Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-12-26
THE PEOPLE AND THE TRUSTS.
Corporate interests Are OF First Im-
portance with Republican
Legislators

The defenders OF our present tariff
system, from the president down,
need not think hat they can salts
fy the popular demand for tariff re-
vision simply by shutting their eyes
and ear to its existence. There is
many a man who believes in reasona-
Bile protection who is entirely unable
to see why the United States Steel
corporation should have any discrim-
ination in its favor and at the ex-
pense of the people of the United
States. President Roosevelt is a stu
lent of our history, and he knows
that the original theory of protec-
ton was hat it should be given to
infant industries, and continued only
as long as those industries continued
to be infants. 1t was admitted by all
that protection should be withdrawn
just as BOZ as the Industries to
which it had been given were able
to get along without it. The people,
too, understand this. Therefore, says
the Independent Indianapolis News,
when it is said that there shall be
no modification of the tariff, and that
the reciprocity treaties should not
be ratified, and when Mr.. Roosevelt
merely recommends that those trea-
ties be considered" the people are
wondering on what theory it is that
the steel trust, the sugar trust, the
tinplate trust, and other tremendous
aggregations of capital are to be al
lowed to continue to tax them X
brilliantly for the sake of adding to
profits that are already enormous.
The situation is indeed serious, and
it may become critical for the repub-
lican party. The gentlemen of the
ways and means committee may re-
fuse to grant relief to the people,
and the president and congress may
sustain them, but theirs is not the
last word. All over the country, and
among republicans as well as demo-
Gratis, the people are growing FESTIVE
under existing conditions. There is
not a western congressman who does
not know this. We all know in this
section that the tinplate and steel
industries are not infants" To sug-
gest that they are, and to urge pro-
lection on that or any other ground,
is only to arouse contemptuous indig-
VI Oh Vic PdIb VI tuC pCOPiCs LAO
warning is as plain as can be. But
there are no indications hat it will
be regarded. On the contrary, the
republican leaders, instead of moving
to modify Or to repeal these need
less, and so unjust taxes, are striv-
ing to secure the imposition of 9TH
ers for the benefit of the great ship
ping combine.
There is nothing that the demo-
Gratis would like so well as to have
the tariff laws left alone and the ship
subsidy grab go through. So great is
their eagerness to have the republic
ans fall into these blunders that
there is reason ii fear that they may
not do their full duty as the oppo-
sition party in congress. Indeed, the
question is getting far beyond one
of mere taxation. 1t will soon be,
if it is not now, one of whether this
country is to be ruled by the people
or by the trusts and corporations.
hear much of Influence" in the
present congress. The subsidy bill
is said to be supported by powerful
influence, the isthmian canal is
threatened by other influences, fair
treatment of Cuba depends on the
result of the fight between two great
influences and the relation of our
statesmen to them, and so on. One
wonders where the people come in.