacco. In the course of time he, or men like him, will no doubt be prepared to increase the tax on such luxuries as coal, woolens, salt, glass and furniture, and repeal the impost on that necessity of life known as whisky. The revenues of the United States are derived in the main from two sources—customs duties internal taxation on tobacco and liquor. From the customs the receipts during the last four years have averaged $200, 000,000, and from internal revenue during the same period they have been about $120,000,000. Customs taxes are laid on more than four thousand different articles, the great majority of them necessaries. s’he tax is in many cases prohibitive, thus giving to a combination of home manufacturers a monopoly of this market. In almost every instance, whether there are imports or not, the price to the American consumer is increased all the way from 20 to 60 per cent. If the article is imported the duty is added to its selling price. If it is home made the increased price which the manufacturer is able to charge by reason of his “protection” gives him an opportunity to put the tax into liis own pocket. Thus the American people pay in the course of a year untold millions in taxes, not to the government, but to private individuals whom the government has taken into partnership. The tariff is so high that it yields a comparatively small revenue, whereas if it was much lower imports would be greater, the government would get more money, and the people would enjoy a very marked reduction in the cost of living. As a representative of the protectionist rings Mr. Randall naturally wishes to do away with internal revenue taxation as soon as possible. To this end this bill strikes out all tobacco taxes, which now yield about $25,000,000 yearly.— With that vast sum lost to the Treasury no further reduction in taxation will be possible for some time, and the combinations which by reason of tha tariff get more money out of the people than the government does will be secure for many years to come. The question is narrowed down, therefore, to this: Will the American people have free wool, yarn, shawls, clothing, blankets, iron, steel, copper, coal, lumber, glass, salt, pins, needles, cutlery, crockery, furniture, carpets, and the thousand things that they must secure in order to live, or will they have free whisky and tobacco? Mr. Randall does not hesitate to increa e the cost of the people’s clothing that he may give them free fine-cut and cigars, and when the time comes he will be equally willing to increase the cost of many other necessaries m order to give them free whisky. There are so many steals in the tariff; it operates with so much indirection ; it calls for so large a force of officials; it enables so many rings to divide with the government the privilege of taxing the people, and it imposes its burdens so unequally that the great mass of Americans, who cannot by any possibility be benefited by such a scheme, may be sure that so long as wealth and power can throw them a sop of free toba co or free whisky they will never have relief from the much more serious imposts. Mr. Randall’s bill is a monopoly bill. The tobacco and whisky tax should remain, and the taxes on the necessaries of life should go. Kid Gloves —new shades —a

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