Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1893 — SPECIFIC TARIFF DUTY. [ARTICLE]

SPECIFIC TARIFF DUTY.

ITS DANGEROUS FEATURES THOROUGHLY EXPOSED. A Drain in Chemicals and Drugs Throws Some Light on the Matter—Protection Dies Very Hard Plutocracy a krai Menace. Expose of SpeelHc Duties. In making the next tariff bill, a bitter light will be waged over the question of whether the bill shallj be made in the Interests of the people, and contain only ad valorem duties, or whether it shall be again made in the interests of importers and manufacturers, and contain tricky specific duties, to a large extent With! ad valorem duties, poor people, who juse cheap articles, pay no higher rgtes than the rich, who use dear artides. With specific duties, cloth that cists but 5Q cents a yard may be subject to as much duty as cloth that costs 95 a yard. Specific duties also prevent the people from getting the full benefit of the natural fall in the prices of commodities. Not only this, but they have ever been the resort of tricky manufacturers for obtaining, on the sly, greatly increased protection. It is for this reason that they are so numerous in the last tariff bill. McKinley, however, in using specific duties, was using a two-edged sword. With the best of Intentions toward tho manufacturers, he proved himself, at least in the case cited below, to be incompetent to defend their Interests; and all because lie overreached himself in the use of specific duties.

A prominent New York dealer In chemicals, drugs and medicines, in expressing ills views beforo the Tariff Reform Committee of the Reform Club, now preparing a tariff bill such as it would like to see adopted, says in regard to specific duties: AVhlle, in the abstract, specific duties are the ideal duties; while they are perhaps easier to collect and certainly eusier to determine, yet from the vast number of articles coming under tho headings of drugß, medicines and chemicals It Is virtually Impossible to adopt specific duties. To do so would necessitate special mention of many thousands of articles, and would prove cumbersome In the extreme; [ am, tlierefort*, of the opln'on, based on many years’ experience, that In this- class of merchandise ad valorem duties arc the only practicable ones. Now, to come down to the present tariff law. it has retained almost all of the abuses contained In the law of 1883, added a few new ones, and brought relief In but few Instances on articles of minor Importance. The greatest change has been made by the Introduction of paragraph 74, which reads, “All medicinal preparations, Including medicinal proprietary preparations, of which alcohol is a component part, or In the preparation of which alcohol Is used, not specially provided for in this act, fifty cents per pound.” The mischief lies In the clause, “or In the preparation of which alcohol Is used." Under the ruling of the Hoard of General Appraisers all alkaloids and salts of alkaloids which otherwise (under paragraph 7«) would pay 25 per cent ad valorem duty are now entered under this clause at the rate of fifty cents per pound, u tremendous reduction in almost all instances and a contingency certainly never contemplated by the framers of this paragraph. As Illustrations of the working of this clause, let me name a few articles which now conic in at the rate of fifty cents per pound, and which but for this 111-chosen and ill-considered phrase would pay about the following rates of duty: Cooalne muriate ♦ 18,00 per pound Keerlne sulphate isb.uo " " - Homatroplne hyilrobromate 156.00 " “ Hyoeolne bydrobromate.... avn.i/O *' " These are all salts of alkaloids, and used In medicine only. In addition to such articles, paragraph 74 has also been made to apply to medicinal preparations protected by patents, and in the strictest sense of tho word monopolies. All these corne In now at the rate of fifty cents per pound, because In some stage of their preparation alcohol is used, whereas they should pay, according to their value abroad and the twenty-five per cent, clause of paragraph 70, about the following rate of duty: Anti pyrin t 2.00 per pound riperazln 12.00 Dluretln 6.00 “ *• Both of these lists can he extended almost indefinitely, and according to the statement made to the writer by a former assistant appraiser of the port of New York, which statement I fully indorse, the Government has been deprived of millions of dollars of revenue under the workings of this clause, which was Intended by its authors only to bring about the manufacture of chloralhydrate in this country; it has acted like a boomerang and has made American competition in this extensive class of merchandise absolutely Impossible.