Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1897 — IT IS LEGAL ROBBERY [ARTICLE]

IT IS LEGAL ROBBERY

DINGLEY TARIFF MEASURE IS OUTRAGEOUS. The Only Abominable Measure of the McKinley Bill Which la Not Reproduced Is the Bounty Upon SugarOffice Seekers Harass the President. Revenue vs. Spoils. Washington correspondence: If the Democrats are looking for an issue to unite the party they will find it in the Dingley tariff bill. Close critics say that if it becomes a law it will be the worst system of legalized robbery ever inflicted upon the people of any country. There is no doubt whatever that the bill will become a law. It will be forced through the house under the peculiar rules which govern that body without any opportunity for amendment and with only limited opportunity for debate. But just when it will be enacted, is a question. One prominent Republican authority says: Chairman Dingley estimates that his tariff hill will produce at least seventy millions more revenue for the lirst year than the present law. lie puts iu a proviso, however. It is: “Unless a considerable delay in tile enactment of the hill should greatly enlarge the opportunity for-imports of articles on which duties are to he raised—particularly wool and woolens for speculative purposes. Undoubtedly any delay beyond May 1 in placing the bill on the statute hook would result iu a large loss of revenue.” Noltody seems to believe the hill will pass hy May 1./fhe general opinion seems to be that it will become a law about July 1. Hence there will he “a large loss of revenue.” Has the chairman estimated what that loss will he, not merely on wool and woolens, hut also on sugar? If so, lie ought to give those figures and then it will he known how much revenue his bill will produce in case it is “held up” in the Senate for the next three months. Tlie McKinley hill reached a Republican Senate May 21. It passed the Senate, with amendments, Sept. 10. It became a law Oct. 1. It is practically certain that the bill will' be exhaustively discussed before It is put upon its passage. The Democrats in the house are powerless to make such a fight against the bill as they would like to make, but they look to the Democratic Senators to resist Its passage with all the means at their command. They will not be disappointed, ns a number of the Democrats In the Senate are now preparing the arguments which they Intend to present against the measure. One Democratic Senator said: The Republicans claim that they tfill have fifty votes for the bill iu the Senate, and the claim is doubtless well founded. So, you see, there is uo qhance to prevent the bill from becoming a law. The best thing tlie Democrats can do is to expose the moustrous'features of the enactment. We do not intend to allow a vote to be taken until the bill has been thoroughly discussed. Tlie McKinley tariff law was the most odious measure that ever became a statute in this country. Ido not exaggerate when I say that the Dingley bill is a great deal worse than the act of 1890. The only abominable provision of the McKinley lnw which is not preserved in the Dingley bill is that giving a bounty to the producers of sugar. But there are a great many bad features in. the Dingley bill which were not contained in the McKinley law. The verdict of the conservative and independent thought in this country will be ngaiust this measure, which President McKinley has prescribed for the relief of the treasury. The President tenders the prescription with a gloved hand, but the Democrats will not swallow the nauseating dose without registering a solemn protest against it. The message which the president sent to the Senate was an adroitly worded document. It was intended not to give offense to the Democrats, and there wns nothing in it to offend anybody. He did not discuss the tariff in the communication which he sent to Congress, hut his real message on that subject is contained in the Dingley bill. The schedules prepared by the Republicans of the Ways and Means Committee were submitted to and approved by the President before they were adopted. The pressure which is being brought to bear on President McKinley to go ahead and distribute the patronage without waiting for the passage of the tariff bill Ls becoming terrific. The oflice-seekers are unable to see the President personally, but they manage to reach him through the Senators aud Representatives. Mr. McKinley Is beginning to show signs of annoyance at the persistent clamor for oflice. He told a number of Congressmen that they were not treating him fairly hy urging him to take up the patronage question after he had announced that there should be no general division of the spoils in advance of the passage of the tariff. He went further and gave some of the more insistent ones to understand that they were prejudicing the claims of the men they were trying to benefit by their efforts to hurry up matters. The politicians are feeling very sore toward the President, hut they have not yet reached the point where they are willing to condemn him openly. Publicly they say they hope everything will turn out all right in the end, while in private they say many harsh things about McKinley. The worst grumblers at the President’s dilatory policy are the Republicans from Maryland, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Those States went Republican last fall for the first time in their history. It was only natural, therefore, that the Republican leaders In these hitherto Democratic strongholds should expect that all their demands would be honored promptly when Mr. McKinley became President. They came believing that the “pie” would be dealt out to them lu liberal slices as fast as it was called for. They think they are receiving rough treatment when they are told that their names cannot go on the pay roll until the country gets a new tariff. It Is anticipated that some of the Southern Republicans will go on the warpath befor very long.

