JANUARY 28, 1904.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
X The New Fscrty
Editor Independent: I have just
risen from a reading of Thomas K.
Watson's "Life and Times of Thomas
Jefferson."
The most significant sentence is the
following:
"When one of our custom house
people opens a lady's trunk and rum
mages about among her undergar
ments, frequently holding them up to
irreverent view, or scattering them
around in disorder, it is the system,
not the jmen, whom all decent folks
loathe and detest." (p. 96-7.)
Mr. Watson is an able writer. He
has writteri an interesting book. Who
ever takes up the "Life and Times of
Thomas Jefferson" and commences to
v read, will probably go through to the
end.
The sentence above quoted shows
hnw the! writer looks upon the tariff.
He finds no fault with revenue tariffs,
but' he can ridicule protection with
out limit. If a custom house oflicer
happens to' be overstrenuous, it is -all
charged to a protective tariff, instead
of a revenue tariff. According to Mr.
Watson, if a collector of customs
should "open a lady's trunk and rum
mage about among her undergar
ments," it would be all right, provid
ed the officer were collecting duties
in the interest of "revenue," but all
wrong if he should act in the interest
of protecting American industries.
I cannot,, understand such logic-as
this. It nevertheless serves to show
how a southern man things. Not that
we don't have plenty of men in the
north who think the same way;, but
the south is the home of such ideas
if not the home certainly the origin;
for it is a matter of history, that rev
enue tariffs were not preached until
about 1820, when the south, was fast
concluding to have slavery as a per
manent institution. The south showed
this disposition by refusing to admit
Missouri as a free state and threat-
ening to go out of the Union (or break
' it up), unless slavery could be ex
tended. At that time the north was
foolish enough to consent to the ad
mission of Missouri a3 a slave state
provided Maine was admitted as a
free state and provided the south
would consent to confine slavery to all
territory in the west south of 36 de
grees 30 minutes, which was the
famous Missouri compromise.
WTe have plenty of people in the
north who talk just like the people of
the south on the tariff, but they get
their ideas and their logic from the
south. It so happens, however, that
their ideas are not indorsed by a sin
gle state in the north, while protec
tion is not indorsed by a single state
south. In eld times this was not the
case, for, before slavery began to be a
power,' protection was as popular in
the south as in the north. I am, there
fore, obliged to attribute the present
condition of things in the south to ne
gro slavery. To be sure, slavery is
dead, but it ha3 left its marks and
' one of the marks is a "tariff for rev
enue only."
Now, the point of the whole argu
ment is this: "Why should the Ameri
can people thipk of taxing themselves
by a tariff law as long as they can
tax themselves in any other way?
If they tax themselves by a tariff
law, they tax themselves in propor
tion to the amount of foreign food
and clothing they use. On the other
hand, if they tax themselves in any
other way, they tax in proportion to
their wealth, ability to pay, or Den
efits received from government.
I am now speaking of taxing for
the federal government at Washing
tnn. Thev mfcht tax themselves by
the "sincTe tax" for the support o; lo
cal government. They a, least might
think vl doing mis. mil mcy coma
not think of taxing themselves In this
wav for the eunwrt of tne national
government at Washington, bemuse
the single tat must first bn applied
i if ever applied) for the support of lo
cal government. If enough cannot be
realized for tho support of a munlc-
inalltv isxn very many contend! then
certainty nothing can bo realized for
the, central government at Washing
ton.
Taxation for the support of mu
nlHpalitle l rot tho Ksue at Dreamt.
Thin yatem of t.itntlon. hnwcvtT, I
far more natUfartory than th jtm
fur thp support of the national to
rrnmeut.
What w want ntw I n t nation for
lh fouVral r.ovt-rnmeut, th.1t will f
m(mhi wealth nvthT than lo.l and
liothlne. Wo nre lnipr"Hi'd with the
id4, that, if this vstotti u con tin
ue.1. a wo ft nd It lmtw"Me.l In our tar
If! ami Internal revenu ttfm, we
shall have to pay In piUun to the
amount of food we consume rather
than according to the amount of prop
erty we own.
