Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/360

 338 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL If worth 15 cents a yard or less, duty 7 cents a Tle duty under the yard plus 40 /o. McKinley Act is If worth over 15 cents a yard, duty 8 cents a yard plus 50 /o. It will be seen that by a shifting of the line of classification, and by an Jncrease of the duty upon all classes of dress goods, the range of duties is made very high. On some cheaper quali- ties the new rates will be equivalent to an ad valorem duty of between 150 and 200 per cent. These goods are largely Jmported from France, England, and Germany. The totl importations of 1889 were no less than 20,000,000 dollars in value, notwithstanding a duty which, under the old Act, averaged about 75 per cent. upon their value. The manufacturers desired to secure for themselves this large market, and the Republicans have aided them by duties which doubtless are meant to be prohibitory. Whether the new duties will, h fact, prove to be prohibitory remains to be seen. The duties of the older Act were also meant to bring about the domestic manufacture of these goods, and failed to do so. It is by no means clear that the great and abiding forces from which the international division of labour results will not prove too strong even for the high barrier which it is now attempted to put Jn their way. As the matter stands, however, this question may not be fairly put to the test. With the result of the recent elec- tJons staring them Jn the face, domestic manufacturers must hesitate to embark their capJtal under the shelter of a duty whose repeal in the early future is not improbable. It is, therefore, very possible that the new duties will simply tax the consumers of these commodities--the women and children who wear the cloths wJthout having any considerable effect in stJmulating domestic production. I may digress here to call attention to some administrative difficulties which are likely to arJse under the woollens duty. The reader will observe the peculiar gradation of these duties. Thus, dress goods which are worth fifteen cents or less per yard pay one rate of duty; those worth more than fifteen cents per yard pay a much higher rate of duty. This method of grading duties ac- cordhg to the values of the goods is the result of an attempt to escape from the difficulties both of specific and ad valoren duties; .an attempt, however, likely to be confronted by.the. se difficulties in as troublesome a form as before. Our protectomst system has led to the occasional application of ad valorem duties as high as 50 and 60 per cent. Any connnodity of which the different qualities shade into each other by slight degrees cannot easily be