The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1896-07-18
COMING TO IT'S SENSES.
When Grover Cleveland was elected


When Grover Cleveland was elected
president in 1892, the Oregonian pre-.
dicted dire destruction to all American
industries, because the people of the
country had, according to its way OF
thinking at that time, declared for a
''free trade policy" Then when the
Wilson tariff bill was introduced in
congress, and after numerous amend
ments, finally became law, the
Oregonian again set up howl about
democratic free trade" For two
long years the present tariff law has,
to the Oregonian. been an absolute free
trade law, but all of a sudden it has
come to its senses and discovered that
the '94 tariff law is a highly protective
measure, which, with the exception OF
a few schedules. should satisfy the de-
mands of the most radical protection.
ist.
"After all, says the Oregonian, "the
difference between the parties on the
tariff question Is but difference as to
the degree of protection that is to be
enacted or allowed. The present
tariff, made by the democratic party,
not only does not discard protection.
but, on the contrary, has many strong
protective features. Probably it will
be forever impossible to eliminate
protection from our. system. The dis
pule then, is as 10 the objects of pro-
lection and the degree of protection.
What products and industries are to
receive this favor, and to what extent?
The complaint in many Of our states is
that the present tariff does not give
fair treatment We think our Pacific
states have not.received it. Our pro.
ducts have been too literally on the
free list. while the products and in
dustries of other states receive pro-
lection"
1t has indeed taken the great metro
politan daily long time to find out
that il has misrepresented the present
tariff law as free-trade measure, and
that it has "many strong protective
features" 1t has too been equally
slow to learn the fallacy of its numer-
GUS statements during past years, that
the republican party alone stood for
protection, the democratic party hav-
ing abandoned it altogether; but it
has also learned that it has been falsely
making such statements, and makes
this confession:
sit cannot be said that the issue
now is whether we shall return to the
protective system or not; for we
never have abandoned it. 1t has,
however, been made unequal. AS to |
the principle or doctrine of protection,
there is no dispute, for the democratic
party has framed the present tariff |
with a studious purpose to protect |
many things. 1t remains, therefore,
that the only question between the
parties, as to protective tariff, is
merely a question of details"
Now let US begin to sum up. For
four years the Oregonian has emphati-
cally declared that the democratic
party was an out and out free trade
party; now it discovers that it differs
from the republican party only as to
the degree of protection. For two years
is has denounced the present tariff law
as q free trade measure; now it learns
that it is highly protective. All the
lime it has asserted that when Cleve.
and was elected the principles of pro-
lection were abandoned; now it learns
that they are still in force. How then,
after the Oregonian has acknowledged
It has been false in every statement it
made with reference to the relative
positions of the two parties on the
,ariff issue during the past four years,
ire we to receive as true the state
nents it makes concerning the money
question? There is an old rule in
lsw, governing evidence. for
the credibility of wit
nesses, which assumes if the witness is
ialse in one thing he is false in all.
Il this rule is to be applied to the
we can only conclude that
ts picture of the ills to come from
,hange in our financial policy is over
lrawd; that it's vision is obscured by
that the result will not be
70 disastrous as it would make it ap-
bear.