cally named are to be admitted free. In lieu of the duties now levied upon the cost and charges added to the original cost or value of the articles imported at place of production or export, which has been the source of so much litigation between the Government and the importers, the bill fixes an allowance of 5 per cent., equally applicable to all merchandise coming in under the ad valorem principle. It levies a discriminating duty of 10 per cent. additional upon all merchandise imported from and the growth and production of any country which discriminates against the United States in the admission of our products to their ports.

This provision is not intended as retaliatory, but is designed as an inducement to those foreign countries whose treaty stipulations prefer other nations to our own to make commercial regulations with us which shall place us upon an equally favorable footing. The bill in this, and in its general scope and tenor, looks to an enlargement of our foreign commerce, not only in its navigation, but also in facilities for the profitable sale of American-grown products of every character. Another and important provision is that which proposes to establish manufacturing bonded warehouses, and the benefit of drawback upon all exported goods containing any foreign material subject to duty. It is designed to encourage the exportation of American manufactured products of every character, by affording them the raw material free of duty, so that they can compete with any other like manufactures in the markets of the world. We believe that it is only necessary to afford our people an equal chance with all others in order to prove to foreign nations that we are equal if not superior to them in our manufactures.

The bill will materially reduce the cost of collecting the customs revenue. I may safely claim that the simplification, together with the curtailment of the number of dutiable articles and the abolition of the free list, will reduce the cost at least 15 per cent. Another considerable saving will be gained in the authority given to the Secretary of the Treasury to consolidate the collection districts, now the source of a large and unnecessary outlay; many of them are kept up at several thousand dollars' expense without producing any return whatever in the way of duties collected.

Some apprehensions have been entertained that the reduced rates proposed will cause a loss of revenue. There is no necessity for fear on this account. The removal of the ambiguities of the present tariff and the easy and speedy liquidation of

entries which will follow will operate as much to increase the importations as the proposed reduced rates will cause loss of

revenue.

The many obstructions now existing in entering goods at the custom houses and of speedily ascertaining the amount of duty to be paid will under the new system be very much if not altogether removed.

A merchant will know in advance the exact amount of duty to be paid, which will facilitate commerce and the Government will collect the duty without delay or litigation. Those who are not familiar with the present machinery used in the collection of duties will be slow to believe the great losses to the treasury which are constantly occurring in consequence. It has been estimated that the Government loses from 10 to 15 per cent. of the amount it should collect.

The losses occurring by evasions of the law, collusion with officials, and smuggling will, if the reforms proposed be carried out, be much lessened, and the opportunity for frauds and the demoralizing effect upon Government officers prevented.

The reductions proposed in the present tariff will afford much relief, and, as I have shown, without injury to the treasury. A corresponding reduction can be made in direct taxes, and yet sufficient revenue can be relied upon to meet the interest upon the public debt and defray all the necessary expenses of administration, if conducted upon a like scale of economy, as the taxpayers are now compelled to apply to their own individual affairs.

The principal opposition to a change in the tariff emanates from the friends of extreme protection to the manufacturing interests.

Whatever may have been the excuse originally for the governmental bounty to the then infant manufactures, it does not now exist and should not be continued, because the necessity for it no longer remains. They have reached so high a degree of excellence and grown so strong that they not only need not fear foreign competition here, but are able to maintain themselves in other countries against any opposition or rivalry there. This is the fact, especially with regard to the leading and the most protected interests. The iron and steel, the woolen, the cotton, and the silk productions of the United States are now forcing themselves into foreign markets by no other aid than their own superiority and conceded merit.

It is only necessary for us to have the opportunity to establish reciprocal trade with all the nations of the world in order

to show our superiority. Certainly American industries, so far as manufactures are concerned, have reached so high a degree of perfection that we can have nothing to fear. An exclusive policy, like that which the protective system implies, is not applicable to modern times. No nation now lives within itself. Science has served to unite the human race into one common family. While political institutions and language separate them into individual communities, yet in interests, in social ties, in rapid and constant intercommunication, in interchange of products, they have become solidified and concentrated. The former barriers which prevented general fraternal concord have been shattered, if not altogether broken down. The telegraph and the rapidity by which intercommunication is constantly conducted have caused a similitude of thought and action. The result of this will speedily effect reciprocal interchange of products and commodities, and that people which can supply another to the best advantage will command appreciation.

As a consequence the United States will receive universal recognition in all things in which we strive to excel. Hence the removal of any obstructions upon our part to the full consummation of this coming assimilation and consolidation is demanded by every consideration of self-interest.

As we have set the example of free political institutions and the recognition of the rights of the people, holding up to other nations the example of free political thought and action, it is our duty to lead off in the free interchange of productions and the removal of those barriers which serve only to dwarf human energy and to keep fettered in a subordinate condition the manual power of labor.

While firmly convinced of the justice and necessity of an abolition of the protective policy, I do not propose at this time to make the application. The bill reported by the committee makes but slight reductions from the existing tariff. These reductions are made in a way and in a direction that will not affect existing manufacturers. They are rather intended as an indication that the special favor which has been so long extended must sooner or later be materially modified and finally be withdrawn altogether. I recognize in consequence of the present tariff a moral right in the interests affected for a little. longer enjoyment of the sustenance so liberally dispensed to them. I think that the advantages which the bill extends to them very much outweigh any injury inflicted by a reduction. of the rates. New principles are sought to be ingrafted upon

the policy of the Government extending facilities for the exportation of American manufactures which are not now enjoyed.

In contemplating the needs of the country, is it not time for statesmen and thoughtful men to raise themselves above the mere conflicts of party? Is there no higher object worthy of their effort than to become mere partisan retainers and gladiators? Is it not the duty of the intellect of the nation, with opportunity in public life, to initiate and shape legislation looking to a fuller development of our material resources and a more profitable use of the advantages which God and nature have given us? However desirable a reform in the civil service may be and however important the preservation intact of the political organizations to which we belong may be, yet these and all other pending questions are secondary to that of the political economies, involving in their consideration the highest interests of the present as well as of succeeding generations, by an intelligent utilization of existing yet hidden superior possessions.

On April 15 William McKinley [O.] opposed the bill.

I am opposed to the pending bill from a high sense of duty, a duty imposed upon me by the very strong conviction which I entertain, after an examination of its several features, that should the proposed measure become a law it will be nothing short of a public calamity. It scales down the much needed. revenues of the Government. Although this proposition was denied by the distinguished gentleman who opened this debate [Mr. Wood], I desire in this connection to call attention to a carefully prepared statement by Mr. Young, superintendent of the Bureau of Statistics, in which it is shown that the revenues to be derived under this bill, if it shall become a law, estimated upon the basis of the importations of 1877, will fall short of the revenues of that year something more than $9,000,000.

This bill not only impairs the revenues of the Government, but it is a blow well directed at the mining, the manufacturing, and the industrial classes of this country. It will not be denied that any material readjustment of the tariff system at this time is a delicate and hazardous undertaking, and should be approached if at all with great care and circumspection, with a thorough knowledge of the business and commerce of the country, their needs and relations, which it proposes to affect. Its consideration should be unincumbered by individual or sectional interests, and should be free from any attempt or desire to promote the interests of one class at the expense of the many.