Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-04-09

eiEu uGuultG principles, inc IlOSC iii
portant OF which is an avowed deter
mination to protect the interests Of the
American producer, business man.
wage worker, and farmer alike. The
general tariff policy, to which without
regard to changes in detail, believe
this country is irrevocably committed
is fundamentally based upon recogni
ton of the difference between the cost
OF production-that is, the cost of la
bol-here and abroad, and OF the need
to see to it that our laws shall in no
event afford advantage in our own
American capital to foreign labor ov-
er American capital, to foreign labor
over our own labor.
Needs High Citizenship.
This country has and this country
needs better-paid, better educated, bet.
ter fed, and better clothed workingmen
of higher type than are to be found
in any foreign country.
1t has and needs a higher, more Wig
orous and more prosperous type of til
lers OF the soil than is possessed by
| any other country. The business men,
the merchants and manufacturers, and
the managers of the transportation in
| terests show the same superiority
when compared with men of their type
| abroad. The events of the last few
years has shown how skillfully the
| leaders OF American industry use in in
ternational business competition the
mighty industrial weapons forged for
them by the resources of our country,
the wisdom of our laws, and the skill
the inventive genius, and the admin
strative capacity of our people.
Tariff Policy Must Be Stable.
/ 1t is, of course, mere truism to say
that we want to use everything in our
power to foster the welfare of our en-
tire body polite. In ether words, we
need to treat the tariff as business
proposition, from the standpoint of the
interests Of the country as whole,
and not with reference to the tempo
rary needs of any political party. It
lis almost as necessary that our policy
/, should be stable as that it should be
wise. A nation like ours could not
long stand the ruinous policy of ad-
justing it's business to radical changes
in the tariff at short intervals, espe-
cially when. as now, owing to the i'm
! mense extent and variety of our pro-
4 ducts, the tariq schedules carry rates
of duty on thousands of different ar
i ticles.
Radical Changes Dangerous.
i Sweeping and violent changes in
such tariff, touching so vitality the
interests of all of US, embracing agri-
4 culture, labor, manufactures and COM
merce, would be disastrous in any
event, and they would be fatal to our
present we'll being if 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 il
!, has any regard for it's welfare, even
!, to consider the advsability of aban
doning the present system.
When Changes Should Be Made.
i Yet. on the other hand, where indus
!. trial con 'ons so frequently change
r as with must of necessity be the
a case, it is a matter of prime import
a ance that we should be able from time
> to time to adopt our economic policy
: to the changed conditions. Our ain
: should be to preserve the policy of /;
protective tariff, in which the natior
as whole has acquesced, and ye
wherever and whenever necessary t
change the duties in particular para
graphs or schedules as a matter of leg
;. isIative detail, If such changes are de
manded by the interests of the natio,
e as whole.
!, Care and Caution Are Necessary.
. In making any readjustment ther,
n are certain important consideration
!, which can not be disregarded If
= tariff law has on whole worked well
: and if business has prospered under
!, and is prospecting it may be better t
. endure some inconvenience and in
!. equaIities for time than by making
= change to risk causing disturbance an
= perhaps paralysis in the industries am
business of the country. The fact tina
the change in a given rate OF dut
I. may be thought desirable does not SCI
!. tie the question whether it is advise
i, BILE to make the change Immediately
: Every tariff deals with duties o
thousands of articles arranged in hur
ldreds of paragraphs in many schedule:
s. These duties affect vast number c
II interests which are often conflicting
vi If necessary for our welfare, then {
n course congress must consider TIL
e. question of changing the law as
v whole or changing any given rates {
IF duty, but we must remember thu
e whenever even a single schedule
s. considered some interests will appes
" to demand change in almost ever
10 schedule in the law; and when
is comes to upsetting the schedules ge
~ orally the effect upon the business il
70 terests of the country would be ru
.. Gus.
lie Revision Cannot Solve Trust ProbIer
OIL One point we must steadily keep
w mind. The question of tariff revisio
x, speaking broadly, stands wholly apa
pc from the question of dealing with tt
ur trusts. No change in tariff duties &c
w have any substantial effect in soIvir
sh the so-eaiIed trust Problem. certa
1p great trusts and great corporations al
al wholly unaffected by the tariff. Pra
la tically all the others that are of al
importance have as matter of ia
!. numbers OF smaller American con
ylpetitors; and of course, a change