本杰明·海瑞森政府的税务法案

23 本杰明·海瑞森政府的税务法案

DATE=5-3-2001
TITLE=THE MAKING OF A NATION #139 - BENJAMIN HARRISON
 BYLINE=FRANK BEARDSLEY

 Voice one:
      The  making  of  a  nation  -- a program in SPECIAL ENGLISH.   (THEME)
      The eighteen-eighties were years of important change in American business and industry.
       Twenty years after the civil war, the United States had become one of the leading （1）industrial nations of the world.  As the number of factories increased, so did competition between （2）businessmen.
       Some industrialists¹ cooperated with their （3）competitors to reduce competition.  But this did not always succeed.  There was no way to enforce their agreements.
Voice two:
    In eighteen- seventy- nine, a new form of business organization was developed -- the trust.  In a trust, stockowners of many competing companies give control of their stock to a committee, or group, of （4）trustees.       The trustees operate all the companies as one and pay profits to the （5）stockholders.  The profits would be high, because there would be no competition to drive down prices.
         One of the first trusts was formed by john d. Rockefeller in the oil industry.  The stockholders of seventy-seven oil companies gave control of their stock to nine trustees of Rockefeller's standard oil company.  The nine men controlled ninety per cent of the nation's oil production.  
Voice one:
      The success of the （6）standard oil company led to the creation of trusts in other industries.  Soon there was a sugar trust, a salt trust, a steel trust, even a whisky trust.
       These huge （7）corporations represented hundreds of millions of dollars.  This great wealth made them very powerful.
       Former president [Grover] Cleveland, himself a friend of business, warned of a growing danger.
       "Corporations," he said, "should be carefully-controlled creatures of the law and （8）servants of the people.  Instead, they are fast becoming the people's masters."  
voice two:
      The public began to demand government controls of the trusts. Farmers claimed that prices were too high, and they blamed the trusts.  Workers said their unions could not negotiate with the new industrial giants.  Small businessmen charged that trusts were too （9）powerful.  They said the trusts could destroy them.
       Public demands for action led the governments of fifteen states to pass anti-trust laws.  But the state laws could do nothing. Most of the trusts were nationwide corporations, which did business in many states.
       Public （10）protest was so great that both parties in the eighteen- eighty- eight elections promised to pass a federal law against trusts.  
Voice one:
      A number of such bills were （11）proposed.  One offered by senator john Sherman, a republican, was approved by congress.  President Benjamin Harrison signed it into law in eighteen-ninety.
       The Sherman anti-trust law sounded severe.  It said it was illegal for a trust or any other organization to interfere² with interstate commerce -- trade among the states.  It was also illegal for any person or organization to form a （12）monopoly -- to get control of a whole industry.  The law ordered harsh （13）punishment for any person found guilty of these crimes.
       It sounded like a strong law.  But it was not.  It was written in a very general way that left the courts to decide what the law really said.  Opponents of the Sherman anti-trust bill said its purpose was not to destroy trusts, but to make the public believe that trusts would be destroyed.  
Voice two:
      During president Harrison's administration, only eight corporations were accused of violating the new anti-trust law. Of the eight, only one was found guilty...and only in a very limited way.
       The first company charged was the whisky trust.  A court dismissed the case.  It said the government failed to prove that the trust had （14）interfered with interstate commerce.
       A few years later, the government asked the courts to break up the huge sugar trust, which controlled ninety-eight percent of the sugar-producing industry.
       The Supreme³ Court refused to do so.  It said that it was true the trust had formed a monopoly in the sugar-producing industry.  But it said the monopoly was in manufacturing -- not in trade or interstate commerce.  Therefore, said the high court, the sugar trust was legal and did not （15）violate the anti-trust law.  
Voice one:
      Industrial trusts helped to reduce competition among American companies.  High tariffs⁵ also gave some protection from competition with foreign companies.  But business leaders were not satisfied.  They demanded even higher taxes on imports to further reduce competition.
       So, republican congressman⁶ William McKinley of Ohio proposed a new tariff⁴ bill -- one that would raise import taxes higher than ever before.  The tax already was about thirty-eight percent on most （16）imported products.  The new measure would raise it to almost fifty percent.
Voice two:
      Not everyone in the Harrison administration supported the high tariff measure.  （17）Secretary of state [James] Blaine wanted to increase trade between the United States and other countries.  He warned that new, high tariffs would destroy those plans.       Blaine also opposed the bill because he felt it would hurt the Republican Party politically.  In a letter to （18）congressman McKinley, Blaine said the bill would anger the farmers by adding as much as eight percent to the price of shoes for their children.
       "Such movements as this for protection," said Blaine, "will move the republican party only into speedy defeat." 
Voice one:
      Most western and southern congressmen opposed the tariff bill, because it would mean higher prices to the people of their states.  But the bill could not pass without the support of some of them.  So, supporters of the （19）tariff bill offered a deal.
       If westerners voted for the tariff measure, then eastern （20）lawmakers would support a silver purchase bill that the westerners wanted.
       The bill, known as the Sherman silver purchase act, would have the government buy four-and-one-half-million ounces of silver each month.  The government would pay for the silver with paper money -- （21）treasury notes -- which could be exchanged for gold or silver money. 
 Voice two:
      Western mines were producing huge amounts of silver.  By selling it to the government, the mining interests hoped to keep the price of silver from falling.  Western interests spoke⁷ in congress now with a much stronger voice.  In eighteen- eighty- nine and eighteen-ninety, six western （22）territories became states.  This added twelve more western representatives in the （23）senate and others in the house.
       The deal was agreed to.  Both the McKinley tariff bill and the Sherman silver purchase bill were approved by congress and signed by president Harrison.  As expected, the price of imported goods rose.  And the people blamed the republicans.  
Voice one:
      In the congressional elections of eighteen-ninety, the Republican Party suffered heavy losses.
       The republican majority in the senate was cut to eight.  And not all the republican senators would support the party on every issue.  The republicans lost control in the House of Representatives.  Only eighty-eight were elected to house seats. Democrats⁸ elected two- hundred thirty-five representatives.       Voters also elected nine house members and two senators from a new political organization -- the people's party.  The new party was born in farming areas of the west and south.  It was a party of protest, formed by men who refused to support either of the two old parties.   Voice two:
       Years before, farmers had united in agricultural organizations they called "granges."  A national grange had been formed.
       During hard times, the （24）grange organized political action groups to help elect officials who were friendly to farmers.  But as farm conditions improved, the granges began to disappear.
       A few years later, farmers began to build new organizations. Like the granges, they began as social and economic groups.
       By the late eighteen-eighties, many of these groups had united into two large organizations.  One, with more than one- million members, was the southern （25）alliance.  The other, with fewer members, was the national farmers' alliance.  Members of the two groups began to unite for political action.
       That will be our story on the next program of the making of a nation.   Voice one:
         You have been listening to the special English program, the making of a nation.  Your narrators were Leo Scully and Jack⁹ Wetzel.  Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.

