The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1903-04-23
No Revision of the Tariff.

ranks for revision of the tariff on thOs,
schedules that foster the trusts has it:
storm center in Iowa, and the two fac
tions are becoming wider and wider
apart on this important issue. Th'
Iowa Idea" leaders, of whom Cover
nor Cummins is the chief, have led The
Republican voters of Iowa to believ,
that the -eXactiOns of the trusts vii
be cured by the Republican party ant
appealed to them last fall TO stant
firm. once more. for the &. o. l.. -
intense did the feeling become. and 81
strong was the following of Governor
Cummins. that it forced Speaker Hen
dersOn to decline to run again us IL can
didate. The Congressional delegation
from Iowa We're also divided ON thi,
| issue. some for revision of the tariff
and some for continuing protection Il
the trusts. The fight between thes,
Republican factions of Iowa wOult
not be of much Importance if President
Roosevelt had not entered into tht
fight. Originally he was an ardent
free trader and member OF the Free
Trade Club of New York and wa:
elected to the Legislature by a com
binatiOI of Democrats and reform Re
publicans, but finding this road to pO
litical preferment thOrny one, OI
Aug ~. 1885, he wrote letter Il
POultney BigelOw resigning from the
Free Trade Club. This letter would bt
an extraordinary one if written by
another than Mr.. Roosevelt, for its
whole tone indicates that the ambi
tious young man in politics must stifie
his principles to achieve success. The
letter concludes with this Rooseveltiar
sentiment: Il am Republican first: q
free trader afterward." This is not the
only time that President Roosevelt has
disappointed his friends by reversing
himself for the sake of political ex
pediency. His LOganspOrt speech last
fall was distinct recognition of the
desirability and necessity of the read
justment OF the present tariff. His
words We're:
| Continual sweeping changes in such
a tariff touching so intimately the
commercial interests Of the nation
which stands as one of the two or three
greatest in the whole Industrial world
cannot but be disastrous. Yet. on the
of the nation shift as rapidly as they
do with us. it is a matter Of prime i'm.
portance that we should he able to re-
adjust our economic policy as rapidly
as possible, and with as little friction
as possible to these needs"
Having thus led Governor Cummins
and the other Republican refOrmers to
believe that he would stand with them
to revise the tariff so that it would not
foster trusts, he now leaves them in
the lurch by declaring that there is
no connection between the exactiOns
of the trusts and the protection the
tariff gives them in charging higher
price to the people of the United States
for their products than they do the
foreigners.
What led to this change of heart on
the part of the President! The answer
is given In the Washington Star of
April 0 as 'an interesting bit Of gos-
sip." The Star is known as the admin
istratiOn organ at the capital of the ma
tion. 50 that what it says about Presi-
dent Roosevelt doubtless tells the true
story of his change of front. 1t relates
that while the President was prepar-
ing for his Western trip he was WIS.,
tied by number Of Republican poll
ticians and continues thus:
prominent in the cOterie We're men,
bers Of the American Protective Tariff
League. the organization which makes
a business of promoting high tariff
sentiment. These men. It is said. told
the President frankly that if he on his
! Western trip doomed tariff revision
the high tariff Republicans would set
to work to defeat his denomination
President ROosevelt's ambition to
succeed himself is therefore response
BILE for throwing overheard the Iowa
Idea" and allowing the American Pro-
tective Tariff League TO dictate his pol
Icy. The voters. who will next year
decide upon protection or tariff reform.
and who are now bearing the full
weight of the high prices the trusts are
demanding. seem to be Of but little con-
sequence in the decision OF President
Roosevelt to throw the great influence
Of his office in favor OF their despoilers.
Yet this is characteristic Of the Ham,
iltonian tendencies Of the Presidents
utterances In tine books he has written.
His sympathy has never been with the
farmer. the mechanic and the working
man, those toilers who make the
wealth of the nation. for in his ''Ranch
Life and Hunting Trail" on page 10.
comparing the cowboy with the classes
above mentioned. he says: "They (the
cowboys are much better fellows and
pleasanter companions than small
farmers or agricultural labOrers; nor
are the mechanics and wOrkmen of Il
great city to be mentioned in the same
breath"
This must be taken as Mr. ROose-
yeit's deliberate opinion Of the me
CudHiCS silti NoThlutli VI IL STctt Guy,
and small farmers or agricultural Ia
bOrers.' 1t is the same opinion enter
tained of the same classes by the warm
Federalists who aped the English aris-
tOcracy in the early days of the re-
public. 1t was then called buddhism.
and elected pamphlet written by
Duane in 1907. in which those who.
like Aaron Burr and his cO-cOnspira-
tors held themselves ''above the dull
pursuits of civil life were held up to
universal contempt. All that Duane
said of Burr might with equal prOpri-
ETY. be said of Roosevelt. The latter Is
the disciple of Burr. His philosophy Is
that of Burr. His conduct is that Of
Burr, and his aspirations, like Burr's,
are all above the dull pursuits of civil
life" He longs for military despotism;
he hates the Democratic principle of
equality: he despises small farmers
and the mechanics and wOrkmen" of
the country.
If Governor Cummins and the Other
Y,