Folly of the Shipping Lawq. It lias been finally decided that Mr. Vanderbilt may import a pleasure yacht free of duty. If, however, Mr. Vanderbilt had sought to bring here a vessel built abroad, to engage in commerce and earn something in the carrying trade under the American flag, he would have found an insuperable obstacle in these same “protective” laws. In the one case, the laws favor luxuries for the personal enjoyment of a very rich man; in the other, they forbid the

same to commercial enterprise for the benefit of the whole country.—Boston Post.

Extravagance in Government. Three-quarters of a century ago, when this country had already entered on its vast career of development, the ordinary expense of carrying on the government at Washington was about a dollar a head of population, or about $13,000,000 in all, each year. Now it costs over $7 a year per head, and the total, independent of the interest on the public debt, which amounts to $120,000,000, figures up $400,000,000. The growth has been pretty steady during all these years, and it costs more per head of population to meet the ordinary outlay of our Federal rulers today than it did thirty or thirty-five years ago by nearly $3, and quite $2 more than it did as recently as 1890, when it was $5 per capita. The general impression Is that as the country becomes more densely populated the cost of government for each Individual should decrease, but the experience of the United States proves that it increases almost four-fold In a third of a century. It took less than $2 for each of the thirty-odd millions of people that constituted this nation In 18(50,.and it takes $7 for every one of the seventy-odd millions that we number now'. There is evidence of waste in these figures at present expenditures. The incomes of the working masses have certainly not Increased in any such ratio as the cost of running the government has increased. In fact, it is doubtful whether wage-earners do, as a body, earn more per individual now than in 18(50. That the Republican party; which set the pace in expenditures, will do a single thing to put a stop to extravagance is not at all likely. The Congress which came to an end only ten days ago increased the per capita outlay of the government from $5 fixed by its predecessor to $7, which is more than likely to be exceeded by the one which meets to-morrow for the first time. When we reflect, however, that, while a pereon’s ability to pay taxes has not Increased since ISGO, the taxes needed for the ordinary running expenses of the government have increased almost fourfold, the necessity of a return to the economy practiced by the Democratic fathers is only too apparent if the life is not to be crushed out of the people.—New York News. Political Notes. One explanation of Tom Reed and McKinley burying the hatchet is that the former foresees that the tariff bill will kill off all chances of the latter’s nomination four years hence.—Kansas City Times. With Pres McKinley’s help, Mark Hanna hopes to have a highly successful administration. He has already announced, with charactertic patriotism, that the first duty will be to take care of “our friends.”—Boston Globe. The people want a sincere enforcement of the civil service law. The party which imagines that the public can be deceived in this matter is sure to find itself mistaken. It is certain to discover that its record is remembered when It comes before the people for indorsement.—Philadelphia Press. The Republican newspapers are speaking of President McKinley as “the ruler” of the country, but it is well to inform these benighted sheets that the country is ruled by the people themselves and not by their President, who is merely an administrative officer anfl nothing more—New Orleans States. The duty of % cent a pound on refind sugar is for the benefit of the sugar trust and for no other purpose. It will bring in no revenue. It is not necessary for protection. It means a clear gift of $5,000,000, levied on the American people by the tariff impost, for the benefit of the millionaires of the sugar trust.—Philadelphia Press. Notice has been served In advance upon President McKinley that he waa not expected to live up to the platform upon which he was chosen nor to fulfill his own pledges in the matter of distributing the spoils. It will not be many days before he will be at swords’ points with all the active and energetic spoils mongers in his party unless he shall bend himself to their demands.— Philadelphia Record.