The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1903-04-09
tariff schedules carry rates Of duty on
thousands of different articles.

DISASTROUS In Any Event.
Sweeping and violent changes In
such a tariff, touching so vitality the
interests of all of us. embracing agri-
culture. labor, manufactures and COM
merce. would be disastrous in any
event. and they would be fatal to our
present wellbeing II approached on
the theory that the principle Of the
protective tariff was to be abandoned.
The business world, that is. the entire
American world, cannot afford, if 1t
has any regard for its own welfare.
even to consider the ACCESSIBILITY Of
abandoning the present system.
Yet, on the other hand, where the
Industrial conditions SO frequently
change, as with US must Of necessity
be the case, ii is matter of prime
Importance that we should be able
from time to time to adapt our econ
omic policy to the changed conditions.
Our aim should be to preserve the
policy Of protective tariff, in which
the nation as a whole has acquiesced,
and yet wherever and whenever neces-
sal ~ NhahSC TIC 0utiCS III Pol III
paragraphs or schedules as matters Of
legislative detail. IL such change Is
demanded by the interests of the
nation as a whole.
In making any readjustment there
are certain important considerations
which cannot be disregarded If a
tariff law has on the whole worked
well, and IL business has prospered
under it, and is prospecting. it may be
better to endure some Inconvenience
and inequalities for time than by
making changes to risk causing dis
turbance and perhaps paralysis in the
Industries and business Of the coun-
try. 49,
Many Interests Affected.
Every tariff deals with duties on
thousands Of articles arranged in hun
dreds Of paragraphs and in many
schedules. These duties affect a vast
number Of interests which are often
conflicting. Ii necessary for our well
fare, then, of course, congress must
consider the question OF changing the
law as a whole or changing any given
rates Of duty, but we must remember
that whene, er even a single schedule
Is considered some interests will APP
pear to demand a change in almost
every schedule in the law; and when
it comes to upsetting the schedule
generally the effect upon the business
interests Of the country would be ruin
Gus.
One point we must steadily keep in
mind. The question of tariff revision.
speaking broadly. stands wholly apart
from the question Of dealing with the
trusts. No change in tariff duties can
have any substantial effect In solving
the so-called trust problem. Certain
great trusts or great corporations are
wholly unaffected by the tariff. Prac-
tically all the others that are Of any
Importance have as a matter Of fact
numbers of smaller American CON-
petitors: and. of course. a change in
the tariff which would work injury to
the large corporation would work not
merely injury but destruction to its
smaller competitors: and equally, of
course, such change would mean dis
aster to- all the wage-worke.s con-
nected with either the large or the
small corporations. From the stand
point of those interested in the solu-
ton Of the trust problem such change
would therefore merely mean the trust
was relieved Of the competition OF its
weaker American competitors. and
thrown only into competition with for
eign competitors; and that the first ef-
fort to meet this new competition
would be made by cutting down wages.
and would. therefore. be primarily at
the cost OF labor.
Effect Upon the Trssts.
In the case OF some of our greatest
trusts such a change might confer up
on them a positive benefit. Speaking
broadly. 1t is evident that the changes
in the tariff will affect the trusts for
veal or for woe simply as they affect
the whole country. The tariff affects
trusts only as it affects all other in
terests. 1t makes all these interests.
! large or small. profitable: and its bene-
fits can be taken from the large only
under penalty OF taking them from
the small also.
To sum up, then. we must as a peo-
pie. approach matter Of such p line
economic Importance as the tariff
from the standpoint OF our business
needs. We cannot afford to become
fossilized or to- fail to recognize the
fact that as the needs of the country
change it may be necessary to meet
these new needs by changing certain
features OF our tariff laws Still less
can we afford to fail to recognize the
| further fact that these changes must
| not be made until the need for them
outweighs the Disadvantages which
may result: and when il becomes
necessary to make them they should
be made with full recognition OF the
need Of stability in our economic sys.
| TEN and of keeping unchanged the
| principle Of that system which has
now become settled policy In our
national life. We have prospesed
marvelously at home. As a nation
we stand In the very forefront in the
| giant international industrial competi-
| ii, a Of the day. We cannot afford by
| any freak Of folly to forfeit the posi-
ton to which we have thus triumph
antly attained.
| Cdtdrrh
Ios,;foc Co0Sumnfion