The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-07
PETERSON BEGINS
Opening Of His Congressional
Stumping Campaign.
HE ATTACKS MR.. FLETCHER
Poses as the Friend of, the People in
Taxation Matters-Protection
and Reciprocity.

the shoulders of Congressman Fletcher.
and each one was greeted with cheers Dy
an audience which filled the seventh ward
Wigwam. S5,., Eax laE, rA$s
The meeting bordered on the sensation
al. After grilling Mr.. Fletcher, and
criticising his record in several details,
Mr.. Peterson took up the issue OF the
tax bill, recently raised against him. He
said he was deeply grieved that MT.
| Fletcher should have gone out OF MS
| way to hire newspaper to attack
his record, but since Mr.. Fletcher had
done so, the issue was cheerfully ac-
cepted.
| meant that the rich man should pay taxes
the same as the poor man. That Is why
supported it, in order that the burdens
should be more equal. supported the
house, taxing municipal franchise cor
porations. Because did that some
people have organized for the purpose
Of killing me off. H.. LII. =, : r.
"They beat that bill in the senate. They
| raised SEQ, 600, of which $4,000 came from
this city, and with that money they beat
the bill in the senate. Now, did they
raise that money to fight the bill be-
cause it was hard on the poor man?
"This taxation fight is the same fight
they had in Wisconsin. They tried to
beat Bob La Toilette because he stood
for tax reform, but he won" - ..', ,.-
That Chippewa Bill.
Mr. Peterson raised, a new issue
| against the present congressman, attack
| ing his course in the matter of opening
the Chippewa reservation charging that
on that bill Mr.. Fletcher did not repre-
sent the people, but a few lumbermen
who wanted to get the timber from the
Indians for next to nothing.
| . hill ran0rfad hv fha connitfe6 nrO-
vided for selling the timber by sealed
bids. Congressman Eddy offered an
amendment; changing the method Of sale
to public auction. Mr.. Fletcher favored
the amendment. 1t was voted down.
Whereupon Mr.. Fletcher made the point
of mo quorum" thereby seeking to de-
feat the bill. A motion to adjourn was
Immediately made and carried by the
friends of the bill and when it came up
again the next day as unfinished business
it passed. Mr.. Fletcher had made a tact
ical blunder which defeated his own pur-
pose and allowed meritorious measure
to pass. =.
Protection and Reciprocity.
Mr. Peterson defined his own position
on reciprocity and the tariff. Among
other things he said:
Must Have Competition.
The American people to-day believe in the
before. The republican party believes that
the principle is essential, to the prosperity
| Of the country. But we have seen in the
past that whenever protection has seemed
most securely entrenched Its retreat was
near. Whenever the enemies of protection
have revised the schedule Of duties, the :coun-
try has suffered. Bnt whenever its friends
have adjusted the rates prosperity has con-
| tnued- and the country fourished. Let us
flook for a moment at the situation, now.
Are there any dangers that threaten us? I
think there are. $ ! .',-E' "-
The great combinations Of capital now
threaten to destroy competition. They may
not have succeeded as yet in accomplishing
that end entirely but that is their ultimate
purpose. When that is accomplished pro-
lection will be dead. This, then, is the
; danger that threatens our present tariff
policy. It will be. incumbent .On the repub-
lican party to restore competition completely
In order to retain its doctrine of protection,
which for over quarter of "a century 1t has
fought for so vigorously and which has done
our country 50 much good: r. t'-y..-
The conclusion follows inevitably that
wherever protective duties are so levied thai
competition here at home is sti1ed or i'm.
paired they must be revised, otherwise the
| government becomes the direct agency thai
| fosters combinations. ''-
We have had in this country two classe:
that have supported protection. Each GLASS
, has had it's own reason for so doing Tht
manufacturing class has done so because i
has been directly benefited, the agriculture
and laboring classes because they believe
the policy beneficial to the whole country
Blaine and Mckinley supported that kind O.
} protection which was in the interest of al
the people. 1t is this policy for which tn,
republican party has always stood. 1t, is .th'
, people Of the west who have been, the tru
friends Of protection. They have stood fo
] the policy of Blaine and Mckinley. Th'
time has now come when the republican
party must SO revise the tariff schedules
. that the few shall not be benefited and tn
many be burdened = r!s I'D, -f.s,r.r-.,- -
The second argument made against pro
lection is that it erects, as It were, a wal
around our country and obstructs commerce
, with other nations. This argument has beel
made with more or less force by the opposi
tion and it undoubtedly led to: the doctrn
6 Of reciprocity promulgated by James : G
Blaine. Mr.. Blaine's theory was incorporate
? in the Mckinley act. It provided that tn
president could by treaty with foreig1
Z country reduce the tariff or remove it entire
@ | ly from articles not produced in this coun
= try, so far as such foreign state was con
cerned, in consideration Of which the for
eign state made like concessions to ou
country. These treaties were very popula
with all classes Of people. This theory wa
n 1900 in the following language: "A policy s
d directed as to open our markets on favorabl
t terms for what we do not ourselves produc
g in return for free market" -.
a Reciprocity, gentlemen, is the handmai
d Of protection. BY protection we hold our ow
&c market for our own labor and our own in
e.. dustries. In other words, we want Ameri
:, cans to employ American labor. When a
: American buys American-made goods he EN-
!, ploys American labor. when he buys Eng
J. lish made goods he employs English labor
!; Reciprocity widens this market. It enable
!. the American worker to sell his labor to th
countries with which we have reciprocit
treaties without going there to live
: Fletcher VS.. Roosevelt.
: The little island Of Cuba has just passe
through birth and baptism Of fire an
blood. She wants to go to market some
where, she has a lot of sugar she wants I
:. sell; she looks over the little channel to th
d United States and asks ii she can come owe
. with her sugar and be allowed to sell it
? our people. That great republican, that typ
x cal American citizen, Theodore Roosevelt
Is says yes" but the Hon. Loren Fletche
30 says mo So Mr.. Fletcher and a few othe
~ gled and fllibustered until Cuba WAS sh,
- out and now Mr.. Fletcher is back here an
( 4 asks the people to send him to congress s
1 he can do the same thing over again.
al But there is another side to this. iWhe
a ! this bill was pending. before the house M
Il Morris form Duluth introduced an ament