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Vol. 56 Published Every Saturday A Vacation Prize Competition No. 6 The Outlook offers three prizes-the first of One Hundred Dollars, the second of Fifty Dollars, and the third of Twenty-five Dollarsfor the best brief accounts of summer vacation experiences, illustrated. with photographs taken by the authors. Competitors must be subscribers to The Outlook, or members of the families of subscribers. The articles which are awarded the prizes will be published, together with the illustrations, in the annual Recreation Number of The Outlook for 1898. The articles should not exceed 2,500 words in length, and should be accompanied by from four to ten photographs. The articles must reach The Outlook on or before December 1, 1897. The announcement of the prizes is made thus early in order that those of our readers who wish to compete may have the subject in mind during the present summer. The prizes will be awarded upon the combined merits of the articles themselves and of the accompanying illustrations. The Outlook re serves the right to print in its Recreation Number for 1898, in addition to the articles which receive prizes, others of those submitted which appear worthy and attractive. Payment will be made at ordinary rates for any articles thus printed in addition to the prize articles. In making this offer of prizes The Outlook has a double object: to furnish its readers in its next Recreation Number with attractive illustrated articles which shall be original and out of the usual order; and, secondly, to encourage in its readers the love of outdoor pleasures, and the seeking of nature in its choicest summer aspects. The present issue of The Outlook is its eighth annual Recreation Number; the welcome which has been given yearly to these distinctively summer and out-of-door numbers has convinced us that they have appealed to a large audience of readers and that they have a special mission. In particular, the success which attended the offer by The Outlook two years ago of special prizes for the best specimens of amateur photography makes it certain that the present offer, which combines incentives to both literary and pictorial effort, will arouse wide interest and produce interesting and admirable results. AST week a new tariff battle was begun by Mr. Aldrich's speech opening the debate on the Senate Bill. His argument is the most important tariff statement so far made; it records in part the sentiments of moderate as opposed to extreme protectionists. We heartily agree with Senator Aldrich's statement that the trade of the entire country is in a state of suspension awaiting the action of Congress. We trust, therefore, that Senators will co-operate in keeping the bill continuously before them, to the exclusion of all other legislative business. Senator Aldrich said: It was, I believe, thoroughly understood throughout the country in the last political campaign that if the Republican party should be again intrusted with power, no extreme tariff legislation should follow. It was believed that in the changed condition of the country a return to the duties imposed by the act of 1890 would not be necessary, even from a protective standpoint. Industrial conditions in this country, with very few exceptions, do not demand a return to the rates imposed by the act of 1890. The rates suggested by the Senate Committee are generally below those imposed by the Dingley Bill, and in most cases below those of the act of 1890. The following interesting comparative table of customs receipts has been prepared by the New York "Tribune;" the figures are millions and decimals; thus, 6.4 signifies $6,400,000: Sen1896. House. ate. 5.5 8.4 6.7 1893. 6.4 C--Metals.... D-Wood 1.9 1.5 49.9 28.0 14.9 17.9 13.8 12.9 8.0 15.3 7.9 9.7 6.9 9.2 7.9 9.3 .4 2.2 J-Hemp.. K-Wool and Woolens.. 44.6 23.0 48.0 23.0 13.6 1.4 2.1 1.2 2.1 15.0 10.9 17.0 13.5 ticipated from every schedule of the Senate Bill except chemicals and sugar than was realized in 1893, and from three schedules less than was realized last year. 198,4 156.1 246.5 174.8 8.5 8.0 For the fiscal year to July 1, 1898, the Secretary of the Treasury estimates total expenditures at nearly $467,000,000. From the Senate measure for the same period the Committee estimates the revenue from customs at nearly $183,000,000. This includes an estimated revenue of $8,000,000 from the temporary duty on tea. The estimate of receipts from internal revenue is placed at over $170,000,000. Adding to these the Treasury estimate for miscellaneous receipts and the receipts on account of the post-office, Mr. Aldrich figures an excess of receipts over expenditures of $2,725,000. It should be noted that in estimating the internal revenue receipts Mr. Aldrich adds nearly $24,000,000, representing increased taxes on fermented liquors, tobacco, cigarettes, and snuff. Replying to criticism on this point, Mr. Aldrich said: These figures are those for customs receipts in 1893 (the last fiscal year in which the McKinley tariff was in force), and in 1896 under the present law; they are contrasted with estimates of probable receipts under the Dingley Bill by the House Committee, and of those for the Senate Bill by Mr. Aldrich. According to this table a smaller revenue is an Nothing in the theory of protection interferes with the imposition of further internal revenue taxes by protectionists whenever such a course is found