Coming back, however, to the single
tax for a moment, let me observe,
that the Henry George people, who
are advocating this and seeking to
make it the paramount issue in oar
national politics as well as in our lo
cal politics, must first get their doc
trine adopted in some municipality in
the Union, before they can think of
having -it "adopted for supporting the
federal government. If, for instance,
the Hon. Tom L. Johnson could get
his city to adopt the single tax, not for
the support of his state of Ohio or of
the United States, but for his own
city of Cleveland, then he might think
of asking the people of his state of
Ohio to adoj?t it for the support of
the state government. But it seems,
as a matter of fact, that Mr. Johnson
has never succeeded In getting his
own city to adopt the single tax, and
herefore he is estopped from asking
his state, as such, to adopt it. I will
not undertake to say why Mr. John
son was so overwhelmingly defeated
for governor in the recent campaign,
but he and his friends, the single tax
ers, might very properly begin to
think about ruling their own city be
fore they begin to think about ruling
the state of Ohio? And, by the way, I
wish that Mr. Johnson would apply
his system of taxation to.' the city of
Cleveland and make a success of it,
n order that we might have the data,
upon which we can build an argu
ment for the single tax. It is a fact
that this tax is only a theory, as yet,
and we would like to have some hard
facts to support it. It is a splendid
theory and I would like to see it ap
plied and made successful. But, un
til I ean see it applied to some mu
nicipality, town or township and
shown to be practicable, I can never
have any faith in it for the support of
a state government, much less for the
support of the national government
at Washington,
Coming back to the tariff, which is
to be the paramount issue between the
two old parties this year, let us notice
that we are constantly complaining of
"high tariffs." Now, what is meant,
when we denounce high duties on for
eign merchandise imported? Do we
mean high duties for protection or
high duties for revenue? The recent
debate in congress, with reference to
reciprocal trade with Cuba, answers
this question. We have been com
plaining that the duty on sugar is too
high under the Dingley law enacted in
1894. The duty, in round numbers. Is
about 1' cents a pound on raw sugar
and 2 cents on refined sugar. These
rates are very :igh, because the price
of raw sugar in Europe (Hamburg, the
great exporting port), is about 1
cents, and if the duty is also 1 cents,
it is 100 per cent, which Is certainly a
very high rate. It is high enough to
double the price of sugar to the con
sumer, and is therefore a tax of 100
per cent on the sugar bowl or its con
tents; and takes as many dollars out
of the man who works for a dollar a
day as out of the millionaire, if they
each eat the seme amount of sugar.
If the poor man has six children and
they all eat sugar, and the million
aire has no children, then the former
pays six times as much for the sup
port of the federal government at
Washington as the latter. This Is
the practical working of the tariff on
sugar insofar as it Is a tariff for rev
enue only. If it is a tariff for pro
tection only then it not only raises
the price of foreign sugar, but the
price of all similar domestic sugar.
We are a sugar producing country as
well as a sugar consuming country.
Wo produce only a small amount of
sugar In comparison with the amount
we consume. I believe we produce
shout one-tenth of what we consume,
no that we have to Import a very
largo amount of sugar. The reult Is.
that If the duty is very high and we
Import a very large amount, then Un
cle Fam gets a very large amount of
revenue from the. Importation of u
gar. And, balden. If the duty on for
eign sugar Imported la so high as to
double the price of foreign sugar, then
the price of our domestic fuiKar f
11! o grade or Und I aUo doubled
because our domestic producer who
product m little compared with the
Imported mtsar, can nsk a much as
tho merchant ask who Import for
riKn ni'gir. Hut, If our producer can
double th prhe of thtlr little Bur.tr.
iltnply because the Importer double
tho j rl i of thlf artl' l a my lar;e
quantity of which U brought Into the
iountry In n!te of tho htnh duty and
high jrUe, thn, of tourae, our do
jmth prodiir are doing a xd
hut!uf and art thriving, althuu&n
our consumers are sometimes pinched
by the high price.
If the duty on sugar is now too high,
as we all think it is, for purposes of
protection or encouragement of our
sugar producers in the north or . in
the south then of course the excess
of what is necessary for protection
is certainly intended for the revenue
of Uncle Sam; and, whether, intend
ed or not for revenue, it certainly
adds to the revenue of the United
States. -
Democrats, as a rule, never object
to a tariff duty, no matter how high,
provided only, that it is for the ben
efit of Uncle Sam, but they always
object, if the duty is for protection
(or encouragement of the revenue of
a citizen) and they object on the
ground of highness. The are always
watching for a high duty, if it is for
protection; but never for a high duty,
f it is for revenue. They are wili
ng, apparently, to pay any amount of
taxes on consumption whether the
consumer is able to pay or not. '
Republicans, as a rule, never object
to a duty, no matter how high, provid
ed only that it is for protection. Nor
do they object if the high duties are
for revenue.
