Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1891 — Page 1 Advertisements Column 3 [ADVERTISEMENT]

by the republicans in taking the tariff off sugai: “The republicans are claiming great credit for having given the people free sugi.r by taking off the tax on raw sugar and making a reduction of 2 oents per pound in the tariff on the higher grades. The price of sugar has been greatly reduced to the consumer. This fact proves conclusively that the tariff is a tax and that when the tariff is taken off or reduced there is a corresponding reduction in the price of the article; and this is true in all oases except where the article is produced in this country in quantities in . excess of domestic consumption, and where the surplus can be exported at a j profit. A tariff on such artioles does not i affect their price. By removing the tariff from sugar practical free trade in sugar was secured and oheaper sugar has been tbe result. But Congress has by this provision in the McKinley bill remitted $58,000,000 of the publio revenues, and at the same time a bounty of 2 cents per pound on the home production of sugar was authorized to be paid every year for fifteen years. It is estimated that this bounty will amount to not less than $10,000,000 per year.— Together this has caused a loss of $68,000,000 per year to the government. If Congress had red ced the pnblio expenditures in an amount equal to the reduction of the tax on sugar, augmented by the bounty, the people would have saved the amount of reduction in the sugar tax, less the bounty. But there was no reduction of expenditures; on the contrary, expenditu res were largely increased. Hence it became necessary to make up for the lo s in revenues oooasioned by the reduction of the sugar tax by increasing ’he tariff on other articles, and in selecting otber articles for inore <sed taxation such rates were imposed as would produce the greatest amount of protection to favored industries and the least amount of revenue to the government. So it is found on these articles upon which the tariff was increased the people pay two dollars for protection to one for revenue. Thus, to make good the loss of revenue on sugar, the new tariffs were increased in amount , to 4 o nts per pound on all sugar consumed.