Milford chronicle., 1903-04-10
WASHINGTON LETTER.

That the President and his nearest
advisers are unit in their opinion on
the great political ulstion of the day.
the trusts and the t ra, has b en-
demonstrated to a very remarkable
degree within the past week. Secretary
Shaw, speaki' in Peoria, Illinois.
Secretary Root, speaking before the
Home Market Club of Boston and the
President himself in Milwaukee, have
all struck the same keynote. Trat
there must be no tariff tinkerinC," )"
that the tariff must be revised by the
Republican party after the election, a
a time when political excitement is
dormant and there is ample time to do
the work carefully and thorour hly,
that the cry of tariff reduction to meet
trust evils is merely a Democratic ruse
TO secure free trade under the guise of
preventing monopoly; these are the
important principles on which the
next national campaign is to / fought.
The careful, conservative and patriotic
tone of the President is t. e occasion of
the greatest qualification to his friends !
in Washington who believe that no
cahal or political trick uld prevent /
his receiving the nomination and being .
elected next year.
The argument against tariff revision
made by Secretary Shaw is a lorceful
one. He says that "That the employer
Of labor may be so short sighted as to
believe that a period of low wages
would be 10 his advantage because he
would thus be able to place his pro-
duct on the market at less cost. Or he
may be so far-sigh ed as to know that
high wages will increase the consump- &
tive capacity Of those whose needs the
supplies and will therefore improve
his market" He further says that the {
Democratic party has always appealed {
to the consumer with the cry of cheap
markets, which would mean low wages,
the Republican party has stood for q
high wages and high prices. The Re +
publican poll y has invariably resulted a
in prolonged periods Of prosperity the =
De nOcratic policy in extended periods O
of depression. Mr. Shaw says that his v
speech in the west was received with Il
manifest approval and he has no fear .
Of the result of the next election.
The Postofiice Department investi- f,
CATION, announced in these letters a d
week ago, is still progressing and it is !.
now evident that great saving in the
expenses of the Department will be p
effected as a result. 1t is not unlikely n
that it will be necessary to make ma C
erial changes in the personnel Of the +,
and the President and tt e ;,
General will not hesitate E
o demand such designations as they II
believe will promote the welfare of the W
ervice. Since the investigation began r
Perry S. Heath, eX-Assistant Post, sc
master General, has been in Washing
on to protest Bgains' The iuvestiga ion W
md urge the president to spare Mr..
1eath's proteges, ard James S Clark al
Ou, Secretary Of the Republican Ma u,
ional Committee, came to Washington
0 protest against the injury OF any e,
mplOyes who had strong political in
Iuence, but the President has refused wi
0 listen to any protest and will chew -, ~
0 the line" regardless political con. OF
equences. Since the investigation be- to
an, hundreds of let ers have been /
eceived from local pOstmasters furnish W se'
ig evidence of reckless extravaganza, tio
nd in numerous instances. .OfeNt NtOrtiOn ms
The remarkable growth of the tx ort
manufactured articles by the United a-V
tates is clearly shown by figures issued wi wi
day by the Treasury Department. pre
a 1890 the expectation Of manufac CH
res amounted to 81 ,243, ,547. In 1902 rea
icy amounted to S4O3. .64l4Ol. In 1880 Z
icy formed practically per cent of n Is
ie total exports, in 1902 O2approximately Il
per cent Of the total exports. The str'
owth in this direction is especially , uea
arked since 1895, since which time r
e increase has been 22O mill Ons. tur