Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1891 — WHO PAYS THE TARIFF? [ARTICLE]

WHO PAYS THE TARIFF?

IT IS NOT PAID BY THE FOREIGNERS. the Lessons Taught by the Duties on Crockery—Complete Refutation of Major McKinley’s Assertion That the Foreigner Fays the Tax—Facts for Fanners to Consider—Tariff Shot. The Tariff Is a Tax. In a recent speech which he delivered In Ohio Major McKinley said: “Don’t you believe those wicked Democrats when they tell you that the tariff is a tax. The foreigner pays it; you don’t ” And then without proving his assertion, he asked, “How, then, can the tariff be a burden to the people of this country?" When Major McKinley was in Congress he was the special representative of the pottery and glass trust, which had many factories located in his district. During the tariff debates he always had a lot of chinawaro upon his desk, to show his fellow Congressmen and the visitors in the galleries that his desk was the stand and he the champion of the pottery combines. It is to be presumed, therefore, thatj when McKinley says the foreign manu- j facturers. and not the consumers in the United States, pay the tariff tax, he has in mind that upon crockery ware, with j which he claims to be thoroughly conversant Such being the case, he cannot dodge the following facts, since they doal with his own particular hobby. The time is past when mere assertions of general principles regarding the tariff, no matter by whom made, will be taken as gospel truth. They must be backed up by facta For over thirty years we have had very light duties upon crockery and earthenware. During this period combines have been formed among the manufacturers on the one hand to keep up prices and on the other to cut down the wages of the workmen employed in their factories. These pottery combines charge for their goods all that the tariff will allow, as is shown in the following table, which gives for first quality white granite ware the net wholesale prices as charged by the East Liverpool and Trenton manufacturers in this country and by the pottery manufacturers in England, from which the greater part of our imports come. The prices given are absolutely correct, being taken in each instance from the price lists and discount sheets. In the table the first column shows the foreign price per dozen, the second the American price, the third the amount which the American price exceeds the foreign price, and the fourth the amount of duties charged on the foreign ware when imported into the United States. English E.Liv- Higher prices erpool in East Articles. per prices Liver- Duties Plates flat— dozen, pr. doss. pool. paid. 4 inch $0,167 *0.28 *0.113 *O.OOIB 6 inch 268 .44 .177 .1446 8 inch .359 .60 .241 .1974 P.ates deep—--6 inoh 263 .56 .297 .1446 8 inch 359 . 54 . 281 .1074 Bakers' 6 inch 479 .70 .221 .2634 8 nch 863 1.40 . 587 . 4746 . 10 inch 1.438 2.35 . 012 .7909 Hnwlfl 36b • .319 .50 .181 .1754 24s 479 .74 .2.11 .2634 Cover Dishes 7 Inch- 2.013 3.2.1 1.187 1.1071 9 lnoh 2.588 4.00 1.412 1.4234 Dishes 6 inch 335 .53 .245 .1842 8 inch 479 . 80 . 321 .2034 10 inch 863 1 44 .677 .4746 12 Inch 1.488 2.52 3.082 .7909 16 inch 3.163 5.',6 2.597 1.7396 T©&B Handled 383 .666 .983 .2106 Unhandled... .319 .466 .247 .1754 (Viffflm— Handled 444 .8 0 .356 .2142 Unhandled... .383 .7-9 .817 .2106 Butters ojvered 5 inch L 725 2.8 W 1.073 .9487 Total 22 doz. assort’d ware *19.122 $32,042 *12.920 *10.5162 Add to the duties as given above on the ware atone, the duties on the packages and charges, and the cost of importation, the above figures show clearly that the pottery combine charges American consumers all that the tariff will allow. What, in view of the above facts, becomes of the assertion of McKinley that “the foreigner pays the tax; you don’t?”