CONGRESS. (REVENTE REFORM.) 



197 



dens; freedom from all exactions upon the 

 citizen except such as may be necessary t<> 

 support an honest, efficient, and economical 

 administration of the Government that guar- 

 antee? him protection to ' life, liberty, and the 

 pursuit of happiness ' ; freedom from all taxa- 

 tion except that which is levied for the support 

 of the Government; freedom from taxation 

 levied for the purpose of enriching favored 

 classes by the spoliation and plunder of the 

 people : freedom from all systems of taxation 

 that do not fall with ' equal and exact justice 

 upon all ' that do not raise the revenues of 

 government in the way that is least burden- 

 some to the people and with the least possible 

 disturbance to their business. That, sir, is the 

 American policy." 



Mr. McKinley. of Ohio, who spoke May 18, 

 conceded the necessity of reducing the revenue 

 of the Government, but denied that the reduc- 

 tion should be made, as proposed in the Mills 

 Bill. He said : '' It will be freely confessed by 

 our political opponents that this bill is but the 

 beginning of a tariff policy marked out by the 

 President, and is a partial response only to his 

 message, to be followed up with additional 

 legislation until our system of taxation shall be 

 brought back to the ancient landmarks of the 

 Democratic party, to a purely revenue basis ; 

 that is, that the tariff or duty put upon foreign 

 importations shall hereafter look to revenue 

 and revenue only, and discard all other consid- 

 erations. 



"This brings us face to face, therefore, 

 with the two opposing systems, that of a 

 revenue as distinguished from a protective 

 tariff, and upon their respective merits they 

 must stand or fall. Now, what are they ? 

 First, what is a revenue tariff? Upon what 

 principle does it rest? It is a tariff" or tax 

 placed upon such articles of foreign production 

 imported here as will produce the largest 

 revenue with the smallest tax. 



"To secure larger revenue from lower duties 

 necessitates largely increased importations, and 

 if these compete with domestic products the 

 latter must be diminished or find other and 

 distant and I may say impossible markets or 

 get out of the way altogether. A genuine 

 revenue tariff imposes no tax upon foreign 

 importations the like of which are produced at 

 home, or, if produced at home, in quantities 

 not capable of supplying the home consump- 

 tion, in which case it may be truthfully said 

 the tax is added to the foreign cost and is paid 

 by the consumer. 



' A revenue tariff seeks out those articles 

 which domestic production can not supply, or 

 only inadequately supply, and which the wants 

 of our people demand, and imposes the duty 

 upon them, and permits as far as possible the 

 competing foreign product to be imported free 

 of duty. This principle is made conspicuous 

 in the bill under consideration : for example, 

 wool, a competing foreign product, which our 

 own flock-masters can fully supply for domes- 



tic wants, is put upon the free list, while sugar, 

 with a home product of only one eleventh of 

 the home consumption, is left dutiable. 



What is a protective tariff? It is a tariff 

 upon foreign imports so adjusted as to secure 

 the necessary revenue, and judiciously im- 

 posed upon those foreign products the like of 

 which are produced at home or the like of 

 which we are capable of producing at home. 

 It imposes the duty upon the competing foreign 

 product ; it makes it bear the burden or duty, 

 and, as far as possible, luxuries only excepted, 

 permits the non-competing foreign product to 

 come in free of duty. Articles of common 

 use, comfort, and necessity which we can not 

 produce here it sends to the people untaxed 

 and free from custom-house exactions. Tea, 

 coffee, spices, and drugs are such articles, and 

 under our system are upon the free list. It 

 says to our foreign competitor, if you want to 

 bring your merchandise here, your farm prod- 

 ucts here, your coal and iron ore, your wool, 

 your salt, your pottery, your glass, your cottons 

 and woolens, and sell alongside of our produc- 

 ers in our markets, we will make your prod- 

 uct bear a duty ; in effect, pay for the privi- 

 lege of doing it. Our kind of a tariff makes 

 the competing foreign article carry the burden, 

 draw the load, supply the revenue ; and in 

 performing this essential office it encourages 

 at the same time our own industries and pro- 

 tects our own people in their chosen employ- 

 ments. That is the mission and purpose of a 

 protective tariff. That is what we mean to 

 maintain, and any measure which will destroy 

 it we shall firmly resist, and if beaten on this 

 floor we will appeal from your decision to the 

 people, before whom parties and policies must 

 at last be tried. We have free trade among our- 

 selves throughout thirty-eight States and the 

 Territories and among sixty millions of people. 

 Absolute freedom of exchange within our own 

 borders and among our own citizens is the law 

 of the republic. Reasonable taxation and 

 restraint upon those without is the dictate of 

 enlightened patriotism and the doctrine of the 

 Republican party. Free trade in the United 

 States is founded" upon a community of equali- 

 ties and reciprocities. It is like the unre- 

 strained freedom and reciprocal relations and 

 obligations of a family. Here we are one 

 country, one language, one allegiance, one 

 standard of citizenship, one flag, one Constitu- 

 tion, one nation, one destiny. It is otherwise 

 with foreign nations, each a separate organism, 

 a distinct and independent political society 

 organized for its own, to protect its own, and 

 work out its own destiny. We deny to those 

 foreign nations free trade with us upon equal 

 terms with our own producers. The foreign 

 producer has no right or claim to equality 

 with our own. He is not amenable to our 

 laws. There are resting upon him none of the 

 obligations of citizenship. He pays no taxes. 

 He performs no civil duties; is subject to no 

 demands for military service. He is exempt 



