Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-09-22
ROOSEVELT TALKS TARIFF
President Roosevelt Outlines kepubli-
Can Policy in Speech Made at
Cincinnati.
Does Not Believe Tariff Revision is
Remedy for the Evils of Trust 3.
# Question.
$gr- ~ : III :, 5$a,
Sensible Address of the President on
the Leading Issues Of the 4
Campaign. -

:
of tariff and the trusts. The address
is the keynote of the presidents west
tern speeches and in it be opposed the
revision of the tariff as means of pun
ishing or preventing the organization
Of trusts, holding that this would not
accomplish the object proposed. That
part of the presidents speech affecting
this matter was as follows:
If in any case the tariff is found to
foster a monopoly which does i'll, why
Of course no protecti ionist would object
to modification Of the tariff sufficient
to remedy the evil. But in very few
cases does the so-called trust really
monopolize the market. 49,
Take any very big corporation
which controls say something over half
the products of a given industry.
Surely in rearranging the schedules af-
fecting such a big corporation it would
be necessary to consider the interests
of it's smaller competitors which con-
troll the remaining part and which, be-
ing weaker, would suffer most from
any tariff designed to punish all the
producers; for, of course, the tariff
must be made light or heavy for big
and little producers alike. ...-.t
Moreover; such corporation nee
essarily employs very many thousands
| OF workmen, and the minute we pro-
! ceed from denunciation to action it
would be necessary to consider the in
terests of the workmen.
Furthermore, the products of so
many trusts are unprotected and would
be entirely unaffected by any change
in the tariff, or at most very slightly
So. The Standard Oil company offers
I a case in point; and the corporations
which control the anthracite coal out
, put offer another-for there is no duty
whatever on anthracite coal. ~
Il am not discussing the question
of the tariff as such, whether from the
standpoint of the fundamental differ
! ence between those who believe in
protective tariff and those who believe
#, in free trade, or from the Standpoint of
| those who, while they believe in pro-
tective tariff. feel that there could be a.
rearrangement of our schedules, either
by direct legislation or by reciprocity
treaties. which would result in enlars-
ing our markets; nor yet from the
standpoint Of those who feel that sta
bility of economic policy is at the mo-
ment OUT prime economic need, and
| that the benefits to be derived from
any change in schedules would not
compensate for the dangers to business
caused by the widespread agitation
| which would follow any ATTEMPTED
general revision of the tariff at this
! moment.
Without regard to the wisdom of
any of these three positions, it remains
true that the real evils connected with
the trusts cannot be remedied by any
| change in the tariff laws.
| The trusts can be damaged by de-
| prlVing them Of the benefits of a npo-
tective tariff, only on condition of dam
aging all their smaller competitors. and
all the wage workers employed in the
industry. This point is very Finpo1.t-
ant. and it is desirable to avoid any
save wilful misunderstanding. Il am
not now considering whether or not,
on grounds totally unconnected with
the trusts 1t would be well to lowe,
4 the duties on various securities. either,
by direct legislation or by treaties de-
signed to secure as an offset recipnoca,
advantages 'b from the nations with
which we trade MY point is that
changes in the tariff would have little
appreciabie effect on the trusts save as
they shared in the general harm or
good proceeding from such changes.
No tariff change would help one Of
our smaller corporal ions on one Of our
private individuals In business, still
less one Of our wage workers, as
4 AGAINST s'al st q large corporation in the same
business on the contrary. if it bore
heavily on the large corporation Il
would inevitably Il be felt stin more by
that corporatio = weaker rivals, while
any injurious result would OF necessity
be shared by both the employer and
EMPLOYED In the business concerned,
This immediate Introduction 8,