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AUGUST, 16, 190T.
The Commoner.
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Tariff Catechism
Q.
A.
Q.
A.
aid of
articles.
A.
A.
What is a tariff?
A duty collected on imports.
What is a protective tariff?
A duty imposed upon imports for tho
homo factories producing competing
What is a revenue tariff?
A revenue tariff is a tariff levied for
the purpose of raising a revenue.
Q. What is the difference between the .two
kinds of tariff?
A. A revenue tariff is collected for the
benefit of thowhole public, and the government
stops when it gets enough. A protective tariff
is imposed for private benefit, may bo so levied
as to impdse a heavy burden without raising
much revenue and there is no limit to its exac
tions except the greed of the protected interests
and the patience of the people.
Q. Who pays the tariff?
A. The consumer.
Q. How can this fact be established?
A. By reason, by observation and by ex
perience. If a tariff were paid by the foreigner
it would bo no protection to the home industry.
Only when the consumer must pay more than
the foreign price for an imported article can the
.home producer charge more than the foreign
price for the domestic article. A tariff paid by
the foreigner would give no protect! n to an
American manufacturer. Then, too, the gov
ernment gives a rebate on raw material when
the finished product is exported. Why does the
government pay the rebate to the domestic man
ufacturer if the foreigner pays the tariff?
But experience is the best test. Go abroad,
buy in the open market, and when you return
you will pay the duty and you can not find any
foreigner to reimburse you.
Q. Is such a tax constitutional?
A. It violates the spirit of the constitu
tion for it collects from the many and gives to
the few, but as the protective features are con
cealed in a revenue law it is difficult to get a
deoision on the principle involved.
Q. Can the wisdom of such a tax be do
fended? A. No; a policy of favoritism is never wise
in a republic. A government of the people, by
the people and for the people should be admin
istered according to the maxim: Equal rights
to all and special privileges to none.
Q. Is the present protective tariff neces
sary? -A. No; It is, about twice as high as would
be necessary to cover the entire labor cost of
protected manufactures. The fact that wo are
exporting an Increasing amount of manufac
tures is proof that our industries do not need
the present protection. And it must be remem
bered that our manufactures have the benefit
of the freight when the foreigner brings his
goods here, while the foreign competitor has the
benefit of the freight when we export. And
it must also be remembered that the tariff on all
kinds of material, on machinery and on food and
clothing increases the cost of articles manu
factured hero. If we can now export in spite
of these burdens we could export more if tho
tariff were reduced.
Q. Does a high tariff make good wages?
A. No. If it is said that we pay higher
wages than they do in England a stock argu
ment with protectionists It Is a complete an
swer to say that England with no protective tariff
pays better wages than Germany does under pro
tection. Our best wages are paid in our unpro
tected industries and the fact that we export
goods made with our high priced labor is posi
tive proof that good wages do not depend on
protection. The labor organizations have done
Tar more to increase wages than all the tariff
laws.
Q. What about the home market argu
ment? A. The friends of protection claim that
the farmer can afford to pay more when he buys
because the manufacturers furnish him a home
market, but this. Is a fallacy. The staples of
the farm are exported and the price received
for the surplus exported fixes the price received
for the part sold at home. As the farmer sells
In the unprotected markets of the world and
buys in a protected market he is constantly
drained of his earnings for the benefit of the
manufacturer and the. manufacturer i'nW shows
his ingratitude by, selling abroad cneaner, than
at home.7 : '. ' ,. ..,',
Q. How .has' the' tariff "been maintained so
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long whon It Is wrong in principle, unwise in
policy and unnecessary?
A. The .protected Interests have contrib
uted liberally to support literary bureaus and
to campaign funds and havo coorcod thoir em
ployes by tfie threat of shutting down. Advo
cates of protection havo boon ablo to organize,
distribute literature and got out tho vote, while
advocates of tariff reform, as they could promise
no special pecuniary benefits, have had to make
their campaigns without fundB. The advocates
of protection havo done much to corrupt pub
lic opinion by boldly teaching that the voter
should use tho ballot to advance his pecuniary
interests. The manufacturer has been invited to
vote dividends into his pocket, tho wool grower
has been solicited to voto himself a higher price
for wool and the laboring man has been warned
that a vote against protection would lower his
wages.
Q. Is it truo as often assorted by advo
cates of a high tariff that a Utah tariff always
brings good times and that tariff reform always
brings a panic?
A. No. Prosperity followed tho low tariff
of 1846 and the .panic of 1873 occurred under
a high tariff. The panic of 1873 not only oc
curred under a high tariff but twelve years after
tho republican party came into power and eleven
years before Mr. Cleveland's first election. The
panic of 1893 occurred while tho McKinley law
was in force a year before tho Wilson bill was
passed, and really began while the republican
party was in power.
Q. Is there any evidence of growth in
tariff reform sentiment?
A. Yes. The farmers are no longer de
ceived by the home market argument, the em
ployes no longer regard their wages as depend
ent upon the tariff and many manufacturers
find the tariff more of an embarrassment than
a benefit. Our exporters, too, are discovering
that our tariff discriminations excite retaliation
in other countries.
Q. When will tho beneficiaries of protec
tion consent to tariff reduction?
A. Never. A child gets so old that it is
ashamed to nurse; a calf gets so big that it will
wean itself, but no beneficiary of protection ever
voluntarily lets go of the public teat.
