Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-10-16

1.-THE SMELL OF MONOPOLY
plus Reduction In 1879 and 1S90-The
Wess Was For Tarin keducaon Then ~
NOw-The Blow It Monopoly Then. and
the Aid It Gets Now.
Tariff history. like other history. re-
peats itself. In the fiscal years 1871
and 1872 q surplus of something like
500, 600, 900 had accum ulated rs the re-
suit Of war duties which had not been
reduced There WAS then no party 50
extravagant as to make it its one vital
principle that the true way to make the
people prosperous Is to tax them enor-
mously beyond the needs OF the Govern
ment and then squander the surplus
by appropriations of the most prodigate
character There was no Tom Reed At
the helm then to boast that they had
got rid Of the surplus by spending it
The ma jority Of the Republican party
was at that time in favor of the common
sense view that the way to get rid Of a
surplus is to reduce taxation Then, as
now, there was strong tariff reform
wave sweeping over the Republican
party in the West; and nearly all the
Republican Congressman from the West
went to Washington in 1872 with Q de-
termination to reduce the tariff.
Mr.. Dawes of Massachusetts,, was
then in the position now occupied by
Major Mckinley, chairman of the Ways
and Means Committee of the House As
g Representative of New England he
was opposed to a reduction of the tariff,
New England clamoring at that time
for the highest possible protection 1t
is interesting to note that this same
Mr.. Dawes, now Senator from Massa-
chusetts. has begun TO see the
tariff in a different light now
that New England has ceased
to reap q benefit in all directions from
the highest form of protection. and her
manufacturers have, in fact begun to cry
aloud for free raw materials This same
Mr.. Dawes said of the Mckinley bill, in
the Senate on August g, that he recog-
nized that change of sentiment in New
England" and that nobody felt more
sensibly than he did the inequalities
and injustices of features of the pending
bill" After saying this he voted with
the Democrats to reduce the duty on
iron ore
But in 1872 New England's views on
tariff reform were different from what
they are to-day, and so Mr.. Dawes held
different views too at that time. Al
~
and Means Committee he did not sue
coed in shaping such bill IS he wanted
for his own dear New England; and
hence he left to a Western member the
task of defending the bill that was con
structed In accordance with Western
ideas
This was Mr.. Finkelnberg, OF Mis-
souri, In defending the tariff reduction
bill which the committee had brought
in he made use of language in striking
contrast with the sentiments Of the pro
lection party today He said that the
committees measure was intended
merely Ito divest some industries Of
the superabundant protection, which
smells of monopoly, and which 1t wal
never intended they should enjoy after
the war"
But McKinley's duties have that very
odor-they smell of monopoly" A.
soon after the war as 1872 Mr.. Finkeln
berg. speaking for his party's Ways and
Means Committee, said that it wa
never intended that our industrie.
should enjoy war duties after the war
Now what do we find twenty-five year.
after the close of the war? tn,
! few men left in the Repub
lican party who talk as Mr.
Finkelnburg did against war dutie
and 'the smell of monopoly" ar
looked upon with suspicion and de
nounced as assistant Democrats" Nc
Kinley comes forward with duties high
er than the country has ever known
far higher even than under the storm
and stress of the civil war-and has tn,
assurance to defend these exorbitan
duties by telling the people that ''whel
merchandise is cheapest men are poor
} est" and therefore I'VE want no return
to cheap times in our own country"
Under the fostering care of Mckinley
and his high tariff associates, trusts At,
springing up about us like crab-gras
after a spring shower. Old trusts ar
confirmed in their possessions. and i,
. many cases get higher protection
The Hnseed oil trust gets some of thi
'superabundant protection which smell
Of monopoly" Three years ago tn,
price Of linseed oil was almost as Low
here as in England Then the trus
was formed and prices we're put up &
the highest point that the duty of 9
Ger IS gallon would permit At presen
our people are paying almost twice tn
thousand dollars worth were bough
last year, owing to the duty.
As the trust has complete control o
J the home market and as the combins
tion contains 81 per cent of the linsee'
oil mil in the country, one woul
think that they might at least con tinu
to thrive on the existing duty. Tn
trust did not even ask for higher duty
so far as the published reports show
! but Mckinley apparently likes dutie
: which 'smell of monopoly" An
accordingly he raised the duty on lin
: seed oil from IS cents q gallon to s
cents As if this yet did not smel
, strongly enough OF monopoly the Ser
: ate put it up to 81 cents a gallon Tha
gives the trust a total of cents for fl
J ture juggling with prices
The sugar trust, too, was we'll pr(
| vided for. The difference between tn
duty on raw sugar and refined sugal
which completes with the trust Wa
made greater than at present: so tina
although the people may get the benef
of the cheaper sugar. the trust will &C
ually reap greater profits than ever
The president of the sugar trus
Theodore E. Haveneyer. has the sam
views about high prices as McKinle