注释：

(1) industrial[ in5dQstriEl ]adj.工业的, 产业的
(2) businessman[5bIznIsmAn]n.商人
(3)competitor[ kEm5petitE ]n.竞争者
(4)trustee[ trQs5ti: ]n.托管人, 保管人, 理事
(5)stockholder[5stRkhEJldE(r)]n.股东
(6)standard[ 5stAndEd ]n.旗, 标准,adj.标准的, 权威
(7)corporation[ 7kC:pE5reiFEn ]n. [律] 公司, 企业
(8)servant[ 5sE:vEnt ]n.仆人
(9)powerful[ 5pauEful ]adj.强大的, 有力的
(10)protest[ prE5test ]n.主张, 断言v.主张, 断言抗议
(11)propose[ prE5pEuz ]v.计划, 建议vi.打算, 求婚
(12)monopoly[ mE5nCpEli ]n.垄断, 垄断者
(13)punishment[ 5pQniFmEnt ]n.惩罚, 处罚, 惩处
(14)interfere[ 7intE5fiE ]vi.干涉, 干预, 妨碍, 打扰
(15)violate[ 5vaiEleit ]v.违犯, 亵渎(圣物), 冒犯
（16）import[ im5pC:t ]n.进口货(常用复数), 进口v.输入
（17）secretary[ 5sekrEtri ]n.秘书, 书记
（18）congressman[5kRN^resmEn]n.国会议员, 众议院议员
（19）tariff[ 5tArif ]n.关税, 关税表
（20）lawmaker[5lC:meIkE(r)]n.立法者
（21）treasury[ 5treVEri ]n.财政部, 国库
（22）territory[ 5teritEri ]n.领土, 版图, 地域
（23）senate[ 5senit ]n.参议院, 上院
（24）grange[ ^reindV ]n.农庄
（25）alliance[ E5laiEns ]n.联盟, 联合

1 industrialists   

n.工业家，实业家( industrialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This deal will offer major benefits to industrialists and investors. 这笔交易将会让实业家和投资者受益匪浅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has set up a committee of industrialists and academics to advise it. 政府已成立了一个实业家和学者的委员会来为其提供建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

5 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。