desirable for revenue purposes. In the future it is almost certain that we shall be obliged to depend more and more upon taxes of this nature for necessary revenue. In the years to come we must expect a decrease rather than an increase in the customs revenue to be derived under the principal schedules of the tariff. The legitimate result of a protective policy is to give the American market to American producers. When this becomes an accomplished fact, the revenue growing out of protective duties disappears. It must be evident, therefore, that we must look for other sources of revenue. Whether it should be along the line of an increase of internal revenue taxes, such as we have suggested, or whether some other sources of rev. enue should be sought, it is not necessary now to is juster to all sections and classes. It does not contain some of the worst features of the Dingley Bill, but it does include many absurdities which will, we trust, provoke victorious opposition. The most prominent of these is the extra protection given to the Sugar Trust. Adroit as was Senator Aldrich's explanation, he has not satisfied the country that the benefit secured to refiners under the proposed bill is less than under the House Bill or than under the present law. Interesting discussions are anticipated when the sugar, woolen, tea, beer, and tobacco items of the Senate measure are reached. As a substitute for additional taxes to be stricken out, a stamp tax on bank checks and legal instruments has been suggested. The most redoubtable critic of the new tariffs proposed has arisen in the person of Mr. W. C. Ford, the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, who declares that neither the House nor the Senate Bill would furnish sufficient revenue to meet Government expenses. Yet to provide an adequate revenue is the only justifiable reason for again upsetting the business of the country. Secretary's Gage's speech last week at Cincinnati was read with great interest by both pessimists and optimists. Mr. Gage evidently belongs to the latter class. Speaking to the Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati Commercial Clubs at their united banquet, he said: It is not to be wondered at that you who have so long borne the burden and anxiety and fear, who have so long waited and watched for the restoration of conditions upon which some secure estimate of to-morrow can be made, should grow nervous and impatient over every act or word which seems to suggest doubt or delay in the establishment of such conditions. I have thought that on this occasion I could do no better service a than to give you needed reassurance and hope. The revival of industry is near, and with the establishment of a revenue law sufficient to bring into the Treasury an amount adequate to meet the reasonable needs of our Government, and with the establishment of our finances on sound and enduring basis, nothing now foreseen can delay the recovery of past losses and the inauguration of a new forward movement along the lines of material advancement and social progress, which we may humbly trust is in the benevolent mind of God to bestow upon the American people. Speaking more particularly of the Tariff Bill, Mr, Gage declared it his duty to bear witness to the honorable and patriotic motives that inspire the minds of the great majority in Congress, whether upon one side or the other. In saying this the orator desired to correct the operation of a sentiment which "is dividing classes, destroying unity, and breeding hatreds. The one word for that sentiment is 'distrust.' Faith and courage lead to conquest and victory. Distrust paralyzes and destroys." As to financial reform, Mr. Gage declares that any one suspecting the Administration of forgetting its duty should put the suspicion aside: "in good time and in proper order the evidences of my declaration will appear." On the strength of this statement stocks and bonds became stronger and competition more active than has been the case for a long time. Last week the final conference report on the Sundry Civil Bill was agreed to by the Senate. The principal questions involved were the appropriation of $10,000 for improving Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the making nearly $3,000,000 immediately available for contract work on the Mississippi River, and the suspension until March 1, 1898, of eleven of President Cleveland's orders setting aside large areas as forest reserves. The last-named matter was discussed at length. Rejection of the entire conference report was urged by the Senators from the States affected by the orders; they would be satisfied with nothing less than an unqualified suspension of the Cleveland orders. The regulation adopted, however, is more reasonable than an absolute suspension would have been; we hope that the opening of these new reserves for nine months longer will not induce indiscriminate squatter sovereignty. In this connection it is interesting to read the just-published report on forestry by the National Academy of Sciences. In Europe millions of dollars have been expended in recent years to check the force of floods (due to denuded mountain slopes) by the construction of stone dams and river-beds, and by plantSimilar expenditures ing sod and trees. in this country are predicted if the destruction of mountain forests continues. Regarding our National reserves it is distinctly stated that they cannot be with |