The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-16

| the senate and the house, We see here
| the actual trainers of the bill at work
| through their representatives as
| agents, paid, either directly or indirect
| ly, to serve them instead of the people.
The house agents and the senate
| agents of the corporations and trusts
have not followed precisely the same
! line, because these corporations and
| trusts have not all identical interests;
| and 1t happens that, in spite or their
| brotherly kindness to one another, they
are not above trying to take an occa-
| sional advantage. So, while one COM
bination finds itself more powerful In
! one house, and another combination in
the other house, that item of the tariff
bill is different, and an adjustment has
to be got at.
One of the pleasantest things in life is
to watch these greedy pilferers of the
people getting together" Take the
Illustration furnished by the extract
quoted above, for instance. The mil
lions of our people who are wearers,
and therefore purchasers, of wooden
goods are not in the running. They
are not heard of at all. The purpose
and necessary consequence of this leg
islation is to raise the price of a neces-
sary of life to them. That is a wholly
minor consideration. There are two
parties to the deal whose interests
must be considered. These are, first, the
manufacturers, particularly of carpets,
| whose raw material is to be
taxed. Then if imports of wool
from other countries-which, by the
way, we must have, under any
circumstances, to mix with the
native product-are to be burdened
with heavy duties, then the wool man
ufacturer must have still heavier ones.
The wool grower who appears at
Washington is not a farmer in any
sense of the word. He is a politician,
whose working capital lies in that sort
of wool which he can pull over farmers
eyes He believes that place and power
and fat salaries are to be had by max
ing the farmer believe that a tariff on
wool is to his advantage, and so con-
! trolling the vote. That a wool tariff
has not done this in the past is of no
consequence. The gentle shepherd who
runs primaries and caucuses is to
| have his plum, and then the wool man
| ufacturer is to have his. So they get
| tOOnthar rxy;tI
| scheme, and match greed with greed,
until they have settled what the new
tariff bill, as far as the wool schedule
| is concerned, shall be. Then they an
nounce that to their servants, and 1t
promptly becomes the conclusion of the
| conference committee.
This is the method by which not the
wool schedule alone, but all the rest of
the bill is completed. 1t is to be and
is product Of a conclave of interests
as selfish, as rapacious, as Indifferent
to the public welfare, as contemptuous
of moral principles and as corrupt in
it's relation to all politics as ever. ex-
listed in any country and in any age.
The lovely spectacle of these people,
sitting together over their terrapin and
canvas-back and champagne, and de-
termining just how much blood shall
be squeezed out of the American people
! for their advantage, with the confer
ence committee, in regulation walters
swallow tail and white tie, standing in
| the background to receive orders with
proper submission is one that we COM
mend to the admiring study and proud
! observation of the American people,