Now, it so happened in the recent
debate on the Cuban reciprocity treaty
that the duty on raw sugar (1 cents)
was admitted, by the leading repub
licans, to be too high for purposes
of protection, but not high enough for
purposes of Uncle Sam's revenue.
This was distinctly admitted by the
committee on ways and means (Mr,
Payne chairman) in their report to
the house. I call particular attention
to this, because it is a good illustra
tion of the difference between a duty
for protection and a duty for rev
enue alone. It shows that a duty
may be high for one purpose and low
or not high enough for another pur
pose; that the duty on sugar, for In
stance, was too high for protection
and not high enough for revenue.
I have been wanting, for a long
time, to come across some such illus
tration as this; and it was not until
I sat down to read the report of Mr.
Payne, that my eyes lit upon it; and
any man who wants to kpow the dif
ference between the two tariff systems
can see it by reading Mr. Payne's ar
gument in support of the Cuban reciprocity-bill.
The great difficulty with our pres
ent tariff law is, not that the duties
are too high 'or protection, but that
there are too many duties for rev
enue merely, and the .mischief of the
whole business is that the democrats
are eager, to point out the duties that
are too high for protection, but never
eager to call attention to the fact
that there should never be a duty
for revenue merely.
What the country needs today is a
tariff law in which there shall be no
duties for revenue and another law
(first passed) providing that when
ever the government needs Tevenuc, it
shall be furnished by taxing the citi
zen according , to his or her wealth,
and not In proportion to the amount
of food they consume.
The two old parties are each now
trying to get into a good position be
fore the people on the tariff question,
in order to carry the presidential eiec
tion. The republicans will preacn pro
tection and the democrats tariff lor
revenue only. The result will be,
that the republicans .will -win, and
then they will, continue the old law
which will have more revenue tariffs
in it than any democrat could think
of. This is the way things have been
running the past twenty-five years,
right under our own eyes and yet
the thing will continue, unless the
new party acknowledges the principle
or theory of protection as settled, and
then precedes to make a law that will
tax wealth, whenever revenue Is
wanted for the treasury of the United
States.
What Is wanted today Is a party
that can unite the north and the
south. These two flections have been
estranged too long. The never
should have been separated, a thty
have been. It has been the work of
demagogues, or at least of men, not
well Informed. Slavery did It, but
now that slavery ha pawed away or
is passing away, It twin sister, tariff
for revenue, only, ought also to go. It
must go, or titer will ba no jnacr
no union of the sections. It mut go.
or there will be no ftationalit), no
grand conception of what we ought
to t a a nation. It inut go, or
there will V no patriotism no United
State of America, bit in lien thiff
a lot f conffdtfrtitrtl Mate with no
grnml aim or purpose. It mutt an. or
tho rw-ople of tho iwUh will h. r
know what It l to be an American
ittUen, men a JacWon nnl,rr,pml.
Ye, we ni'Ht hate prutrition In the
notith. ThM part of th country ir-U
It rtmr than the north. The uih
b 4 able- iu-.'U, but they bar feyen
misled by such men as John C. Cal
houn, who - taught that slavery is a
"good, a positive good," and who con
strued the constitution of the United
States in such a way as to make each
state a nation, insteatLof making a
nation out of the United States of
America.
We not only want to abolish rev
enue tariffs, holding on to protective
tariffs for a while, but want a system
of taxation, that will wipe out every
monopoly all the trusts as fast as
they develop Into monopolies. If a
graduated income tax will do this, we .
want it. If an inheritance tax will
do this, we want it. In short, we
want the power of taxation so ap
plied as to do exact justice, and leave
no man or mea with any special priv-
1 1 1 r t
Is the new party equal to the emerg
ency? Can it declare that freedom is
our first object, and that every citizen
ought to vote oh equal terms without
regard to race, color or sex? Can it
declare that every citizen shall be
taxed according to his or her wealth
and that all tariffs for revenue merely
shall q abolished? Can it declare ,
that the money of the nation, whether
stamped upon gold,. silver or paper,
shall be issued by the government it
self and for the benefit of all the peo
ple alike, and that its volume and
value-shall be regulated by the gov
ernment Itself and not by banks? Can
the new party do these few things?
If so. It is ready for action, and its
labors will be blessed abundantly. We
are tired of waiting. We have waited
altogether too long. We have waited
so long that many have become dis
couraged and have almost given up
But we must not be discouraged.
The brightest days are those that
come after the greatest darkness.
JNO. S. DE HART.
Jersey City, N. J.
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i sn I ll"l si rut r rsrtlr.l in iba I ou! ft
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