Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1891 — M’KINLAEYISM EXPOSED. [ARTICLE]

M’KINLAEYISM EXPOSED.

THE TARIFF LAW MINUTELY EXAMINED. An Item by Item Comparision of the Old an& New Tariff Laws aud the Mills Bill— Specific Duties Changed Into Ad Valorem Equivalents—Some Enormous Duties. The Reform Club of New York has recently published a pamphlet which will prove of great assistance to all persons who wish to study the McKinley tariff law. This pamphlet is called “Comparison—ltem by Item. ” It gives a comparison of each duty under the old tariff with the same under the Mills bill And under the McKinley law. The value of this comparison is in the k ffact that it gives the ad valorem equivalent of the specific and compound duties. The difficulty with most people in getting a correct idea of the extent and weight of the tariff burden is that most duties are levied at so much per pound, gallon, yard, etc. This is called a specific duty. On a very large class of articles, too, there are two duties, one specific and the other ad valorem Now, if a person does not know the first ■cost of an article by the yard, pound, etc., it is impossible for him to form a correct idea of just what the duty on it means. He cannot tell how much duty there is on the dollar’s worth of goods. Yet this is the only form in which one can decide whether a duty is high or low. When a b’acksmith is told that the duty on anvils is 2% cents a pound he cannot form an exact idea of the “size of this duty unless it is estimated at so much on the dollar. In order to get that estimate he must know the price of anvils when brought in at the custom house. That price was an average of 6 cents a pound In 1889; and the duty of 2% cents a pound is therefore equal to 42 cents on the dollar’s worth. That ■which is landed at the custom at SI goes to the wholesale merchants at SI. 42, and is passed on through other dealers and finally to the blacksmith at a price at least double the first cost Still more difficult to estimate are the so-called compound duties, or specific and ad valorem duties on the same article. Take corduroys, for example; when a woman is told that the corduroy goods that she buys pay a duty of 14 cents a yard and 20 cents ad valorem, she cannot tell just how high that duty Is. She must know that corduroy costs in England all the way from 15 cents a yard to 70 cents. Then she can calculate the duty ou the dollar’s worth. She will find that on corduroy worth 15 cents a yard the duty will be 14 cents specific and 3 cents ad valorem, equal to 17 cents, or a single ad valorem duty of 113 per cent. In other words, a dollar's worth of corduroy will leave the custom house at a cost to the importer of $2.13. The pamplet already referred to changes all duties into their ad valorem equivalents, and anyone can learn from it what tariff duty he pays on a dollar’s worth of any goods. The three tariffs compared have each two columns, one for specific duties and one for equivalent ad valorem duties. The headings of these columns are given thus: Tariff of 1883. Milla bill. McKinley tariff. Ad lAd Ad Specific, val. Specific, val. Specific. vaL $ eta. p. c. $ eta. Ip. c. | $ eta.lp. c. The changing of the McKinley compound duties on worflen goods into their ad valorem equivalents gives a striking exhibition of the enormity of the present tariff law. A few cases will suffice. Here is.how the matter looks when the compound duties on woolen and worsted cloth, blankets, wool hats, and flannel for underwear are changed into their equivalents: WOOLENS AND WORSTEDS. McKinley tariff. I Ad Specific. | val. Sc. |» c Valued at not above 30e per lb. 33 c &40 150 Valued above 30c and not above 40c per lb &40 $c 135 Valued above 40c and not above 80c44 c &50 19c 1*35 Valued above 80c per 1b44 c &50 j9c 86 BLANKETS, HATS, AND FLANNELS. Valued at not above 30c per lb. 10'Ac &30 ibc 91 Valued above 30c and not above 40022 c &35 19c 98 Valued, above 40c and not above 50c'33 c £35 ibc 101 Valued above 50c, and not above 60c &40 ibc 119 Valued above 60c, and not above 80c &40 19c 95 Valued above 80c &40 ffic 71 The equivalent ad valorem duties on knit woolen goods range from 79 to 166 per cent?; on wqolen and worsted yarns, from 72 to 132; on women’s and children’s dress goods from 73 to 123. On ready-made clothing, composed wholly or in part of wool, the duties are 49% cents a pound and 60 per cent., and these duties are equal to an ad valorem duty of 85 per cent This tariff dictionary might well be called an exposure of McKinleyism.