Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1903-10-01

we undertake the task of applying
this policy to the commerce of the ma
ton, differences Of opinion at once ap-
pear. There always have been these
differences, and there always will be.
Under tue law of 1897, which bears the
name ofsa pure patriot andgreat states
man, substantially one-half of the I'm
ports into the United States are ad-
mitted free. Some of these imports
are things we do not and cannot pro-
duce Others are in the nature Of
raw material, the admission Of which.
free of duty, Is intended to enable the
resulting commodities to be probably
produced In this country. In It's 1T,
eral sense, no such thing as q raw ma
terial ever came into a port OF the
United States, nor was pure raw ma
terial ever offered for sale In any mar.
ket, for the manifest reason that be-
fore anything can become OF any value.
either labor or capital must have been
employed in its creation. In q COM
mercial sense. however, raw material
represents q minimum of labor. IL
follows that whenever any particular
article is proposed as raw material,
men differ respecting it and respecting
the propriety Of admitting 1t free OF
duty. Recurring to something already
said, I reiterate that when II Is pro-
posed to levy protective duty upon
anything that may be imported. tho
question at once arises: What duty
shall be laid upon it? Abstractiy, all
protectionists agree upon the critic
rion. II should be such duty as wilt
enable the home producers OF the artl-
Gle to make and sell II in the domestic
markets at fair profit Here again.
men of the most mature intelligence
and of the sincerest convictions d.
vide, and tho differences must be COM
posed as all other differences are IL
is impossible to write tariff schedules
into platform, and therefore all that
the party can do in its conventions h
to declare general principle 10 which
1t pledges itself in the enactment OF
laws. Every sane man must recog.
nize the truth that the cost of produce
ton Is not constant. has not been in
the past. md will not be inthenitures
Every sane man knows. and every can
did man will admit. that the develop
ments OF the last few years have been
SO mighty, and conditions have been
SO revolutionised, that 1t is worth our
while to examine and determine In the
light of existing conditions. whether
the tariff duties Of 1897 answer the test
which we agree must be applied to
protective duties. Recognizing these
things, the republican party Of Iowa.
without dissenting voice. In its con.
vention declared, as ! have already
read. but which for emphasis ! read
again:
,ru.-xsr -~x.z .~o.s~a A. c~~~w eAts
policy into effect should be Just, fair.
"and impartial, equally opposed to for
"eign control and domestic monopoly
sectional discrimination and indiyfd'
"ual favoritism. and must from time
ito time be changed to meet the vary
ling conditions incident to the prog
"ress of our industries and their
changing relations to our foreign and
domestic commerce Duties that arc
"too low should be increased and du-
"ties that are too high should be 70
"duced."
Personally. have no hesitation In
avowing that there are duties which
should be lowered to bring them TO the
point OF protection, and the little thae
I can do to influence legislation in thaa
direction. will be done. There arc
others, undoubtedly. who believe thas
the duties as q whole are as fairly adj
justed as they can be, and I assume
that they will act on that belief. n II
not to be expected that direct modih-
cation will be made during the next
session OF congress. A work that re-
quires the utmost forbearance. the
most unparalleled consideration, and
the most temperate discussion, win
not be well done In the fierce PARTISAN
ship which attends a presidential con-
test.
We may differ, we do differ. respect
ing the details Of application. bus
when the policy itself is threatened. 10
becomes every man who approves II
whether he be republican or demo,
crat, whether he Is for revision on
against revision. to lift his voice in itl
defense and cast his vote for IT.
safety.
Workinsmen and Farmers.
must refer with more particularly
to two phases ofthe opening speech OF
the democratic candidate for governor.
upon which he expended intense en-
ergy. He seems to eoncede that
all classes of American business
life. save two, are benefited by
the protective system. These are the
laboring men and the farmers; and he
appeals to them In the most impas-
stoned terms to overthrow q system
which has reduced them to poverty
and slavery. They are the men upon
whom protection has committed its
crimes end who have been the victims
OF grand larceny at the hands OF all
others for more than an hundred
years. This Is so remarkable re-
vival OF an ancient delusion that must
give II more than passing notice It
may be assumed that when the cham
pion OF free trade speaks Of working
men. he means the wageworkers Of
the United States. First, II Is one OF
the accepted facts In the statistics OF
the world that the wageworkers OF the
United States receive for their labor
at least fifty per cent more than their
fellows in England. A week ago l
happened to read In one OF the we'll
known newspapers Of Chicago. a syn
opsis OF the report and examination
made by the government OF Great
Britain, looking to some changes in It's
tariff policy. I quote from II In order
that may be relieved OF any charge
of partisan conclusions:
"The average level Of wages In the
United States is one and one-haff
times greater than In the United
Kingdom. while In Germany wages