Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1903-10-02

00mOCratlC PATTY SIUO u0lAOVOb Nh tn0
policy OF protection. When, however.
,wo 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 thecs
differences, and there always Will be.
Under tMe law OF 1887, which bears the 8
name OF 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, tho admission OF which,,
free of duty, Is intended to enable the
resulting commodities to be probably
produced in this country. In It's liz.
eral sense, no such thing as q raw ma.
terial ever came into q port OF the
United States. nor was pure raw ma
terial ever offered for sale In any mar 4
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 conf
mercial sense, however, raw material
represents a minimum Of labor. It
follows that whenever any particular
article is proposed as raw material,
men differ respecting it and respecting
the propriety OF admitting it free OF
duty. Recurring to something already
said, reiterate that when 1t Is pro-
posed to levy a protective duty upon
anything that may be imported, the
question at once arises: What duty
shall be laid upon It? Abstractly, all
protectionists agree upon the critic
rion. 1T should be such a duty as will
enable the home producers OF the arti-
Gle to make and sell it In the domestic
markets at fair profit. Here again,
men of the most mature intelligence
and Of the sincerest convictions di-
vide. and the differences must be COM
posed as all other differences are. 1t
Is impossible to write tariff schedules
into a platform, and therefore all that
the party can do in its conventions Is
to declare general principle to which
1t pledges itself in the enactment CT
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 inthefuture.
Every sane man knows. and every cam
did man will admit, tibet the develop
ments Of the last few years have been
SO mighty. and conditions have been
so reyolUtionized, 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
aga!a:
"policy into effect should be just. fair,
''and impartial. equally opposed to for
"eign control and domestic monopoly,
sectional discrimination and individ
stual favoritisn, and must from time
'sto time be changed to meet the vary
Sing conditions incident to the prog
"ress Of our industries and their
Changing relations osour foreign ana
domestic commerce. nuties that are
too low should be decreased 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 THAI
n can do to influence legislation In thae
direction. will be done. There are
others, undoubtedly, who believe that
the duties as whole are as fairly ad.
| justed as they can be. and assume
| that they will act on that belief. It Isl
not to be expected that direct modIf>
! cation will be made during the next
session Of congress. "A work that res
CURES the utmost forbearance, the.
most unprecedented consideration, and
the most temperate discussion. will
not be- well done in the fierce partisan
ship which attends presidential con-
test.
We may differ, we do differ. respect
irg the details of application, but
when the policy itself is threatened, it
becomes every man who approves it,
whether he be republican or demo.
crat, whether he is FIR revision or
age inst revision to lift his voice in it's
defense and cast his vote for its
safety.
Werkin1men 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 concede 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 a system
which has reduced them to poverty
and slavery. They are thu men nnon
whom protection has committed its
crimes and who have been the victims
Of grand larceny at he hands Of all
others fer more tilor IN hundred
years. This is SO remarkable a re-
yival of an ancient delusion that ] must
give it more than passing notice. It
nav be Assumed thrt when the cham.
pion Of free trsdn specs OF working
nsen:5 he means the w geworkers OF
the United strtcs. Firs: it is one OF
the acr5tr5 f,cts in the statistics Of
the world that the wagaworkers OF the
listed Ststes receive for their labor
1T least fifty Ter. cent more than their
fellows in England. week ago
hcpnened tn read in ore of the well
known newspapers Of Chicago. a syn.
opsis Of the report and examination
made BY the government Of Great
Prttain. looking to some charges in its
tariff policy. onote from it in order
that ! NAV be relieved of any charge
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