Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1903-12-30
HISTORY OF IOWA idea
Hon. George E. Roberts Fathers
Famous Tariff Plank.
WAS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF


In a Letter Just Published in Iowa
journal of History and Politics, Di-
rector of Mint Assumes Full Re-
sponsibility for Platform Declaration
Des Moines, Dec. 22.-Another chap
ter and one of vital Importance has
been added to the history of the pol
icy of the Republican party in Iowa,
as shown in it's campaigns OF the past
three years.
1t is found in a letter from Hon.
George E. Roberts, director of the
mint at Washington, which has just
been published in the January number
of sthe Iowa Journal of History and
Politics, printed at Iowa City, by the
State Historical society.
AS might be expected and as has
been claimed many times, Mr.. Rob-
erts, in his article, assumes full re-
sponsibility for the authorship of the
plank in the Republican state plat
form of 1901, which has been the
cause of such wide divergence OF
opinion among Republicans of the
Hawkeye state, and which has formed
the grounds for what has been often
termed a schism in the ranks of the
party in the state.
Mr.. Roberts opens his article in the
publication by declaring its aim is to
give a contemporary statement of the
origin, meaning and history of the
proposal for tariff revision which has
become known as 1.-The Iowa idea" AL
most at the start of the article, in a
foot note, he gives the origin of the
term, "Iowa idea," declaring it Is
thought to have been used first by
Walter Wellman, the correspondent Of
the Chicago Record-Herald, who made
trip to Des Moines in September,
1902, and who, in writing to that paper
the next morning, used the express
sion: Zone new idea has been con-
tributed to the politics of the United
States this year. 1t is known as the
Iowa idea"
Whether the origin of the term Is
but it was not given expression to by
Mr.. Wellman until the plank of the
platform had been in force more than
a year, and then 1t was placed in
quotation marks. II is safe to assume,
however, as Mr.. Roberts does assume,
that Mr.. Wellman gave the term pub
licity and made it party cognomen,
and descriptive of the plank on the
trusts and tariff which was adopted
by the convention of the party held at
Cedar Rapids in 1901 and which nomi-
mated Governor Cummins for his first
term as chief executive Of the state,
after hard contest.
In his article Mr.. Roberts quotes
this portion of the platform in full, in
GLIDING the striking sentence at the
close of the paragraph, which says:
1--WE favor such amendments to the
interstate commerce act as will more
fully carry out its prohibition of dis
elimination in rate making and any
modification of the tariff schedules
that may be required to prevent their
affording shelter to monopoly"
This resolution, along with others,
Mr.. Roberts says were written by him.
self and adopted without debate or OBJ
lection by the full committee on reso-
lutions, and later were adopted by the
entire convention by unanimous vote.
He also says the object he had in
view in presenting the tariff resolution
was to declare the policy Of the party
on that subject and to give the infiu-
ence of Iowa to the national party for
a forward movement. He explains
how the resolution as a whole recog.
nized the good accomplished by the
protective tariff in the development Of
the country, but 1t also recognized
that the relation of the tariff to our
industries was most properly chang
ing one, the thought being that the
tariff should be adjusted not higher
than is necessary to protect these in.
dustries from competition against
which they would be powerless to sus-
tain themselves. The reciprocity idea
was also there, Mr.. Roberts says, and
he calls attention to the fact that
TTtSlucuL mChihiCy III lilo i1ot ooui GOD
to the American people, at Buffalo,
gave expression to the same idea. A
part of the Mckinley address is quoted
and embodied in the article.
The spirit of the address of the mar
tyred president, Mr.. Roberts holds,
was in line with the Iowa Republican
resolution, and both were intended to
be liberal and to have a liberalizing
influence on the party without propos-
ing any sudden or revolutionary
changes. That he is still of the opin-
ion which actuated him when he
penned that resolution is shown by
Mr.. Roberts when he says:
1.-THE writer believes that a rigid
policy of exclusion and isolation can
not be made the permanent policy Of
a great people possessed of the nat
ural resources and advantages with
which the United States are endowed,
and that 1t would be fatal error to
allow the policy of protection to be so
interpreted. The tendencies that con-
stantly work in that direction should
be kept in check and an effort made