Q. When will tho tariff be reformed by
Its friends?
A. Just after the money lenders ask for
a reduction in the legal rate of interest that
Is, just before the mlllenlum.
Q. To whom must w,e look for tariff re
form? A. To those who suffer no abuse was
ever reformed by those who profited by the
abuse to be reformed.
Q. When should tariff-reform begin?
A. At once.
Q. And how?
A. By putting on the free list those art
icles which compete with articles controlled bv
the trusts; second, by the reduction of the tariff
on the necessaries of life, and, third, by such
other changes in the tariff schedules as will put
"protection for protection's sake" "In the pro
cess of ultimate extinction" with a view to re
storing the tariff to a revenue basis.
oooo
THE PRIMARY PLEDGE
As this copy of The Commoner may be read
by some one not familiar with the details of tho
primary pledge plan, it is necessary to say that
according to the terms of this plan every demo
crat Is aiked to pledge himself to attend all of
the primaries of his party to be held between
now and the next democratic national conven
tion unless unavoidably prevented, and to secure
a clear, honest and straightforward declaration
of the party's position on every question upon
which the voters of the party desire to speak.
Those desiring to be enrolled can either write
The Commoner approving the object of the or
ganization and asking to have their names en
tered on the roll, or they can fill out and mail
the blank pledge, which is printed on page 14.
OOOO
LOCKJAW
Senator "Foraker ' accused Secretary Taft of
having1 the lockjaw ''bit public ' jqudstions and!
calls upon the secretary'1 fb declare himself.'
Well, maybe tho senator' will do" some good,
nftaV oil fMMh'. . if IM,) . 1
V it 'H A rr I t .
after all.
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The Two-Cent Veto
Buffalo. Now York, July 30. Govornor
Hughes' consistent inconsistencies aro more
and moro apparent as ho makoo up hlii
official record of our year's legislation.
He evidently thinks that ho can legislate bettor
on tho railroad passongor rato than tho legisla
ture can and will give this most Important ques
tion into the hands of a commission of his own
selection. I do not know of any railroad in our
state that docs not sell 1,000 mile books for $20,
or two cents por rnllo. Now If our railroads
aro willing to carry tho well-to-do people who
can spare $20 at ono timo at two cents por rnllo,
why should not our Igolslatlon say to theso roads
you muBt carry oven poor people who have not
tho 20 for this purpose at tho rate fixed by
tho roads for tho favored $20 class. But horo
comes tho govornor and says this will Imporll
tho interests of tho roads. Can not tho govornor
see that his veto of tho two-cent faro bill Is
tho most helpful thing ho could do to assist
tho roads in discriminating against tho working
classes, and imperiling tho rights of tho poor?
If we havo in tho future governors and com
missions as obedient to tho corporate interests
that provide their campaign funds and as obliv
ious to tho rights of the public as somo governors
and commissions havo boon, wo shall only hasten
the day of tho oxposuro and breakdown of tho
new fad of govornmont by commissions. Tho
people aro slowly waking up to tho great on
cou ntor before them and havo oven now ad
vanced far enough to deny tho right of any
chartered transportation company to charge ono
man two cents, another three cents por mllo,
and some line of serviceable professionals half
faro, while carrying practical politicians and
retained ofllclals free. There would be at least
a pretonso of justice if the roads wore to weigh
all their passengers on thoir penny in the slot
scales and charge faro according to the actual
weight of each person thoy carry. But to
charge tho very common and poor people whoso
rides are mostly those of necessity c& ono
half or three cents per mllw winlo carrying the
well-to-do class at two cents is an outrago in
this or any other state. But tho governor's
idea seems to have tho regular republican trond
of high tariff "stand pat" taxation of tho poor
fdr the benefit of trusts and monopolies. Many
people still believe that public utility corpora
tions can be regulated and controlled for tho
public good while owned by private interests
whoso only aim Is large incomes and speedy
profit on sale of windblown anu- water-logged
stocks.
The German railway questjon was easily
and satisfactorily solved by one 'of the cabinet
ministers, buying in open market the stock of a
railroad company, for tho government, and in
charging! a reasonable price for carrying, people
and merchandise and In basing rates on tho
actual cost of the service rendered maintaining
in good order road bed and rolling stock and
paying interest on tho investment. On thk?
basis one after another of tho over-capitalized
private lines could not compete and sold to thg
government, so that all, or nearly all, German
roads are owned by the government and tho
people are cheaply and satisfactorily served
while paying the government a handsome in
come above cost of operation. In our stato
and nation those who prefer government
owned railroads to a railroad owned govern
ment will continue to Increase in numbers and
activity. C. B. MATTHEWS.
oooo
TAYLOR, TOO
Tho St. Louis Globe-Democrat (republican)
says: "For seven years democratic administra
tions in Kentucky have failed to finish the trial
of Caleb Powers. Meanwhile Mr. Powers is kept
in jail and mud Is thrown at tho republican
party of the state."
And in the meanwhile Mr. Taylor, charged
with complicity in tho Goebel murder, is a fugi
tive from justice and for seven years the repub
lican party of Indiana has protected him from
arrest.
oooo
In the preliminaries concerning the prose
cution of the powder trust one great fact has
been overlooked. Nothing has been done about
removing the trust's little "protection" of from
four to six dents a pound. Removing1 the tariff
would put, the powder trust to Bleep much,
quicker than, pn injunction. 1, '-. ,'-'
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