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Show THE APPEAL Til FIGURES. A sub-committee of the senate finance committee, has been engaged in an inquiry in-quiry into the effects of the McKinley tariff upon prices, and already attempts are being made to discredit its work as utterly useless. There are 240 articles, more or less, which are embraced within with-in the category of those affected by the new schedule of duties, and the course of the prices of these various commodities commod-ities during the year preceding and the year succeeding the passage of the McKinley Mc-Kinley law is being carefully traced with a view to arriving at the exact facts. Can these figures, when carefully gathered and analyzed, be accepted as truly indicative of the effects produced by the tariff? This question is being answered in the negative in advance of any report from the committee, . ' J-i3 a strong suspicion- that those jjoed mo -tariff " are quite apprehensive that the figures will be used to their disadvantage. dis-advantage. The argument is advanced that it is entirely too soon to reach definite defi-nite conclusions in the manner proposed for the reason that tariff changes necessarily neces-sarily develop their effects very slowly. The first year's experience would prove absolutely nothing; and as to the business busi-ness of the last twelve months it is asserted that the financial stringency of ' a year ago coupled with a reaction from a period of overproduction had the effect to contract credit and depress prices, especially iu the line of manufactured manu-factured goods. This is the position assumed by those who are determined to dispute the value of the figures. The anti-protectionists, who never cease to teach the doctrine that the amount of the duty is invariabby added to the price paid by the consumer, con-sumer, must find some explanation for the low prices. It will not be forgotten, however, that during the summer of 1S!)0 the campaign was fought on the almost exclusive issue that the tariff had greatly increased the prices of nearly all commodities, and that democratic demo-cratic papers were burdened with com- parativo statements in support of the contention. When the results of the election for members of congress were summed up and it was discovered that the democrats had an overwhelming majority, the cry rang through the land, 'the tariff must go." The appeal to figures was made by the free traders more than a year ago, and while we are convinced the real facts were shamefully distorted and falsified, it is none the less inconsistent and illogical for them to contend at this late day that data carefully gathered from official sources will prove nothing. The people have been under "educational" "educa-tional" training as to the effects of tariff duties on prices for at least two campaigns, cam-paigns, and the good work will continue for another 3 ear at least. The protectionists protec-tionists are not afraid of the figures. |