The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-05

one of the few features Of the tariff
bill as it is likely to emerge from the
senate, over which even the enemies OF
protection can afford quiet chuckle, is
the tax of ~ cents per pound on hides.
This. it is said. the Western senators
are prepared to insist upon; and as the
bill cannot be passed without their
votes, they are likely to get what they
want. Their proposition, and it is
wholly reasonable one, is that they are
entitled to their share of the pie. Pro-
tective duties have been levied this
many a year for the benefit of the
Eastern manufacturer. He buncOed the
Western farmer with arguments, but
in it. He conceded a lot of worthless
duties on agricultural products, as in
effective as the pOpe's bull against the
comet and offered them in exchange
for duties on the various necessaries of
life manufactured in New England and
the middle states SO this ug-handled
arrangement has gone On,with the West
paying the piper and the East doing
the dancing. This time it is going to be
quite different. Western interests, hav-
ing obtained the balance of power in
the senate, have given their ultimatum
to the effect that not only wool, but
hides must be duly protected.
1t is wonderful what a buzzing this
proposition has raised in the Eastern
hornets nest. New England in gen
eral, and Massachusetts in particular,
are the center of an enormous shoe and
leather interest. These people have
been for years the most ardent pro-
tectionists in theory, and are so yet.
AS long as they could get their raw
material in the lowest market, they
were willing to join in levying taxes to
promote their sectional interests at the
expense of the rest of the country. Now
the boot is on the other leg, and it is
Il boot which will have to be made out
of high-priced leather on account of
tariff taxed hides The New England
senators have all started the ball roll
ing, and the bitterest fight will be made
on this portion of the bill. We hope
sincerely that in this case the hide
may so with the hoofs and horns.
Let these selfish people, whose vision
of justice is limited by the little area
where they are centered, taste some
thing of the dose that they have ad-
ministered to the rest of the country
with all the grim satisfaction of Mrs
SQueers dosing the boys of Dotheboys
hall. The millions that they will have
to pay out in extra cost for materials
or the millions of business that they
Will lose, are a fairly just price for their
selfish attitude, Free hides are a good
thing, but so are free wool and free
lumber and free coal and free iron ore
Let them stand or fall together AS We
said the other day in discussing the
proposed tariff on wood pulp. We want
to see no exceptions made in the bust
ness of tariff robberes. Let all be
treated alike. Let those who in the past
have gathered in with one hand the
unearned rewards of protective tar
if, while with the other hand they dis
tributed its hard and empty shells to
the farmers of the West, suffer their
share Of the imposition. If the Dingley
bill is passed, hides ought to have the
same treatment as the other forms Of
raw material which it is endeavored to
make dear to the people.