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necessity of revenue justifies the imposition of Tariff duties and other Federal taxation, and that they should be limited by strict economy, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that conditions have grown up among us which in justice and fairness call for discrimi nating care in the distribution of such duties and taxation as the emergencies of our Government actually demand.

Manifestly, if we are to aid the people directly through Tariff reform, one of its most obvious features should be a reduction in present Tariff charges upon the necessaries of life. The benefits of such a reduction would be palpable and substantial, seen and felt by thousands who would be better fed and better clothed and better sheltered. These gifts should be the willing benefactions of a Government whose highest function is the promotion of the welfare of the people.

Not less closely related to our people's prosperity and well-being is the removal of restrictions upon the importation of the raw materials necessary to our manufactures. The world should be open to our national ingenuity and enterprise. This cannot be while Federal legislation, through the imposition of high Tariff, forbids to American manufacturers as cheap materials as those used by their competitors. It is quite obvious that the enhancement of the price of our manufactured products resulting from this policy not only confines the market for these products within our own borders, to the direct disadvantage of our manufacturers, but also increases their cost to our citizens.

The interests of labour are certainly, though indirectly, involved in this feature of our Tariff system. The sharp competition and active struggle among our manufacturers to supply the limited demand for their goods soon fill the narrow market to which they are confined. Then follows a suspension of work in mills and factories, a discharge of employés, and distress in the homes of our working men.

Even if the often disproved assertion could be made good that a lower rate of wages would result from free raw materials and low Tariff duties, the intelligence of our working men leads them quickly to discover that their steady employment, permitted by free raw materials, is the most important factor in their relation to Tariff legislation.

A measure has been prepared by the appropriate Congressional Committee embodying Tariff reform on the lines herein suggested, which will be promptly submitted for legislative action. It is the result of much patriotic and unselfish work, and I believe it deals with its subject consistently and as thoroughly as existing conditions. permit.

I am satisfied that the reduced Tariff duties provided for in the

proposed legislation, added to existing internal revenue taxation, will, in the near future, though perhaps not immediately, produce sufficient revenue to meet the needs of the Government.

The Committee, after full consideration, and to provide against a temporary deficiency which may exist before the business of the country adjusts itself to the new Tariff schedules, have wisely embraced in their plan a few additional internal revenue taxes, including a small tax upon incomes derived from certain corporate investments.

These new assessments are not only absolutely just and easily borne, but they have the further merit of being such as can be remitted without unfavourable business disturbance whenever the necessity of their imposition no longer exists.

In my great desire for the success of this measure I cannot restrain the suggestion that its success can only be attained by means of unselfish counsel on the part of the friends of Tariff reform and as a result of their willingness to subordinate personal desires and ambitions to the general good. The local interests affected by the proposed reform are so numerous and so varied that, if all are insisted upon, the legislation embodying the reform must inevitably fail.

In conclusion, my intense feeling of responsibility impels me to invoke for the manifold interests of a generous and confiding people the most scrupulous care and to pledge my willing support to every legislative effort for the advancement of the greatness and prosperity of our beloved country.

Executive Mansion, Washington, December 4, 1893.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

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