Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1892 — whst De they Mean Aanhow. [ARTICLE]

whst De they Mean Aanhow.

of the National Democratic party is and means. It lays: -We declare it to ha a fundamental principle oi the Democratic party that the Federal GOT■rnmant has no constitutional power to impose and colleot tariff duties, except tor purposes oi zevunaeonly. ■ ' .. No other usa is mad« of the money collected on Imports "except for revenue only. 4 * The late Democratic Congress approp ated for public use all that was collected on imports, and more tpo, so whether there is "constitutional power” or not to collect these duties, a Democratic Congress fonnd them very handy to pay themselves with, and to appropriate for every other public usa. Every dollar was needed that had been so collected, besides large drafts on internal revenue, Then what do they mean by the party declaration? There can be but one meaning. If deed many of their speakers and papers t ake that plain. They oppose patting tariff duties on the articles we can make in this coantry, and for which we have the raw material. They don’t want Great Britain to have any competition in the manufacture of these articles. They want to build up a British monopoly by cutting off Americas competition. They know that by admitting these goods free, the cheap labor then’would shut up our factories. Then indeed without competition they would put up prices on ns like it was done in 1850-60, when we paid 18 and 20 cents a yard for calico and muslins, and three times the price we now pay for blankets and other woolen goodi, and double the present price for all the goods made of. iron and steel. That would be a savage tax on American consumers then. Free trade would indeed-be 3a tax, for it would destroy American competition and Great Brltian would have our markets all to themselves. But how, then, would this government -g§t its revenue? Why, of course they say they would put the tariff duty on sugar, and coffee, and tea and spices and bther thing which we do not and cannot produce in any considerable quantity and raise “revenue only” that way. Then that would be another tax on American consumers, because we do not and cannot grow or produce these, or give foreign producers of them any competition in them. Then what would we have? L A heavy tax by free trade in articles we could make, because without competition British greed would put up the price as they did before under like conditions. 3. A heavy tax by tariff duties on articles we can’t produce. That is just what a tariff for “revenue only” means.