1907, we shall by that time pay $1,045,000,000 more as interest money. It is only the interest upon the 4s which we can reduce; if that is lowered to 3 per cent. in 1891, the earliest day at which it can be done, the saving will be $60,000,000 from 1891 to 1907; but allowing for that saving which may be expected to be made, we shall still have $985,000,000 to pay as interest-money between the present time and 1907, if we abandon the policy of making payments on the principal of the debt. And it must be noted that these $985,000,000 will be paid, not by posterity, but by this generation, and that it is this generation, and not posterity, which will enjoy the advantage of whatever saving of interest, between now and 1907, should be effected by adhering to the policy of reducing the principal of the debt.

5. The steady reduction-looking always to the early extinction of the debt-will remove causes of heart-burnings and jealousies between different classes and sections, and tend strongly to consolidate and animate the patriotism of the masses of the people.

The non-taxability of our Government bonds, for National, State, county, or municipal purposes, is an odious feature, and, right or wrong, it can never be made otherwise. It may have been necessary and wise to make them non-taxable, although I do not believe it was. The British debt was never non-taxable, and to-day is paying a heavy income tax. It is, however, idle to discuss the question, as it is now the clear contract-right of the holder of our bonds to enjoy exemption from taxation, and there is nothing to be done but to do what we have agreed to do; but it is in a high degree expedient that the spectacle of a class of persons, enjoying the safest and most desirable form of property, while contributing nothing to the public charges, should be gotten rid of in any honest and lawful way as soon as possible.

Another source of discontent is the substantially exclusive holding of these bonds in a small section of the Northeastern part of the Union. Nobody is to blame for their concentration in that particular section. It has resulted from the fact

that it is there that the loanable capital of the country is chiefly found, which is due to its having had a considerable density of population many years in advance of the other parts of the Union, and to the admirable industry, economy, ingenuity, enterprise, and thrift of the people who have occupied it; nevertheless, the West and South believe, and it is true, that the actual distribution of the holdings of the national debt make them tributary to the Northeast. They will not be, and ought not to be, content to have a large part of the loanable capital of the Northeast receive its income permanently from the proceeds of general taxation. It may be true that in territorially small countries, like England and France, with a general similarity of condition over their whole areas as respects accumulation of realized wealth, a national debt, held at home and kept within reasonable limits, may give stability to the existing forms of government, and to the dynasties actually in power, although it cannot fail to weaken such countries in their external relations. But in a country of vast extent, like the United States, made up of parts exceedingly dissimilar in financial situation, a few of them lenders of capital while the majority of them are borrowers, a national debt is a source of discontent and a constant temptation to disintegration.

N. P. HILL.

TARIFF ON WOOL.

A speech delivered in the United States Senate, February 3, 1883, the Senate having under consideration the Tariff Revision bill.

MR. PRESIDENT: I desire to offer several amendments, but before doing so I wish to occupy a few moments of the time of the Senate in some general remarks on the subject of the duty on wool. The present duty on wool was fixed by the law of 1867. Before that time, as is well known, the business of wool growing was not remunerative. Under the protection given by that act American producers have been able to compete with those of foreign countries, and the growth of the business has been enormous. It is now estimated that there are over 400,000 persons who own flocks of sheep.

In the year 1850 the production of wool in this country amounted to 52,576,959 pounds; in 1860 it was 60,264,913 pounds; in 1870 it was 100,102,387 pounds; in 1880 it was 235,648,834 pounds. The year 1860 gave an increase over the year 1850 in the wool product of the country of 7,747,954 pounds, or 143 per cent. The year 1870 gave an increase over 1860 of 39,837,474 pounds, equal to 66 per cent. The year 1880 gave an increase over 1870 of 135,546,447 pounds, equal to 135 per cent.

There are but few branches of business in this country which show such rapidity of growth. What reasons can be given for imperilling an industry of this kind at the present time?

There is no rule proposed by the advocates of the protection policy in this country which does not require that the duties on the ordinary grades of wool should be maintained at least as high as they are under the present law.

There is no feature of monopoly in the production of wool as respects either classes of persons or territorial divisions.

It is produced in every one of our States and Territories, from Maine to Texas, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and by 400,000 owners of flocks, great and small. It is adapted to all our climates, latitudes, and soils.

The natural capacity of the United States to produce it is not exceeded in any part of the world, and if its price is lower anywhere else than it is here, it is because the wages of labor are less elsewhere, and those who uphold the doctrine of protection have always maintained that import duties should be kept high enough to offset the difference between wages at home and abroad.

The production of wool, as the figures which I have read show, has increased with amazing rapidity under the protection given by the present law, and is nearly equal to the present demand of our woolen mills. There is no reason to doubt that it will expand as the demand of these mills expands, and that the price will be kept down as low as it ought to be by the competition of home wool-growers. The present duty is far below that imposed upon many other articles, and is in no sense excessive.

The total value of the wool product of the country for the year 1880 was about $105,000,000. The reduction of price, if the bill passes as reported by the committee, will be about three cents per pound, which, on 235,000,000 pounds, will amount to over $7,000,000. The loss of this amount annually to the wool-growers of this country will at once cripple this industry, and probably render it unprofitable. It will impair the value of nearly $300,000,000 worth of property and in the end will transfer the business of supplying our factories to Australia and South America.

Mr. President, the State which I in part represent asks for protection on but very few articles. Its most important production is gold and silver. It is a large consumer, not only of manufactured articles, but also of the products of the soil from other States. There are but few States in the Union whose interests naturally lie more in the direction of free Yet its representatives on this floor, in the interests

trade.

of American labor, have voted steadily for the protection of the manufacturers and producers of the country, whether they be of New England, of New York, or Pennsylvania, of the South, or of the Great West.

In view of the fact that it is believed by those best informed on the subject that a reduction of duty on wool from the present rate will result in the serious injury if not the destruction of this industry, I trust the Senate will vote against the proposed reduction.

I now offer the amendments of which I spoke. They are amendments intended to be proposed by my former colleague, Mr. Chilcott, and which are lying on the tables of Senators.