The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-05-16
.TrYrNo no roRrsrAL Ua.

not surprise any one, for this promi- nent Republican is likely to have con- siderable company in his own party. Congressman Babcock may to some ex- tent be looked on as the inspirer or leader of the movement, but he is not alone. nor will he be likely to want for followers. It Is true that Mark Hanna declares that the present tariff is just what the country needs. and that it will not be interfered with, but Hanna Is not all the Republican party, nor will he be able to stifle the evil dent feeling which Is growing up in his party against a continuance of the present system.
 Among recent significant utterances we find The Philadelphia Ledger de- claring that it is natural that the radical element, of which the Boston Home Market Club Is the exponent. should resent any interference with the tariff. The present schedules suit them. having been written by them selves with regard to their own poe kets and little regard for anything else. But justice demands that the selfish interests of the comparatively few shall not be permitted to obstruct the path of progress of American trade" And The Indianapolis Journal, one of the most prominent Republican organs of the West, takes pretty much the same ground, and says that "any attempt to shut off discussion of the tariff by Republicans who are pro- tectionists will not succeed, as too many men who believe in the policy of protection are in harmony with Rep- resentative Babcock and MT. Roberts, the Director of the Mints in the opin- ion that the radical changes that have taken place in the industries of the country and in our relations to other countries make a modification of the Dingley tariff law necessary
 It Is we'll enough to note by the way that the grounds of opposition of these two newspapers is not so much on &C., count of any injustice and inequalities in the Dingley tariff law, although that should be sufficient to condemn 1t in 
 but that is not the main reason for criticising and condemning it. They want a change or modification because the present system "obstructs the path of progress of American trade, and because of "the radical changes that have taken place in the industries of the country"
 In other words, and m plain English. they want the tariff modified, not te- cause it is wrong. but because 1t is calculated to injure or affect the fu- ture interests of those who have here tofore benefited by it. To put it in another shape, the infant which they have coddled and nursed and pap-fed so long has grown obstreporous and l unruly and must be restrained. The tariff was a gun intended to shoot all foreigners but 1t is now inclined to kick and some of the load must be ta- ken out of it.
 And there is yet another view to take of it. The leaders or the Republican party may be slow to learn but they are not entirely impervious to outside influences and indications, and they are getting their eyes open to the fact that tariff reform is one of the demands of the people and the country, and that it is bound to come. and that very soon, If the Republicans fail to read the signs of the times and provide for such notifications as are needed and demanded they may expect to be su- nerceded by a party that will. They may not give relief because 1t is right, but they will give it because if they do not others will.
 And this evident movement for change of base on the part of the Re- publican party serves to accentuate the fatuity of the Democratic party in abandoning a policy and principle which was strictly Democratic, and which had been one of the tenets or the party for generations. If we had held to the tariff for revenue plank as one of the prominent blanks in our platforms and insisted on maintaining that sound principle, instead of wan dering off after strange goods in lSSo and 1900. our party would be in far different plight from that in which 1t now finds itself. When Democrats abandoned the sound money theory the Republicans took 1t up and rode into power on it. Shall we let them con- tinue in power by appropriating anoth- CT distinctive Democratic principle? If we do our party should remain in the minority as long as the Israelites wan dered in the wilderness. Let us hope. however, that the party has learned enough to steer itself out of the woods and stay out.