The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-09-22
a Consideration of the Presidents
Tariff and Trust Speech at
Cincinnati Saturday.
Important Light Shed on the Prob
ability of Tariff Revision IN
the 5Sth Congress.
The Case of the Steel Trust Is a Good
Example of What the Presi-
dent Means.
BY w. w. JERMANE.
Special Representative of The Journal on
Board the Presidential Train.

Special Representative Of The journal on
Board the Presidential Train.
Detroit, Mich. Sept. 22.-The president,
IN the first speech of his western trip, at
Cincinnati, took the traiff bull by the
horns and tried to overcome 1t. lie has
the courage Of his convictions, and while
his message may not be especially well
come to those who have stood with KEEP
resentative BabCOCk of Wisconsin, 1t Will
nevertheless be welcome. for it will clear
the atmosphere and shed important light
the probabilities for tariff revision in
the Fifty-eighth congress. The president
will probably have made some further
tariff remarks before reaching Mime
apolis, but the keynote of his Cincinnati
speech was decidedly against the PROPOSE
ton that the removal Of the tariff from
trust-made goods will cure the trust evil
Incidentally, it may be said that he sides
with Speaker Henderson rather than with
the Cummins crowd, so far as the Iowa
situation is concerned. lie says that there
are good and bad trusts, and that the
tariff Is doing little nothing to de-
velop them. Proof of this assertion is Of
fered by reference to the anthracite coal
and Standard Oil trusts, which have
grown to their present proportions with
out the aid of protection
Case of the Steel Trust.
The steel trust will furnish a fair illus
IratlOn OF the point the pTeSlueHl lllstue
at Cincinnati. 1t controls from three
sevenths to four seventies Of the steel out
put Of the country. The statistiCians say
three-sevenths; President Schwab says
four seventies. Take the tariff off Of
steel and you hurt the trust, but not Sc
riously. 1t continue its operations
under the conditions, which free
trade will prevent. But what in the mean
time will become of the small indepen-
dent steel companies, the only COMPETE
tors Of the trust which furnish the re-
naming four sevenths or three seventies,
as the case may be, Of the total output?
1t Is very clear to the presidents mind
that these small operators, unable to
economic in production prOportionately
to the ability along this line displayed by
the trust must go to the wall, throwing
many thousands Of Workmen out Of en-
ploynent and leaving the trust in unds-
puted possession of the field. The pres1-
dent does not cite the steel trust in his
Cincinnati speech, but I have used it in.
order to make a concrete illustration of
his argument against attacking the trusts,
by way Of tariff modification.
The Presidents Silence
AS to whether there should be any re-
vision Of the tariff, aside from the anti
trust view favoring it, the president says
nothing. His silence may be Of deep sig
nifiCance. The ignoring Of this phase Of
the question during the present tour will
mean that the president does not now
favor such proposed revision, and, taken
in connection with his opposition to re-
vision as a remedy for the trust evil, it
will mean further, that the immense
weight of the executive office will not
be thrown into the scale in favor of
position which has many adherents among
loyal republicans in Minnesota, Wiscon
sin, Iowa. the Dakotas and other states
Of the west and northwest.
Can Harmony Be Restored?
Everybody-those who agree with him
rs we'll as those who disagree-wil COM
mend the president for his franAneSs, for
the generous manner in which he has
taken the people into his confidence, and
It is barely possible that his point of view
will ultimately become that of the entire
party: and if so, the present tour will
not have been without important results
The republican party is now, in 1892
threatened with internal tariff dissensons
The man who is able to restore harmony
of thought and purpose among party lead
ers and line the party up for the oncom-
ing presidential campaign, will have &C
complished much. The president may be
such a man. At any rate. he is coming
into the west, where tariff revision is held
to be a sovereign panacea for the trusts,
to preach a doctrine that is contrary to
a view widely entertained there among
republicans.
Gage Thrown Down to Tom johnson.
Not only does the presidents speech
take issue with the tariff revisionists of
Iowa, led by Governor Cummins. but it
throws down the gage Of battle to Tom
L. Johnson Of Cleveland and the other
democrats who are shouting: 'Attack the
trusts through the tariff" In the last
analysis there is not much difference be-
tween Mr.. Johnsons views and that en-
tertained until a few months ago by
IOoI> oo1r. h1,t Nv Pol Oply
has modified his position radically since
he introduced his famous bill in the early
part of the 9th congress- first session.
His authorized utterances since that time
have been rather moderate. and he is
not far from the position held by the
president. The trouble with Mr.. Bah
cocks position, in view of those who stand
with the president, is that it is loaded at
both ends. The carrying out of his plan
in any liberal sense would work a serious
inroad upon the republican principle of
protection. So the president is said to
think 1t will be observed that the Gin
cinnati speech is very far from being an
admission that the tariff is responsible
for the trusts, or that tariff revision would
correct them.
The Presidents Remedy.
What, then, is the presidents remedy:
Publicity, and still publicity, with an
omnibus hint that he is also in favor OF
a constitutional amendment giving con-
sress control. Evidently, he realizes that
it would be futile to bring them under
satisfactory control in any other manner
At this point, however, he will meet with
stubborn resistance. because the states re
lnquish authority to- the general govern
ment very reluctantly. and are almost as
jealous Of their prerogatives as in the ole
ante bellum days. Opposition to a consti
tutional amendment would not be confined
to the south, and even were a bill to pass
congress, there might be trouble in secur
ing it's ratification by the requisite mum
Der of legislatures. ...
The way is not clear, then, to speed.
settlement Of the trust question. Mean
while the existing laws will be enforced
and as the courts shall decide wherein
they are weak, it will be the plain duty 0
congress to try to strengthen them.
is apparent that such a policy, however
in the presidents mind, will be only
makeshift, a patching Of an old carmen
instead of making new and better one
In the opinion Of prominent men VIII
were in Cincinnati last Saturday, tn
presidents speech, in it's tariff sections
Asuas conservative and is likely to bs