The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-12
G0RMAN AND THE TARIFF.
An Explanation of His Attitude To-
wards the Wilson Bill.

wards the Wilson Bill.
Washington. Aug. las was to be
expected talk of Senator Germans
nomination for the presidency is lead
ing the criticisms in certain quarters
of the course which he pursued when
the Wilson tariff bill was under con-
sideration in the Senate.
Mr.. Eugene " Brwester of New
York, who, in 1895 and 1900, was one
of Mr.. Bryan's principal lieutenants
in that state, has come out in an in
terview declaring for the nomination
of Mr.. cleveland and attacking Sena-
tor German. He says: German prac-
tically sold the party out when Cleve-
land was trying to get his tariff re-
form measure through" Friends of
Senator German have foreseen just
such an attack, but they are not dis
concerted by 1t. They believe that the
more thoroughly Senator Germans
record on the Wilson bill is discussed
and analysed and the more completely
it is understood by the country the
greater will be his strength with the
people.
Advocates of the nomination of SEN
ator German regard such attacks on
the part he played in the revision of
the tariff in 1894 as being exceedingly
stupid. They ask what other part
the Maryland senator could consist
emily have played. He never posed as
a radical free trader. He believed that
the Mckinley tariff law which was
then on the statute books, was wrong.
He believed that many of the taxes 1t
imposed were entirely too high, and
that tho r1T~nfaPtipn hanaAtG haf IL Car
ried were unequally distributed and
gave undue advantages to certain in
tereSts while hampering others. On
the other hand, his long experience in
public life and especially his service
on the Senate Committee on Appro-
priations had impressed upon him the
necessity of providing sufficient reve-
nue. to meet the proper expenses of an
economically administered government.
He realized that to meet this require
ment tariff taxes were necessary, and
he believed that they should be so de-
vised as TO distribute the incidental
advantages of protection as evenly as
possible over the entire country.
The Wilson bill, as it was sent to
the Senate from the House, did not
meet these requirements. 1t would
have fallen far short of yielding suf-
hcient revenue. Another thing that is
lOSL SISHl VI ny the CTIllCS Oh senator
German is the condition that existed
in the Senate at the time the Wilson
bill was under consideration. Every
one who was in Washington and who
followed the long drawn out contest
from day to day recalls the hold-up
policy that was pursued by the Re-
publican senators under the able lead
ership of Senator Aldrich of Rhode
Island. 1t is matter of history that
IL
Quay held up the Senate for days at
on various schedules. 1t is all we'll
enough for men who, like Mr.. Brews
ter had no responsibility in the mat
ter and no personal knowledge of the
situation to say that the Democratic
leaders should ut have surrendered
to this hold up But it is we'll known
by those who were on the ground that
there was grave danger of the failure
of Congress to pass any kind of tariff
legislation in that session. 1t was due
more to Mr.. German than to any one
man that the Mckinley law was final
ly repealed and the Wilson law SUBJ
stituted for it, The Maryland SEN
ator did not regard the Wilson law
as being ideally perfect but he did
regard it as being infinitely super
Tor to the Mckinley law. Realizins
IHdJ IL WOulu De HUpOSSlDI6 10 secure
perfection Senator German accepted
the best compromise that could be OBJ
tanned. There is another fact in con-
nection with the fight over the Wilson
bill that is not given sufficient import
ance by those who now criticise the
Maryland senator and those who acted
with him. That is that many of the
men in the House of Representatives
who shouted the loudest for free trade
slipped over to the Senate and steal
thily urgd upon Democratic senators
increases in duties that they had
themselves voted to lower.
The result of it all was that in the
end the Senate gave to the country
the best tariff law that it has had
since he Civil War. 1t was a law
that, after the income tax was elm
mated, failed to yield sufficient rev.
enue during the dull times that fol-
lowed the momentary panic of 1893.
AS prosperity began to return to the
country, however, 1t was seen that the
Wilson law even without the income
tax, would yield sufficient revenues
and before its repeal in 1897 the re-
ceipts of the government were equal
to the expenditures.