The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-03-23

would not, exceed the sum of $3.50, 0OO,-
00O
THE friends of the protective system
know that to keep he taxes high they
must find some way of spending the
money which has been collected. It is,
therefore, the inevitable consequence of
collecting more than is proper that i'm
proper ways should be devised for
spending it. The extravaganza which
necessitates the billion dollar appropria-
tiOns which have become such a scan
dal upon congress, had it's origin in the
unjust system of levying taxes for the
purpose of enabling private interests to
prey upon the public through faVOrit-
ism of the law"
The bills fosters trusts is another
headline, which is explained as fol-
lows:
IF this system of unnecessary tax
alton is indefensible because of the ex-
itravaganee- which it encourages, it is
still more SO on account of the trusts
Which it fosters and promotes. 1t is
not more certain that protection en-
courageS extravaganza than it is that
it breeds unlawful combinations of
capital. Indeed, protection is justified
upon the avOwed theory that competi-
ton should be restricted. True enough,
it assumes that pretense that foreign
competition ought not to be permitted
against our home Industries; but they
don't understand the selishness of hui
man nature, and especially they little
understand the SelfiShneSS of that hu-
man nature which relies upon the IA
voritism of the law to increase it's for
tune, who suppose that these men, haV-
ing secured themselves against foreign
competition by the favor of congress,
domestic competition by voluntary
combinations among themselves
1T is an old adage, and it is as true
as it is old, that competition is the
life of trade and whatever tends to re-
strict competition must tend to restrict
trade. The majority of the commit
tee seem to think it an easy matter for
us to build a tariff wall about our bor-
ders and thus prevent foreigners from
trading with us, but they forget that
same wall which shuts out the for
eigner shuts us in and must prevent us
from trading with the foreigner.
I'VE believe in the principle of COM
petition and we believe that the people
of the United States can compete
against all the other people of the
world; and we denounce as a crime
pie any law which leaves the consum-
ers of this land subject to the exac-
tions of reckless and corrupt combina-
tions formed to destroy competition
and general prices
Treating of the effect of the bill on
labor the report says:
The report of the committee on
ways and means is singularly silent
upon the old preteXt that these tariffs
are imposed for the benefit of Ameri-
can labor; and the silence may be taken
as cOnceding the Democratic contention
that diligence and skill of the Ameri-
can factory operatives is all the pro-
lection which he needs or desires The
labor argument of the prOtectionists
can be reduced to an absurdity which
makes it amazing that it should ever
have been seriously advanced. 70 say
in one breath that the welfare of labor
depends on it's wages, and that its
wages in turn depends upon its skill
and intelligence, and in the next breath
to say that the very intelligent and
highly skilled labOrerS of this country
cannot successfully compete with ig-
norant and unskilled labOrers of the
old world is equivalent to saying that
skill and intelligence are not of great
advantage to laborers who possess
them.
ITO our minds it involves contra
diction in history, as well, to say that
labor of a civilized country needs pro-
lection against the labor of an unctv-
ilized country"
The report concludes:
I'VE are unable to offer substitute
for the pending bill because we have
not been allowed a reasonable time 10
prepare one. Congress convened in
extraordinary session on the 18th day
of March, and this bill was introduced
the same day and referred to the COM
mittee on ways and means, which met
the next morning, and on Thursday it
was ordered to be reported 10 the
house The majority of the committee
had spent the last three months OF the
last session: in its preparation, ana yet
they refused to allow the minority three
weeks in which to prepare substitute
We are unwilling to propose measure
that has not been carefully matured
and we must therefore content our
selves with protesting against the pass
age of the committees bill"