The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1902-09-25
THE TARIFF AND rHE TRUSTS.

The Republican party has appar-
emily just been aroused on the SUI
ject of the trusts-the handwriting
has been seen and read on the wall
the rumbling OF the train has been
heard, even tho it be at distance:
but how to curb this monster OF eN 4.
for curbed it must be, is the para
mount issue with them. Some say it
can only be done by modifying the
tariff. but that viii arouse the ire OF
the monopolists and plutocrats, the
men who hold the money bags and
are liberal contributors to the cam.
paign fund. high, protective tariff
is the patron saint of the !. IS:
without it's fostering care they ID
not live. Yet, if that tariffs reduced
the men who are protected by it viii
strike back. So there is a row n the
camp of the G.. o. z. 1t is divided
against itself; whether il will fall or
not will depend on the voters. Hen
derson favors stopping the onward
march of themonopolist. but opposes
tinkering with the tariff. On accorrt
OF this very inconsistent and incom-
parable position, in our view of th,.
case, it seems he Is persona non grata
with his party in his district and
State, so he concluded to step down
and out. This is "ominous of a very
bad sign" for the veal and welfare
of the party which made him Speaker
There Is no doubt of the fact that the
declinatiOn of General Henderson has
given the leaders of his party a stag
gering blow, and they are unable to
account for it. In our opinion. IL
means that the men in the great
Northwest have determined that the
trusts must 60. and that in order to
accomplish their exit, the tariff must
be made less protective. by being
modified and Modified The t. lsts
bear hard on the agricultural class
and the Northwest is pre-eminently
OF that class. The grinding of the
trusts is "A heavy burden on them ::
hence the decree has gone forth from
the great harvest fields of that grain
producing section that if it is abso-
lutely necessary to decrease the tariff
rates to decrease the power of these
insatiate monopolies, then the tariff
rates must yield. But how will all
this be received at the North and
East, the home, the birthplace and
nursery of the trust: where they are
created, where they thrive and where
the rich plutocrats, who are their
owners and beneficiaries, live? What.
we repeat,w be theattitude of these
Republicans in that territory? All.
1t is very easy to solve that problem.
Tor they will Just say no-that the
tariff shall not be interlered with.
even II 1t is necessary to kin the
trusts, for they are determined that
the trusts shall not be killed. Why
should they not say so, for they
thrive, feast and fatten on the verv
trusts which the Northwest wants to
crush, and say that they must be.
even if it requires the tariff. in its ex-
cessiye protection features. to be
curbed. So it would seem that all is
not harmonious or serene in the
household of the faithful. Instead
there is discord and Earring. and he
end is not yet, for it has Just com
menced. The defamation of General
Henderson has opened the gates. who
will close them and when? Ithas not
required seer to diagnose the situa-
tion for the last five years. The ire
mendous power of these gigantic
combinations of enterprise and CAPT.
tai was rapidly bringing on this war.
and it is coming. The great body of
the American people have been stand
ing by waiting and watching to see
what the harvest was going to be and
when the end was coming. The bar-
vest is just commencing-in labor
troubles, strikes aud a restless and
disturbed public. Where win it enGl
what will be the result, no one car
say. Russell Sage says that from il
all will come terrible panic, such as
has never been seen before. We trust
not. We can only watch aud wait
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Every citizen of this section of Viz